Happiness Soup

Now this is one of my all time favourite recipes - happiness soup from Nigella Lawson.

It really makes me happy.

Courgette, lemon, basmati rice. Need I say more?

The recipe is very simple, the most difficult thing was to get hold of the turmeric. Not that it isn't readily available, its just that I didn't know the right word in Dutch (duh!).

Here it's called kurkuma so now you know if ever you went looking for it in the Super de Boer.

Follow the link to the original recipe, or here is a copy if you are too lazy to go to her page:

• 500g yellow courgettes (2 large)
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
• 100g basmati rice
• Maldon salt and pepper

Serves: 4-6.

1. Cut the courgettes - wash them by all means if you want, but don't bother to peel them - into 5mm rings, and then finely dice them. Put them into a pan with the lemon zest and oil, stir to coat, then cook on a gentle heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they've slightly softened.
2. Stir in the turmeric and pour in the stock and lemon juice and then drop in the rice. And for the stock here, as usual I make up some bouillon concentrate with water; you could use vegetable stock if you prefer, but I love the mellow goldenness you get from chicken.
3.  Cook, uncovered, for 10-20 minutes, or just until the courgettes and rice are tender. Taste for seasoning.
4. Leave to cool slightly before serving so that you eat the soup warm rather than hot.

As always I modified the recipe slightly, I added onions and used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I grated the courgette instead of dicing them. Also, watch out that you don't add too much rice... it will then become more of a rice dish than a soup but still delicious.

Easy peasy and yummy!