Fresh fruit soup
Not only is this refreshing soup perfect on sweltering summer days, it could also give you a vitamin boost in winter when you feel slightly under the weather. Stirred up from a variety of delicious raw fruit and vegetables, it is an easy way to top up on protective nutrients. Serve it as a high-vitality starter or snack.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 500 ml (17 fl oz) pineapple juice
- 500 ml (17 fl oz) orange juice
- ½ cucumber, diced
- ¼ red onion, finely chopped
- 1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped
- ½ fresh red chilli pepper, seeded and chopped
- juice of 1 lime
- ½ tsp caster sugar
- 1 large mango
- 10 cape gooseberries
- 1 firm pear
- 2 passion fruit
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 2 tsp chopped fresh coriander
- sprigs of fresh mint to garnish (optional)
Method
Prep:1hr30min ›
Ready in:1hr30min
- Mix together the pineapple and orange juices in a large bowl. Add the cucumber, onion, pepper, chilli, lime juice and sugar, and stir well to mix. Cover and chill for 1 hour so that the flavours can mix and develop.
- Peel, stone and dice the mango, and add to the soup. Discard the papery skins from the cape gooseberries, then quarter the fruit. Core and dice the pear and add to the soup with the cape gooseberries. Cut the passion fruit in half, scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon and stir into the soup with the chopped mint and coriander.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with mint sprigs, if liked, then serve at once.
Some more ideas
Make the soup as spicy as you like by adding more chopped fresh chilli – ½ chilli gives only the slightest of kicks. * For a slightly thicker soup, purée the cucumber, onion, pepper and chilli together in a blender or food processor until smooth, then add to the fruit juices in step 1. * In place of the mango, cape gooseberries, pear and passion fruit, use 1 peeled and diced kiwi fruit, 1 peeled and diced guava (or drained and diced canned guava) or 1 stoned and diced peach, ¼ peeled and diced pineapple and 1 diced banana. * If you happen to come across jícama, a juicy root vegetable from America's southwest and Mexico, it is a delicious, crunchy ingredient to add to the soup. Peel and dice it, then add it with the fruit just before serving. * Whizz the soup in a blender or food processor to make a high-vitamin refreshing drink for any time of year.
Plus points
The World Cancer Research Fund suggests that eating 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day could prevent 20% of all cases of cancer. This soup is a great way to help you meet the 5-a-day target. * Studies into the incidence of bowel cancer within different population groups suggest that people who eat more fruit and vegetables are less likely to get this disease. * Research at Harvard University found that drinking 1 glass of orange juice daily could reduce the risk of stroke by 25%.
Each serving provides
A, B1, B6, C * folate, potassium
