Sweetcorn Chowder with Red Cabbage- vegan

Served with home-made flatbread, this is a truly seasonal delight!

It was the first day of the Autumn half- term holiday, and lunchtime was looming... I was looking for some quick and tasty fuel to get me out into the garden to plant the Spring bulbs, my husband was feeling ill with a heavy cold -and the kids were just plain hungry. When I phoned up to tell my husband's customer of the day that he was unwell and wouldn't be able to work, he said: "Make him some hot soup," so this recipe was born! It actually tastes so rich and creamy everyone thought it had milk, cream or cheese in it, but in actual fact the secret is ground sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast plus a little bit of soya milk; these ingredients make this a much more nutrient- dense version, being packed with B vitamins, aminoacids, vitamin E and minerals and it is a very satisfying meal with some bread or crackers. The stir-fried red cabbage is added at the end to preserve the soup's yellow colour and give a bit of crunch.
My husband was making the flatbreads while I made the soup, so together we managed to rustle up this lunch for five from scratch in about half an hour, maybe less.
A handful of red cabbage for each person
100g sunflower seeds
450g frozen sweetcorn kernels
500ml water
200ml soya milk
1 tsp organic rice miso
olive oil/ organic sunflower oil for stir-frying
1 tsp hing
a dash of soy sauce/ liquid aminos
1 dsp nutritional yeast flakes
black pepper, seasalt and dried thyme to taste

• First grind the sunflower seeds as finely as your grinder will let you without actually making sunflower butter.
• Chop the red cabbage into fine shreds and stir-fry in the oil, adding the soy sauce and hing when about half done, then lowering the heat and cooking gently until just cooked through but still a little crunchy. Set aside.
• Mix 1 tsp miso with 500ml water and add to a pan along with the sweetcorn, heating gently.
• Stir in the ground sunflower seeds and the soya milk and bring to the boil.
• Turn off the heat and blend all but a few ladle-fuls (it's nice to leave a few kernels in there), returning to the pan on a gentle heat.
• Season with the salt, black pepper, thyme and nutritional yeast.
• Serve with a dollop of red cabbage in the middle and some flatbread*(see pic).

-Oh, and a very happy Diwali to all!

*My husband's flatbread recipe to follow in my next post.