Souper running

My 'new blog' excitement clearly fizzled out this week, either that or life stuff took me over for a few days.  Still running, still cooking, still surviving, just no words (or time?) to write of it. 

My self-imposed January Soup Month is still going strong.  I have two new recipes for you today... spiced parsnip soup and leek & watercress soup. 

The parsnip soup was inspired by my friend who did a *souper* version of Jamie Oliver's spiced parsnip soup for our lunch last month.  It was really delicious, so she sent me the recipe.  I have changed it to suit me, but you can read the original recipe here. 

Spiced Parsnip Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 stick of celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Piece of ginger, chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
6-8 parsnips (depending on size) chopped
1.5 litres of stock (I use Marigold)
250 mls milk
seasoning

Cook the onion, celery garlic, ginger and spices in oil, for around 5-10 minutes until soft and fragrant.  Add the parsnips, and cook for a further 10 minutes.  Add the stock and milk and cook gently with the lid on until the parsnips are cooked (about 10 minutes).  Blend until smooth and season to taste.  


I *love* watercress.  We came across some wild watercress over the summer, growing by a stream in the Peak District and it was delicious and a really nice addition to our camping supper when we got back to our tent that day.. although I did later learn that it's not recommended to eat wild watercress in the UK because of some tiny snails which lay eggs on it and spread a particular disease!  Needless to say we had washed it and survived - but I would think twice next time!  I would usually eat watercress raw on salads, or topping pizza, or along side a creamy meal - it's nutty, peppery taste is just delicious for off-setting a rich meal.

It is nice though cooked into things - in a similar way to how spinach is used, except it is far tastier (and therefore superior in my opinion!)  It goes really well with celeriac in soup, but as there's no celeriac in the shops at the moment, I decided to make a leek and watercress soup instead. 

Leek and Watercress Soup

4 leeks, chopped
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 bags (about 75g each) of watercress
1.25 litre of stock
500 mls milk
seasoning

Cooked the leeks in oil, or butter and add the potatoes after about 5 minutes.  Cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the watercress.  Add the stock and the milk and bring to a simmer.  Cook with the lid on for 15-20 minutes.  Blend the soup and season. 


 I also experimented with flapjack this week.. I was running low on porridge oats, but had a large bag of 'value' muesli, which as far as I can see is mostly oats anyhow!  So I substituted the oats for muesli and it's pretty darn good!

Muesli Flapjack

350g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
200g  sugar
450g muesli

Melt the butter, syrup and sugar in a pan.  Add to the muesli, combine and pour into a greased tray.  Cook at 180° for 20-25 minutes. 

 In running news, I took my eldest daughter (age 9) running with me this week.  We aimed to run 4 miles as she was very close to this distance on her previous run and it's a good 'easy run' for me.  I'd had stiff muscles this week so I needed a slower paced, shorter run so I didn't cause more discomfort. 

She did amazingly, and didn't stop once.  She didn't slow for the hills (and we did two bigguns!) and she really enjoyed it.  She has a good fitness base from competitive swimming (she trains 3 hours per week) and it really showed, even though she isn't a seasoned runner.  I was super (not souper!) proud of her and I can see her joining me on my regular 5 mile runs before too long. 

I've also had few night runs this week with my neighbour, and it's been nice having the motivation to get out and do a local run, on a route I enjoy, despite the rain, despite the cold, despite the dark. 

I'm aiming for 60 miles in January, which is a huge step up from December, and my legs are tired and achy.. but I'm on track.  I've done 27 miles so far and I have a few longer distance run planned in the coming weeks. 

All's good in my souper running world.