Time: 45 minutes 

Method: Roughly slice the onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Heat a glug of olive oil in a pot, then add the sliced ingredients. Cook for around 10-15 minutes until softened.

Crumble the stock cubes into 1.5l of boiling water, add to the pot with the whole tomatos and the tinned tomatos. Then add the chilli powder, lea and perrins and Sriracha. Bring to the boil, reduce to simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on. 

Remove from the heat, season and stir in the basil leaves. Then blend with a hand blender until smooth, I prefer my soup a little on the thick side. Serve with black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. 

Time: 60 minutes

Method: Put the lentils into a pan, cover with cold water and boil for 10 minutes then simmer for a further 20 minutes. Whilst those are being cooked heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in a frying pan then add the roughly chopped onion, garlic and the grated ginger. Once softened add the mustard seeds, garam masala, turmeric and chilli flakes I usually add sometimes a little more than a teaspoon but it's all down to preference really. Pop the vegetable stock cube in the frying pan followed by 50ml of boiling water and the two tins of plum tomatoes. Simmer for around 8 minutes.

Pour the tomato and onion mix and a handful (or more) of spinach into the lentil pan. Stir well and cook until the lentils are tender. After 10 minutes add half a can of coconut milk, season with salt and pepper and stir. Serve with sliced avocado and some red pickled onion (I already had these pickled in my fridge but I'm sure you can store buy these or quick pickle).

I put 60 minutes as a rough time guide, I like to ponder a lot.