Search This Blog

Search This Blog

Summer Root Vegetable Soup

A summery soup rich with lots of root vegetables. Low in calories and fat so the perfect recipe if you are watching your weight or calorie counting.

Summer Root Vegetable Soup



Summer Soup


Calling this a summer root vegetable soup may be a misnomer. Are these summer root vegetables? 

Well no, but they are pretty much year round crops in Scotland.

They are grown or available in the summer, this is the summer and it is such a colourful cheerful soup. Yep I'm sticking with it being a summer soup.

Do you eat soup in summer?

We do.

We eat a lot more salads and light meals in the summer, but we still crave soup, so I have to make a pot fairly regularly.



Summer Root Vegetable Soup

This is my husband's favourite soup.

He loves a chunky root vegetable soup and I don't make it very often.

I hate chopping the damn turnips. They are so hard. I'm always in fear of losing fingers while I try to get my knife through. I use sharp chef's knives, but they are still a blasted nuisance to cut.

Cooper, well he doesn't like this style of soup so much. He did eat most of his soup but grumbled that he prefers my other soups.

I think it's probably because I cut the vegetables quite large for this soup. There was a lot of dunking of bread and a small pile of vegetables left in the bottom of the bowl when he claimed he was finished.

Me? I cleared my bowl. It was yummy! Graham went back for a second bowl. My work here is done.


Scottish Turnip

What is a Scottish Turnip?


Right let's talk about that blasted turnip that's so hard to cut.

This is what we call a turnip here in Scotland. The Scottish word for it is neep

We traditionally serve it mashed and serve it with mashed potato and haggis, or chopped in stews and soups. 

It was introduced to Scotland in the 1700s and is thought to have arrived here from Sweden.

What is aTumshie?


To confuse things further, we also call them tumshie, although my mother has always called them turmshie, so that may be a regional difference in dialect or maybe just my mum. 

Turmshie or tumshie is more of an affectionate name for it than an official Scottish name. To call someone out on being a bit daft, you could call them a 'tumshie-heid' (turnip head).

Oh yes and until recently we carved them at Halloween instead of pumpkins. 

Of course we have now cottoned onto the fact that pumpkins are much easier to carve and switched to them, but as a child we had turnip lanterns.

What is a Swede?


In England they call this big purple beast a swede and they call the wee baby ones turnips. 

Of course they are wrong (queue Scottish/English debate). The big ones are turnip and the wee ones are swedes.

What is a Rutabaga?


Are you ready for this? It's also call the rutabaga! This is the north American name for the turnip. It comes from the Swedish word rotabagge which mashes together rot (root) and bagge (short, stubby object). 

Whatever you call the big purple yin, it's gives a lot of flavour to soups, it fabulous mashed with lots of butter/dairy-free spread, a touch of salt and lots of black pepper.

It's also rather nice raw. I always crunch on some while I am chopping the blasted things,


A large white cast iron pot full of Summer Root Vegetable Soup

So what's in this hearty root vegetable soup?


Onion, garlic, celery, leeks, carrots, turnip and potatoes. 


No wonder it's so tasty. It's also healthy and very filling. We serve it for dinner with some crusty buttered (dairy-free spread), but it is a treat for lunch too.

It's also low calorie, with only 89 calories per bowl (6 servings), which is great if you are trying to lose a bit of weight like I am. It's also perfect for the 5:2 diet, which I'm a great fan of.

Some other really tasty 5:2 diet soups to try are my spiced carrot, lentil and spinach soup (my favourite) at 138 calories per bowl, my carrot, leek and mustard seed soup at 119 calories per bowl or my broccoli and celery soup at 111 calories per bowl.

Of course you need to add the calories of that bread you are serving with it too.



also try - Easy Carrot & Mixed Vegetable Soup (5:2 diet)


Summer Root Vegetable Soup


summer soup, root vegetable soup, vegetable soup, Scottish soup, low calorie soup, diet soup, 5:2 diet recipe, 5:2 diet soup, 5:2 diet
dinner
Scottish, vegan, vegetarian
Yield: 6 bowls of soup
A bowl of Summer Root Vegetable Soup

