I've been cooking a lot recently. I think it's partly the change in seasons, as the weather gets cooler I always find my enthusiasm for cooking increases. Of course it always helps when the cooking goes well. These are three recipes I've cooked and enjoyed recently:

This spinach pie from Vegan Latina. I reckon next time I'd add more dill, lemon juice and green shallots, as I wanted it to be even more tasty. However it's a simple, interesting recipe, which produces a lovely pie. We had it for dinner one night and then I put the other six serves in the freezer.

I could not tell you how many times I've made this Lettuce and Potato Soup by Martha Rose Shulman. Whenever I mention it to other people they think it an odd combination, however this soup is thick, delicious and highly satisfying. This time round I didn't have enough potatoes, so I added half a cup of red lentils, which boosted the nutritionals and protein content. Again, the leftovers have made it into our freezer.

I've had this peanut sauce bookmarked since I first spotted it back in 2010 and it's taken me this long to actually make the recipe. Which is a shame, because it's really, really, really good. I poured the sauce over a salad and then made it again on the following two nights to spark up otherwise dull steamed vegetables.

 

 

As I wrote earlier in the week, I tend to cook soups which are meals-in-a-bowl. However I also like adding various toppings and bits and pieces, to both boost the flavour and the nutritional content of what I'm eating. Here are some of the toppings I regularly use:

 

 

As we move into Autumn, I start thinking about soup. One of my favourite meals, I like my soups to be filling meals-in-a-bowl. Here are five delicious looking recipes I have my eye on:

 

 

The Lucillian Delights blog is a treasure trove of simple recipes, including some cracking soups. I've made Ilva's White Bean, Rosemary and Fennel Soup on many occasions and recently spotted this interesting sounding Fennel and Pear Soup recipe.

 

 

I'm a big fan of watercress soup. When I've cooked it in the past though I've always added one or two potatoes, to thicken the mixture. So I'm intrigued by this recipe from Mulberry and Pomegranate, which uses cornflower, milk and ground almonds to make a thicker soup. Lovely idea and I'm keen to try it out.

 

 

Roasting cauliflower in the oven is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to use this vegetable. And I love Sprouted Kitchen's idea of turning that roa sted and caramelised cauliflower into a soup. Even better it's made with fresh thyme and topped with toasted hazelnuts for extra delicious-ness.

 

 

This lovely recipe on Hushblog was pointed out to me by Sophie from Mostly Eating. It's an easy recipe where sweet potato is coupled with fresh ginger and finished with a squeeze of lime. Sophie recommends increasing the ginger and dropping the creme fraiche - which sounds like a great idea.

 

 

Trawling back through some old bookmarks I was reminded about this Roast Onion Soup recipe from Lucy of Nourish Me.  Unlike the class French onion soup, this one is sparked up with kaffir lime leaves, ginger, chilli and some coconut milk. Absolutely lovely idea.