New Baxters gf soups

I like the way Baxters put big symbols on their soups to show they are gluten free.  They also have several that taste very good, especially the 'Deli-inspired' bowls that are heatable in the microwave and shaped to eat straight out of the dish.  I find these make a meal for two with some rice or bread.  They are not all gluten-free so do check.  They include flavours like 'sweet potato & channa dahl lentils with chickpeas'.

A new range in the normal easy-open tins has just turned up in my local store.  I bought two to try.  Today's lunch was a Stay Full Spiced butternut squash and edamame bean soup.  It is mildly spiced and very beany.  It counts as three of your veg portions if you eat the whole can.  It is certainly a substantial soup.

I havent yet tried the other one I bought- Beetroot, tomato and buckwheat soup. I fully expect to enjoy it.

If you like Baxters soups and are passing through Selkirk, Scottish Borders, their factory store has a restaurant and knowledgable staff, as well as varieties of soup I haven't seen anywhere else.

Back to the decorating...

the soup is Heinz ...is that ok?

we are in a 'brasserie' in Gloucester Docks, having rejected four sandwich shops as a place to get lunch .  I didn't even want to go near the one called 'Toast'.  Nothing promising on the menu so I ask about the soup .  "What flavour is it and does it have gluten in?"
The waitress came back from her fact finding mission to say it was tomato or veg and it was Heinz, was that ok?

I ate my handbag food.  Blueberry and white chocolate seed bar.  Fortunately it tastes so good I am glad to have the opportunity to eat it rather than some bad soup.

I have no idea if the two soups are safe.  I don't think it should be my job to know the ingredients in the food a restaurant is serving when they don't.

empty cupboard vegan gluten-free minestrone

minestrone with rosemary crackers

I need an easy supper after all the complex meals I have been making and I haven't been grocery shopping. I fancied a minestrone and thought the River Cafe winter minestrone looked good.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1732/the-river-cafes-winter-minestrone

Of course I lacked a lot of the ingredients, so here is my version.

250ml left-over vegetable gravy made with vegetable stock and caramelised onions.  Otherwise, slow cook an onion and then add stock or a stock cube.
250ml water
1 garlic clove
pinch black pepper
1/2 red pepper, chopped - I like the long pointed ones.
1 can tomatoes, chopped, pureed or whole- but then smash a bit.
1 can borlotti beans -  put half in soup whole and the other half blitzed with some of the stock to make a puree to thicken soup
1/2 tsp tamari ( gluten free version of soy sauce)
chunk of savoy cabbage, chopped
handful flat-leaf parsley
handful gluten free pasta - I used Tesco Organic shells - they hold their shape well.


Put all the ingredients except for half the parsley, the cabbage, the pureed beans and the pasta to cook.  The flavours will improve if you can leave this simmering for twenty minutes or so.  Then add the cabbage, pasta and the rest of the parsley.  When the pasta is nearly cooked add the pureed beans.  If you put the pureed beans in earlier you will have to stand over the pan stirring as they will tend to stick to the bottom.

If you have other vegetables that you want to use up add as you think fit.

If you like and can tolerate dairy, grate some Parmesan on top.  Alternatively, drizzle some pungent olive oil on and serve with my rosemary crackers, toasted pine-kernels, or Lazy Bread spread with garlic and toasted.  An easy, nutritionally balanced and warming supper that will be good to eat tomorrow for lunch if there is any left.

Very Easy Turkey Noodle Soup - gluten-free

In the brief gap between when I stopped being a vegetarian and discovered I was gluten intolerant I enjoyed chicken noodle soup.  Yesterday I watched a programme about how Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup was made, so of course today for lunch we had Turkey Noodle Soup.

I am cooking the turkey carcass with lots of water to make a stock, so I simply ladled out two portions of this stock, using a sieve over the soup pan to make sure no bones or other unwanted solids were transferred.  I added a little salt and two slices of left-over turkey, chopped small.  When this was boiling I added some Ko-Lee Rice Vermicelli Noodles, which I crushed into smallish pieces. They are quite sharp so next time I think I would bash them with a rolling pin.

I cooked the soup until the noodles were soft, which took about six minutes.  The soup was very good and very easy.