3 cosy and nutritious vegan soup recipes

Slice the red onion and leeks and fry these in your vegan butter or olive oil. Give it about ten minutes, stirring occasionally, or until these become translucent and soft.

Heat the water in a large pan (a very large pan as you will add the rest of the ingredients to it eventually). Add the stock and dissolve it. Once dissolved, add the lentils, and bring the pan to the boil.

While boiling, carefully add the softened onions and leeks, as well as the chopped up carrots, into the water.

Allow to simmer for 45 minutes. Taste regularly and check the consistency of your lentils. You want them to get a little mushy, and comfortable to eat with a spoon straight out of the pan.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you like soup a little chunky, serve as is, with the coriander or parsley garnish. If you prefer something a little smoother, you can use a hand blender to mix it all together before serving.

Add a drizzle of sesame seed oil and vegetable oil to the pan along with the diced onions, ginger, chilli and garlic. Fry until the onions are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Once they are soft, allow to cool.

Make the broth by dissolving the vegetable stock in water, and adding this to your cool base. Add in the rest of the spices and simmer for twenty minutes.

In a separate pan, boil more water and cook your rice noodles, following the instructions on the packet. It should take around ten minutes, depending on your noodles. You can taste them to see how soft they are, and turn off the heat once they’re a texture you like.

Drain the water from the noodles and add them to bowls.

Keep the broth water, but sieve out the spices (star anise, chunks of ginger etc.) Add a few ladleful's of broth to each bowl, then decorate with garnishes of your choice.

Roughly chop the red onions. Use a sharp knife to cut up the squash and the pumpkin into small chunks.

Toss these into a couple of baking trays with a drizzle of olive oil, along with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.

Roast in an oven at 250 degrees centigrade for thirty minutes, turning occasionally. The vegetables should become soft when a fork prongs them. (The larger the chunks, the longer they will take to cook.)

Once soft, remove the veg and allow it to cool. Then add them to a large bowl with some vegetable stock and use a blender to mix. A thicker, orange soup will form. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with a healthy spoonful of vegan yogurt and some freshly chopped chives.