Roast Beetroot Soup

I fed this to JP and my mother in law the other day and it went down a treat.  It is adapted from one of Sarah Raven's "Garden Cookbook".  The secret is first roasting the beetroot in the oven.

500 grms beetroot
2-3 large beetroot leaves or swiss chard
1.5  litres of veggie stock
olive oil
2 onions-chopped
3 leeks chopped
2 carrots-chopped
2 celery stick-chopped
2 garlic cloves-crushed
salt and pepper
sour cream or cream to serve
chopped tarragon to serve

Preheat oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4.  Tear the leaves off the beetroot, but do not cut its roots off.  Scrub the roots clean and roast in the oven for an hour or so.  The beetroots are cooked when the skin looks wrinkled and can be easily pushed off.
If using chard, seperate the green part of the card from the stalks and shred the leaves-do the same of using beetroot leaves.  In a pan gently fry in the olive oil the onions, leeks, celery, chopped carrots and garlic, until soft.  Add the stock and greens and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Rub the skin off the beetroot and chop it up.  Add it to the pan and simmer another 5 minutes or so.
Blend using a hand held blender or in a food processor.  If necessary sieve or mouli the soup to remove any fibrous bits.
Add a little water if the soup is too thick.  Check the seasoning and serve either hot or cold, with a swirl of cream and a scattering of chopped tarragon.

My Store Cupboard Essentials

I recently got a request from a friend for a list of my store cupboard essentials-it might be rather a long list!  
My favourite Grains:
Short grain Brown rice, risotto rice, toasted buckwheat, polenta, wild rice and oats.  Two less commonly known ones out here are:
Millet: Millet is painfully underutilized.  It is given to birds more often than used in homes. These perfect, delicately textured, butter-colored beads are good for you. Easy to digest and sporting a fantastic heart-healthy magnesium content, millet is a great, quick-cooking starter grain. If you have the time for the extra step, the flavor of millet generally benefits from pre-toasting, easily done in a skillet. It brings forth a nutty flavor and tints the grains a wonderful spectrum of deep yellows and light browns.
Quinoa: Pronounced (KEEN-wah). This is a small, quick-cooking grain which I love. High in easy-to-digest fiber and tops in protein, it has an encyclopedic vitamin and mineral profile. This is the grain credited with keeping Incan armies strong and resilient. Because the protein in quinoa is considered complete, it’s an ideal grain for vegetarians concerned about getting enough protein. It includes all of the essential amino acids and is a rich source of the amino acid lysine, which promotes tissue growth and repair and supports the immune system.  It has a slightly grassy taste and fluffed-up, creamy-while-crunchy texture. Always rinse it before using to remove the bitter saponin coating (which the plant produces to deter birds and insects). 
Dried Beans:
These all need pre-soaking but are a power house of nutrients.  Store them in a dark place to retain nutritious values.  Soya beans, red kidney beans, butter beans, chick peas, black beans and black eyed peas are always in my store cupboard, I tend to have a few tins of beans as well for moments when a quick meal is needed. 
Lentils:
We are so lucky in East Africa to be able to get the most amazing selection of cheap lentils, they are substantial, filling, highly nutritious, and relatively quick to cook. They are great cooked into stews, mashed into spreads, molded into croquettes of all sizes, and mixed into grain-based salads. Plus, unlike most dried beans, they require no presoaking.
Red lentils, yellow & green split peas (always good for soup and dhals), mung beans-done in a coconut sauce.
Flours:
Being mainly gluten free the two flours I tend to use most are gram flour-for bhajis, pakoras, pancakes-and millet flour for a millet bread. 
Nuts & Seeds:
There is huge amount one can do with nuts-Toast that nut and the flavor becomes more pronounced, Chop it and you have a crunchy, textural element to play with in salads. Mill it into a flourlike meal and you have an ingredient that can be used to add flavor to deliciously thicken a pureed soup. Grind it and you have a spread or butter. Or blend it with water to make a nut milk-like my almond milk. 
Because of their naturally high fat content, nuts and seeds can quickly go rancid. Seek out good sources with fresh stock, and store them refrigerated. Nuts that are sold sliced or chopped are much more likely to be rancid upon purchase than whole nuts. 
I always have a selection of the pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, linseed, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, macadamia nuts, cashew nuts in the house.
Bits and bobs:
Soy Sauce, tamari, or shoyu.  I could not live without my Tamari-it goes on everything from salads, to brown rice.
Vinegars:  Red, apple cider, raspberry (delicous on hass avocado with a bit of honey, mustard, and fresh chopped basil), balsamic and an aged balsamic for sepcial occasions!
Chili sauce-I make a pili pili hoho with sherry and birds eye chilies, and then always have a chipotle sauce on the go as well.
Dark Chocolate.
Soya milk
Spices:  Garam masala, cloves, cardamon, corriander seeds, cummin seeds, spanish paprika, cinnamon.  

A few good books

I have read a few really good books recently-generally about food and the food industry.
'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' - by Barbara Kingsolver is excellent, it's about her family's quest to live on only local produce.  It was inspiring and amusing!  http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/.

I just finished reading 'The Omnivors Dilema'  by Michael Pollan http://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/    another book of his I enjoyed was 'In defence of Food'.

I am currently reading 'The New Complete book of Self-suficiency:  The classic guide for realists and dreamers'.  I have always wanted this book and finally have it!  It has a wonderful section on the cultivation of vegetables.