Summer Root Vegetable Soup

A summery soup rich with lots of root vegetables. Low in calories and fat so the perfect recipe if you are watching your weight or calorie counting.
prep time: 15 minscook time: 50 minstotal time: 65 mins

ingredients


  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced
  • 1 large leek, sliced
  • 4 large carrots, chopped or sliced
  • 1/2 large or one small turnip (swede/rutabaga)
  • 6 baby or small potatoes, halved or quartered
  • 1 ½ - 2 litres (6-8 cups) vegetable stock made with 4 stock cubes
  • a good grinding of salt and pepper

instructions


  1. In a large pan saute the onion and garlic until soft.
  2. Add the chopped celery and leek and cook gently for a few minutes.
  3. Add the carrots, turnip and potatoes and cook gently for a few more minutes.
  4. Add the stock. You can add a little more if you think it needs it.
  5. Season with a good grinding of salt and pepper.
  6. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a summer and cook for 35-40 minutes
  7. Use a potato masher to mash some of the vegetables in the soup, to give it texture. Leave plenty of whole vegetables. Do not mash it all. Just a quick mash.
  8. Serve with buttered (dairy-free spread) crusty bread.
  9. Enjoy!
calories
89
fat (grams)
2.7
sat. fat (grams)
0.4
carbs (grams)
15.6
protein (grams)
1.9
sugar (grams)
5.8
Created using The Recipes Generator


a bowl of spiced cauliflower and carrot soup


If you like this soup, you may also like my spiced cauliflower and carrot soup. It's a simple but hearty soup that will fill you up and leave you feeling satisfied at lunch or dinner. Cauliflower and carrots are the star of the show in this vegan and dairy free soup.



Want to receive my posts by email? Scroll to the bottom of the page and sign up or why not sign up for my newsletter and get my monthly newsletter full of recipes and an update on what I've been doing? My latest newsletter was full of summer picnic recipes. See the link on my sidebar (look right).

26 comments

  1. I love soup and especially summer soups, since they aren't as common! This recipe sounds delish!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too and thanks. It would be too sad to miss out on soup in the summer.

      Delete
  2. This sounds like the perfect summer soup. Even low in calories yet has so many yummy veggies. I need to give this a try!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it is perfect all year round and a great way to get nutrients into your family meals.

      Delete
  3. I love soup and can eat it all year long!! Your soup with all the summer root vegetables looks so delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes me too Elaine and thank you for the lovely comment :)

      Delete
  4. Soup is perfect for me year around. I love how you use all the amazing root vegetables to make this a tasty and healthy dish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too Jacque and yes it is very healthy and full of flavour.

      Delete
  5. This is the type of soup my mum always made when I was a child. She served it with big doorsteps of her own homemade bread. It stuck to your bones and you never went hungry. Nice memories. Jill

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes my mum made and still makes a very similar soup, which she makes in her terrifying, hissing pressure cooker. I really must get her an instant pot one of these days so she can throw that thing out.

      Delete
    2. Yes my mum had one of those too and it did spit and hiss. I prefer a slow cooker myself. Jill

      Delete
    3. I hardly use my slow cooker. I'm not organised enough.

      Delete
  6. Ha! I love when veggies have a hundred different names, this makes things interesting ;) It's honestly too hot here to be eating soup but it sure looks delicious and something I'd love to try when the weather gets cooler!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes although it can be confusing. Hot here is probably quite a cool day for you :)

      Delete
  7. Looks delicious! I love soup at any time of year, and we're also big fans of the turnip/swede/rutabaga :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes us too and gotta love it, whatever you call it. It's just the chopping I hate.

      Delete
  8. I love the sound and look of this soup. I rarely eat soup in the summer months although it makes sense especially lighter versions. You may have inspired me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes it's just a nice change and it is so tasty.

      Delete
  9. Love soup all year round! Especially brothy ones like this. Sounds really tasty :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes me too Becca, mind you we always like the same food.

      Delete
  10. So many veggies in season. Love veggie soups in summer :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know and yes I agree, I still enjoy soup in the summer.

      Delete
  11. It's totally a swede! And turnips are completely different veggies, not baby swedes... honestly, I reckon the altitude of living so far north must addle your brains up there!

    LOLOLOL!

    You're definitely not the only one who loves soup in the summer - we do too. In fact, we have soup or some form of casserole, stew, curry, etc. almost every day. :-)

    Am now going to make myself a big bowl of soup for lunch! ;-) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I disagree completely! haha! Glad you are enjoying soup too.

      Delete
  12. Well I never knew that a turnip was the same thing as a swede! (well, just different in size and, of course, the Scottish have it the right way round 😉 )

    Your root vegetable soup looks so nourishing. My family hasn't eaten a lot of soup this summer as it's been so hot and cooling, salady kind of dinners have been the order of the day. However, I can definitely see us enjoying a bowl or two of this as soon as the weather turns 😋

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sharon :)

      Yes we have been eating a lot of salad too, but we have had a few cooler days where soup is perfect.

      Delete

I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x