The humble beetroot is a powerhouse of a vegetable, you can defiantly whack it with the label of being a superfood. The beetroot is low fat, full of vitamins, minerals and powerful antioxidants, as well as being used by many Olympians as a booster before they compete. Studies have shown that it can cut minutes off your run time due to improving blood and oxygen flow to your muscles, thus being beneficial to endurance athletes. The beetroot was first cultivated by the Romans who used it for treating fever, wounds, skin problems and constipation! And today it is widely used to help reducing blood pressure. Even though the beet has such a reputation many feel uninspired by the vegetable, and often put off by the deep earthy flavor, when actually they can be super sweet. If using in a salad we usually roast them with thyme, olive oil, bay leaves and a little balsamic vinegar, and wonderful to get a mixture of the different types – yellow and candy which are beautiful in a salad. Here we are making our soup full of flavor thanks to the spice mix, herbs and chilli (whereas if you are simply celebrating the beet just a little cumin and a splash of red wine vinegar is lovely). We strongly recommend making your own soup – really couldn’t be easier, it also freezes well if you want to keep and few batches for the future (whereas raw beetroot does not freeze well). Above the ease part you are aware of what is going into it, you would be surprised at how much sugar goes into the store bought ones – which is very frustrating when you think you are making a healthy choice, just take a look the next time before you purchase. To serve we made a crunchy coriander pesto for texture and a dollop of natural yoghurt which also looks beautiful once stirred into the beautiful pink bowl.