::On the 4th day of Christmas::

HEALTHY GREEN SOUP

from I LIKE FOOD, FOOD TASTES GOOD: In the kitchen with your favorite bands, by Kara Zuaro

by Marc Beatty, from Brakes

"This basic soup is easy to make and can be used as a template for more adventurous creations. It's a good way to get rid of leftover vegetables and is very good for you. The ingredients in this soup are my preference but you can improvise and use whatever you like really." --Marc Beatty

Ingredients:

3 bits of garlic (cloves, that is)

1 large onion

1 potato, scrubbed

Half a savoy cabbage

1 leek

1 whole bunch of broccoli

5 cups water

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup of cheese (cheddar is fine, parmesan and gruyere also work well)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

a sprinkling of chili flakes

1. First WASH YER HANDS! Then wash and chop u the vegetables, as follows: Finely chop the garlic and onion. Set aside in a bowl. Chop the potato in half and then into quarters and slice from there. Shred the cabbage. Chop the end off the leek and then slice the white part into inch-thick chunks. Place the potato, cabbage, and leek in a separate bowl. De-floret the broccoli and put the florets aside, in a third bowl. Take the broccoli stalk and remove any skanky bits. Now chop off the bottom and then chop the whole de-skanked stalk into thick chunks.

2. Boil the water in a saucepan and add the broccoli stalk with a pinch of salt, and turn heat down to let it simmer. After about 10 minutes, add the cabbage, leek, and potato to the saucepan with the broccoli stalk, turn the heat back up, and boil all together for another 10 minutes. The vegetables should be submerged in water--add a little more if you need to.

3. In the meantime, melt butter in a large, deep frying pan and add the onion and garlic, frying lightly.

4. Once the 10 minutes is up, drain the vegetables, but keep the water, as this is your stock. The broccoli stalk should be very soft. Add the boiled vegetables to they frying pan with the onion and garlic. Turn the heat up a bit and give it all a good frying for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

5. Once the potato is a little browned, add the stock. Now, add the broccoli florets, and simmer the whole lot together for just under 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.

6. While that's bubbling away, grate your cheese onto a plate. When almost 10 minutes have passed take the pan off the heat and give the whole thing a whizz with one of those handheld blenders or let it cool for a few minutes, and then carefully pour it into a food processor to puree it.

7. Once the mixture if fully liquefied, return it to a very low heat, and add the cheese and half a teaspoon of ground cumin. Stir it all in until the cheese has melted.

8. Give the soup a light sprinking of chili flakes, and add more salt and pepper if needed.

9. Serve in bowls with a generous chunk of slightly toasted crusty bread on the side.

Serves 4

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