I once threatened to serve my children nothing but stews and soups for dinner all the way through winter. They laughed at me, thinking I was joking. In fact, it turned out to be true. This was my introduction to one-bowl meals. Being a busy mother without a lot of money and four children to support, I needed a way of cooking that was inexpensive, nutritious and simple to carry out – so simple that with a little coaching my kids could learn to do it themselves. I began to make wonderful rich soups – what might be called peasant gruels. Eaten with wholegrain rye or corn bread, they provided just about everything that you could possibly need for health.

LUSCIOUS LENTIL SOUP

serves 6

What you need

400 g (14 oz) dried lentils
1 liter (13/4 pints) or more of stock or 3 tbsp of low-salt vegetable bouillon powder plus 1 liter (13/4 pints) water
4 carrots, chopped coarsely
6 sticks celery, chopped coarsely
150 g (5 oz) small potatoes, halved lengthwise
2-3 leeks, just the white parts chopped in ringlets
1 Spanish onion, chopped
2 parsnips, roughly chopped
3-4 tomatoes, chopped or 1 x 200 g (7 oz) can tomatoes
1 tbsp unsulfured black molasses
1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp broad-leaved parsley, chopped
juice of 1 lemon

Here’s how

Wash the lentils, place in a large pot and cover them with 5 or 7.5 cm (2 or 3 in) of stock or water. Bring them to the boil, add the remaining ingredients except the fresh parsley and lemon juice (including the vegetable bouillon powder if you’ve not used a stock as a base) and simmer for 45 minutes. I sometimes remove it from the heat and let it sit for half an hour, then reheat it just before serving, adding the lemon juice and garnishing with the parsley.