Red pepper soup with smoked paprika

A bright, punchy soup to enliven a still, foggy Nov. afternoon. The colour derives from red pepper and tomatoes; the umph comes from the barley miso, the paprika and the seaweed. There's the juice of half a lemon, a dash of pumpkin oil and some warm water in this too.

Rambling along one of the local lanes earlier I came across a cordoned off verge. A notice informed me that it was the habitat of meloncholy thistle. what a greart name. I love the fact someone noticed this, and others acted to protect it. If I could find some to plant on my own shared plot, then I would.