A warming soup

If, like me, you're ill with the sniffles, chances are you'll be wanting some nice hot soup. But which soup to make? Well, this is a good source of recipes - I'm particularly taken with Ainsley Harriott's Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach soup, and not just because of my unhealthy obsession with Ainsley Harriott. Times are, though, I've leafed through that book and been faced with a whole load of recipes I don't have the ingredients for, and a whole world of worry.

Soup can be simpler and the following recipe is as simple as it gets, yet wonderfully hearty and spicy. Any of the root vegetables can be substituted for whatever you happen to have in and you can probably do the same with the spices, so if you haven't got enough ingredients to have a stab at it, it's probably high time you got yourself down the grocers anyway.

1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 potato
1 white beetroot
1 carrot
Olive oil
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp dried chili flakes
Boiling/hot water
2 tsp bouillon powder (or vegetable stock cube)
Lemon juice
Salt

• Heat a generous slug of oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion and garlic until the onion is soft.
• Peel the veg and cut into 1cm cubes. Add to the saucepan with the spices and continue to fry for a few minutes.
• Add the bouillon powder and cover with enough water for the vegetables to start to float. Simmer until the toughest of the veg are cooked (the carrot, in this instance).
• Remove from the heat and have at it with a hand blender until you achieve the consistency you require (I like to stop just short of smooth, so that tiny chunks of veg still remain). Add more water or simmer longer depending on the consistency you'd like.
• Add salt and a few generous dashes of lemon juice (the lemon really rounds it off; try it before and after). Stir. Serve!

Soupy twist.