Winter is coming. This weekend apparently. It is supposed to be soup weather in Sydney. Instead, today it is going to be 28*C {82*F}. I love me some sunshine, but that is a little crazy!

I wanted something souper {see what I did there?} easy to make for the first few days of this week. I’m doing a bit of a cleanse after a week {or 3} of eating my feelings. As with a lot of things we make, this was a matter of which vegetables do we have that I can throw in a pot.

What do I need?
1 tin organic diced tomatoes
1 tin organic lentils
1 tin organic four bean mix
2 smallish sweet potatoes
2 purple sweet potatoes
1 good sized parsnip
3 cloves garlic
Half an onion {I only had a red one handy, any onion will do!}
1 tablespoon tahini
1.5 litres stock {I used Massel chicken stock, which is vegetarian!}
1 bunch fresh thyme
Gratings of Grana Padano cheese
Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of organic coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of organic tomato paste and a splash of Worcestershire sauce {not pictured}

Now what do I do with it?
Melt coconut oil in large saucepan; add diced onion, garlic, tahini and approximately 1.5 tablespoons of thyme and tomato paste and stir until onion is transparent. Add half of the stock and all of the vegetables {diced}. Simmer for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Once vegetables are tender, drain lentils and beans well – a few rinses until the water runs clear should do it because, well, ain’t nobody got time for the gaseous film around the legumes!

Pop the rest of your ingredients {saving the thyme and cheese} into your saucepan and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. You want the flavours to develop, but don’t want your legumes to disintegrate. Serve with some shavings of Padano, a few fresh thyme leaves and some pepper to taste.

Love Bug likes hers without the extra thyme leaves but with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt mixed in. It’s also tastier the day after you make it once the flavours have all gotten to know each other a little better.

If one wasn’t cleansing, this soup would be awesome with some crusty bread slathered in butter. Just in case you were wondering.