Over the past year I’ve been working hard on something a little special to share with you all and it’s nearly ready to go! Due out in December is Going Veggie a book full of new delicious vegetarian recipes, a few of your old favourites plus lots of information on being a healthy and happy vegetarian.

It’s a book for everyone – vegetarians, new and old, flexi-vegetarians and meat eaters who enjoy the odd veggie meal. A guide full of everything I know about enjoying a simple, wholesome and satisfying vegetarian diet. I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to create something like this to share with you all and I hope you’ll join me in my excitement!

“Becoming vegetarian is not about giving up meat it’s about adopting a cruetly-free lifestyle that makes you both happy and healthy. With Going Veggie you’ll uncover more about what it means to be vegetarian and the abundant world of delicious vegetarian food; discovering wholesome ingredients and learning just how simple it is to enjoy a nutritious and satisfying vegetarian diet.”

It’s been a crazy busy and super fun experience putting everything together and I can’t wait to hold a copy in my happy hands!!

Now on an occasion like this it might be more appropriate to share a cake recipe but instead I’m sharing this nourishing, tasty vegan tomato Soup. Why? Well soup, for my family and I is one of those dishes we all love, and this soup especially.

Feeding a feisty toddler has been a huge learning curve. Making sure she gets the nutrition she needs while keeping the whole experience of food, taste and texture discovery fun and stress-free – it’s challenging but also incredibly rewarding!

This wholesome, tasty soup is something to celebrate as it boasts a combination of nourishing ingredients, is simple to make and our little girl loves it! She’ll happily eat a bowl for lunch and dinner days in a row, if I let her. The fact I serve it up over her favourite pasta and top it with vegetarian cheese goes a good way to making this delicious vegetarian tomato soup kid friendly.

Noticing cheap tomatoes at our fruit and veg shop over the weekend I knew it was time to make a big batch. It freezes well so it’s always handy to throw half the batch in the freezer for a quick nutritious meal when time is short.

I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe and I’ll have more information on the book coming up here on the blog next week, so stay tuned xo

ROASTED TOMATO & RED LENTIL SOUP w SPICY PEPITAS + AVOCADO CREAM

preparation time: 1hr // serves 6

• 1kg (2lb) ripe tomatoes (I used Roma but any nice ripe tomato will do)
• 200g (7oz) sweet cherry tomatoes
• 1 red capsicum (bell pepper)
• 1 red onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1-2 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• ¾ cup red lentils
• 4 tbs balsamic vinegar

SPICY PEPITAS

• 1/3 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbs olive oil

AVOCADO CREAM

• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1-2 tbs lemon juice (to taste)
• 1-2 tsp olive oil

to serve

• olive oil
• fresh basil

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/390°F

Slice the tomatoes in half, peel and quarter the onion and quarter and deseed the capsicum.

Throw the tomatoes, onions, and capsicum in a large baking dish along with the cherry tomatoes and whole unpeeled garlic cloves.

Drizzle over a tablespoon or two of Olive Oil and season with salt flakes and pepper. Place in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until tomatoes are soft and juices running.

Meanwhile you can prepare the spicy pepitas by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Heat a small frying pan over a medium/low heat. Add the pepita mixture and roast, tossing in the pan until the seeds begin to pop and the spices are fragrant. Remove from the pan and transfer to absorbent paper until you are ready to serve. Tip: these spicy pumpkin seeds are also great in salads or served over roasted vegetables.

Make the avocado cream by adding the avocado to a small food processor or blender and pulse until smooth with lemon juice to taste and a little drizzle or two of olive oil. Season with salt flakes and pepper and set aside in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Once the tomatoes, onions and capsicum are roasted remove from the oven. Pick out the whole garlic cloves and allow these to cool enough to handle. Transfer everything else from the baking dish, including all the juices into a large soup pot. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the soft roasted garlic from their skins straight into the same pot.

Add the stock, water and red lentils and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes until lentils are nice and tender.

Using a stick blender or in batches in your blender or food processor, blend the soup until smooth. It should be a lovely thick and creamy soup consistency.

Return to the heat and warm through.

Serve in warm bowls sprinkled with the spicy pepitas, a good dollop of the avocado cream, a drizzle of olive oil and scatter of basil leaves.

For a kid friendly version serve the soup over their favourite pasta shapes (I used a spelt pasta) and top with vegetarian cheddar cheese and/or the avocado cream.