Express Soup

This soup is perfect for those days when you just want something quick and simple to eat. You can vary the vegetables you use depending on what you like and what's in season.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1tbsp Clearspring Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 150g carrot, peeled and diced
• 150g turnip, diced
• 1tbsp Clearspring Soya Sauce
• 2tsp Clearspring Rice Mirin
• 2tsp Sake
• 2 sachets Clearspring Miso Bouillon Paste
• 150g broccoli, cut into florets
• 50g green beans, topped and tailed and cut into 2cm pieces
• 2tbsp deep fried onion

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onion and pepper and fry on a medium heat until they are just starting to soften.
2. Add the carrot, turnip, soya sauce, mirin, sake and a litre of cold water and bring to the boil.
3. Simmer for around 15 minutes and then add the rest of the ingredients except the deep fried onions.
4. Continue to simmer until all the vegetables are tender. Check the seasoning and then serve with the deep-fried onion sprinkled on top.

Variation: You can also garnish the soup with deep-fried garlic or flaked, toasted almond. For extra depth, try adding some chopped, dried dulse to the soup at the same as the water. For extra body, you can also add some broken up pasta to the soup.

Chef

Celia Plender

Celia Plender is a freelance food writer and chef with experience in both Japan and the UK. She has written for publications including Time Out Magazine, channel4.com/4food, goodfoodchannel.co.uk and clearspring.co.uk.

Since returning from Japan, where she worked as a chef in a Tokyo kaiseki restaurant, she has devoted more and more of her time to Japanese cuisine. As she trained in the West, she is also fully conversant with European cuisine.

She is the proud editor of two cookbooks: Dashi and Umami, the Heart of Japanese Cuisine (Cross Media 2009) and Umami World Recipes, Filipino (Cross Media 2009).

In her food writing career she has written for various magazines and websites, including www.channel4.com/4Food, where she is currently Deputy Editor, www.goodfoodchannel.co.uk, Time Out Eating and Drinking Guides, www.Eat-Japan.com and www.clearspring.co.uk. She is also a member of the Guild of Food Writers.