Ingredients

1 pint of water – for stock
100g of broccoli, chopped
1 medium-size sweet potato, peeled and diced
400g pak choi, washed and thinly sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, thinly sliced
150g stilton, crumbled
150ml milk or single cream
50g butter
1 vegetable stock cube
1tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it (serves 4)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and stir in the celery, broccoli, pak choi, potato and onion. Stir everything around to get a good coating of butter before putting a lid on the pan and let the ingredients sweat for ten minutes on a low heat. Then pour in the stock and bring it up to simmering point, cover again and cook gently for 30 minutes. Test that the vegetables are tender and, if not, re-cover and continue to cook until they are. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the milk. Then liquidise the soup along with the crumbled cheese and nutmeg until it is smooth. Return to the rinsed-out pan and re-heat gently – avoid boiling it. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Per portion: 434 cals; 32.5g fat; 15g protein; 21.7g carbohydrate

What you get

Broccoli

The US National Cancer Institute ranks broccoli top of its list of cancer-fighting vegetables. It contains substances, such as indoles and glucosonilates, which can help prevent cancers of the lung, stomach, mouth, colon and prostate. It’s also rich in betacarotene and vitamin C.

Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes contain potassium, vitamin C and fibre and are rich in the antioxidant betacarotene. This mops up cancer-causing free radicals and is also converted into vitamin A, which helps to protect against respiratory infections.

Pak choi

Vitamin C levels fall at times of infection and pak choi has an abundance, as well as betacarotene, potassium, iron and calcium.

Stilton

Vitamins C and E work together to prevent damage from free radicals. Stilton provides fat-soluble vitamin E as well as essential fats that can enhance the antibacterial strength of the mucus membrane.