Leeks! Why did I not try these before now? It is the question I asked  myself when I bought them and made this soup the first time last month. They are visually amazing with wonderful layers and colours, so fresh and vibrant, just like the colours of new life coming up in Spring. Then there is the taste, subtle yet very distinct. Coming from the onion family it has a very delicate onion taste. I decided to use leeks to make a soup just to try the basic taste, not to mention many recipes I have read include putting leeks in soups and stews.

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If you look at the complete menu for a Chinese meal in our house, then you see sweetcorn soup, spring rolls, and stir fry with either rice or noodles. This was also the standard order when ever we used to go out to eat in Malawi. That used to be the set menu we would get, probably because that was all the vegetarian option that was available.  I remember how we used to keep on adding more pepper to the soup because that is what  our father did, and then as we got older adding the garnish also just like he did. The chilli in the vinegar gives it an added flavour and depth to the taste especially if you like the slightly tangy and spicy flavours. Just simple tastes and natural flavours, this is what you get from this soup, not to mention the health benefits of the key ingredient itself. Sweet corn is rich in vitamin A & C and folate and magnesium. Cooked sweet corn is said to become rich in antioxidants and believed to help fight cancer and heart disease, however you loose the vitamin C.

I don’t know why I don’t make it with out having the other Chinese dishes, as it is such a quick simple recipe and can be eaten with bread or rice crackers. Oh well will have to try and remember next time I am looking for a healthy filling snack

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Until recently I did not like sweet potatoes very much, I guess it was due to the variety that I used to have but now we regularly eat the orange fleshed variety. This is quite quick and easy to cook, and despite its naturally sweet taste works well with strong savoury flavours. This particular variety is said to be rich in antioxidants vitamin C and beta carotene, which can help to enhance memory, so it is a good food to give to growing children. When my son started weaning I had got a few books from the library which helped give me ideas of what kind of food to give him. Certain foods are very common to give to children when they are at this stage. Foods rich in carbohydrates are very common but rather than the normal basic potatoes, I increasingly started using sweet potatoes because, as mentioned above, they are good for us. I used to just boil and mash them and then slowly I started adding salt, pepper, lemon juice, ghee (clarified butter), olive oil, rosemary and lightly sautéing them giving a very good added nutty and slightly caramelised flavour.

For quite some time now I have seen many recipes for sweet potato soups, but never actually got around to trying any of them however yesterday I thought I would give one of them a go. I had to change the recipe that I choose as I did not have all of the ingredients but it turned out to be a sweet and subtly spicy flavourful soup, not to mention satisfyingly filling. It is very quick and easy to make and I think it is a good meal to have if you are trying to be healthy or wish to eat a light meal. I would say in the current cold weather it certainly warms you up. As I was making it I came up with a few ideas of how to make it different, for example by simply adding red Thai curry paste and soy sauce, it could be turned into an oriental soup.

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