Légumes oubliés, or forgotten vegetables, is a term coined by French chefs and gardeners to champion those vegetables left behind by the modern world that are often ugly or hard to grow: think gnarly root vegetables and the likes of jerusalem artichokes, salsify and cardoons. But the term forgotten veg also covers those not-at-their-best specimens at the back of the fridge, such as limp lettuce and borderline beets, all of which can be turned into delicious soup.
Forgotten vegetable soup
If we want to save food from being wasted, it is imperative that we learn at least in part to cook without strict recipes, inventing delicious dishes from leftovers and past-its-best produce. In my cookbook Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet, I lay out a root-to-fruit manifesto, a value-based approach to eating for personal and planetary health that’s based on science. Point one of that manifesto, however, is “Eat for pleasure”. How can a diet be sustainable if we don’t want to eat it the next day, after all? Point two is “Cook with love, confidence and creativity”, by which I mean that we need to embrace our inner chef, cook what we love and come up with delicious dishes made with whatever we have to hand. Keep it simple and you can’t go far wrong. Most ingredients go well together in simple combinations, even if unexpected: some of my favourite partnerships I discovered through experimentation, such as squash and orange, mushroom and vanilla, and parsnip and curry.
All the ingredients mentioned in the “recipe” below, which is less a set of instructions than a general template and guide, are approximate and optional, and the amount used of any of them can be tweaked according to your preferences and the availability of ingredients. These quantities will make one 300-500ml portion of soup, so multiply the quantities by the number of mouths you want to feed. I always advise making more, anyway, because batch cooking saves energy and means you’ve got meals in the fridge or freezer for the week (or months) ahead.
Serves 1
Choose your style Decide on the type of soup you’d like to make – refined, chunky or blended – then cut your veg accordingly (ie, diced small or large).
Start on the soup base For each serving, gently saute 50g chopped alliums and veg (eg, spring onions, celeriac, turnip) in a dash of oil for five minutes.
Boost the flavour Add spices to taste (eg, garam masala, ginger, cumin – somewhere between one and three teaspoons in total), cook for two minutes, then stir in any hardy herbs and/or finely chopped soft herb stalks (eg, rosemary, thyme, parsley stalks).
Eat more veg Stir in 100g of any sturdy veg you’re using up (eg, beetroot, potato, turnip) and an optional 50g grain and/or quick-cook pulse (eg, rice, fava beans, lentils)
Add the liquid … Pour in 200ml water, stock, milk or a plant-based alternative, bring to a boil, then simmer until all the vegetables are tender, and adding more liquid if necessary.
… and more delicate greens Stir in up to 50g leafy greens (eg, beetroot tops, salad leaves, celery leaves), cook for two minutes to wilt, then blend, if desired.
Finishing touches Ladle the soup into a bowl (or bowls), and add your toppings of choice to taste – torn stale bread, seaweed, pickles, edible flowers, spices, sprouts, nuts, seeds, croutons.
