Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 2–3 garlic cloves
• 2 medium carrots or 1 medium carrot and 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 red pepper
• ½ vegetable stock cube
• 1 x 400g/14oz can red kidney beans
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin (optional)
• 1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
• 1 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
• ground black pepper (optional)

Directions

• Peel the onion and chop into small pieces
• then peel and press or finely chop the garlic (chop it as small as you can).
• Peel
• top and tail the carrots (and the sweet potato if using) and chop into 1cm/½in chunks.
• Wash the pepper
• deseed and slice into 1cm/½in pieces.
• Place the onion
• garlic
• carrots and (sweet potatoes if using) in the microwavable bowl and mix well. Place the bowl in the microwave and cook on full power for three minutes.
• Measure 300ml/10fl oz of boiling water into a measuring jug
• crumble in the stock cube and stir to dissolve. Open the can of kidney beans
• drain and rinse with cold water through the colander. Set aside.
• Add the red pepper
• oil and chilli powder to the microwaveable bowl. Add the cumin and oregano
• if using. Stir and microwave on full power for one minute.
• Stir in the chopped tomatoes
• stock and black pepper
• to taste (if using). Stir well again
• then microwave on full power for 15 minutes
• stirring every five minutes.
• Remove the soup from the microwave. Taste (take care the soup will be very hot) and add more black pepper if required (if using).
• If you want smooth soup
• rather than chunky soup
• you can blend it at this stage. (Ladle a third of the soup into a jug blender. Holding a tea towel over the lid
• blend the soup and pour into a clean mixing bowl. Repeat the process until all the soup is blended. Return to the microwave-safe bowl.)
• Add the kidney beans to the soup and microwave on full power for three minutes
• stirring after two minutes.
• Remove the soup from the microwave and allow to stand for one minute before serving.