Small victory in the kitchen today – my vegetable soup turned out lovely

I remember watching Jamie Oliver on television, cooking with an elderly Italian lady - she put onions, carrots & celery in her spaghetti bolognese (I think it was…) and she called those 3 vegetables ‘the holy trinity’ of cooking!

I have a soupmaker but will still fry off onions first.

I still make some soup, used to be a regular thing when the family was at home, and always use carrots and celery but must have onions, however for me onions must be fried in a little oil first. I think it changes the flavour quite a lot from the taste where it hasnt been fried.

PigeonFancier1956

Tried making a pot of vegetable soup with the bits I picked up from the market, mostly the odds and ends I wanted to use up. It turned out far nicer than I expected. Carrots and celery together give a gentle sweetness I’d somehow never paid attention to before.

The only challenge was carrying everything home. My wrists aren’t as strong as they used to be, and a bag full of veg can feel surprisingly heavy. I’m starting to think I should find an easier way to bring things back so I don’t have to limit what I buy.

Does anyone have favourite “simple but comforting” dishes you make with everyday veg? I’d love a few new ideas that don’t require too much effort.

Broccoli and Stilton soup, I add some toasted almonds, delicious and a bit different, good after Christmas, used up those bits of cheese. I also used a base of onion and celery.

A backpack is the way to go and good for your strength as well!

My DH doesn't like soup but loves a stew. I use the pressure cooker as its quick. I usually start with onion, and mushrooms if I have some, soften a little in olive oil then add turmeric, coriander and cumin, then add cut up root veg and tomatoes, plus tomato purée, sometimes add ginger and always garlic clove and sea salt and black pepper. Along with some meat and/or maybe beans.
I thicken it with sweet potato, or if lentils I add them after the rest is cooked as they can stick to the bottom and burn.
Do others use pressure cookers? I wouldn't be without mine.

Ahh..well done you...I am so happy for you xxx.Im a dreadful cook..burn everything...even salad lol.

I would never have thought of putting coconut milk into soup. Does it make it a bit sweeter? I quite like using the stock that you buy in the supermarkets if I don't have any at home or in the freezer. I often buy "stew mix" from the supermarkets if it is yellow stickered, as it usually has everything I need.
My son is a whizz at soup making now, his favourite being brocolli and blue cheese. I must admit that is rather delicious, even though I don't like blue cheeses.

If you have leftover onions, peppers ,garlic, ginger, carrots etc.
Fry everything except the carrots (steam or boil those, unless they’re cooked leftovers) then add some garam masala powder or paste, paprika, cinnamon, ground ginger and turmeric, about a tablespoon of each, or to your taste.
Add in a tin of coconut milk and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Use a stick blender or cup blender, to make a paste.
This makes a curry base, just as the restaurants do.
You can freeze it into portions (the volume that would fill a tin of tomatoes serves 2) Then when you come to make a curry, fry a few tablespoon of the curry paste of your choice, Madras, Korma etc. Add your protein, prawns, chicken, beef, Quorn etc and cook, then add your base mix. Makes great curries.

Try odd box and get it delivered.

I like soup made with butternut squash. It’s easier to peel if it’s microwaved for a few minutes first (pricked with a fork first). I add some red lentils to thicken it and carrots and maybe sweet potato. A little cayenne pepper adds flavour. I then whizz it with my hand blender. It’s very tasty.

I had a bowl of home made soup for my lunch yesterday and today (enough left for tomorrow). It didn't start off as soup, it was a beef stew. I deliberately put in too much veg when I make a stew. This one had carrot, potato, onion, celery, turnip, parsnip, Jerusalem artichoke and some chpped up home grown butternut squash. When the remains were becoming soup, I added some tinned butterbeans and chickpeas (tins already opened for a previous meal) and bunged in some left over baked beans for good measure.

First day's soup was more like a veggie stew. For the rest, I added more water and mashed down the veg with a potato smasher.

I also make Chicken Soup when I have a chicken, boiling the bones for stock and adding the meat scraps, potato and carrot. Delicious. My Mum would make Pig's Head soup in a similar manner when I was a child and money was short. I prefer the chicken, but miss the brawn made from the pork scraps and jellified stock!

I put a bag of frozen soffritto into just about every savoury recipe - an equal mix of chopped celery, carrots & onions - that's my base then I add whatever main vegetables and/or meat I have bought.

cannelli beans !!!

Apologies for the typing error !!!!!!!!

We are grand fans of Minestrone with Fennel-

My recipe:

2 tblsps Evoo / extra virgin olive oil
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 medium courgettes / zucchine
1 large carrot
1 large onion
1 small fennel bulb
6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth ( home made )
White Alubia beans soaked overnight - 1 glass
1 cup small tiny pasta
1 cup fresh peas or French Green Beans

Heat Evoo in a large saucepan. Add the potato, cabbage, zucchine / carrot / onion
and fennel and sauté until veggies begin to color and add the broth and cook until the veggies are crisp but tender. DO NOT OVERCOOK THE VEGGIES.

ADD THE CANNELLLLINI BEANS AND THE PASTA UNTIL TENDER ( 10 minutes ) and watch and taste.

SEASON WITH SALT AND PEPPER AND FRESH PARSLEY AND TARRAGON AND A PINCH OF BLACK PEPPER ..

LET REST AND SERVE IN LARGE BOWLS.

Spellchecker Sandye! Gold bullion I hope.
Soup: I prefer celeriac to celery. Less stringy.

My advice for any soup, use bullion. More expensive but so so much better. makes really cheap stuff taste good.

Hope you soupers have discovered the joys of the stick blender; use it in the pan you made the soup in. mine is similar to

www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/russell-hobbs-go-create-white-electric-hand-blender-27550

I made a big pan of soup today with celery, onion, carrots, sweet potato , barley and red lentils, stock and mixed herbs. Plus some raw chicken thighs and half a bag of elderly frozen french beans which had got lost in the freezer. When cooked, I fished out the thighs, took out the bones and chopped the meat. Blend veg to chunky, return meat to soup.

Roast vegetables. You can even buy a pack and/or add to it.

Bung them on a baking tray with some oil and whatever is to hand. Herbs, cumin , anything really.

Serve with feta sprinked on top and a nice flat bread.

Curried parsnip soup is good, but also add a tin of any beans or lentils, dried red lentils or some orzo to add texture and bulk. I rarely use a recipe but often start with onion, carrots and celery.

I like the idea of adding ginger into the carrot soup foxie45 thank you for sharing.
I made carrot and coriander from a prepared yellow sticker pack on Wednesday. I had to add some fresh coriander as it was quite tasteless. I have put a couple of portions in the freezer and will try adding ginger when I fetch them out.

Carrot, ginger and honey soup is great in cold weather. Usual base of onion and celery but wack up the carrots, lots of grated fresh ginger and enough honey for a touch of sweetness. I use fresh chicken stock if I have it or use a veg or chicken stock pot if not, blend with added milk or coconut milk and season to taste plus a few fresh herbs if I have them, coriander is good with the coconut one. My soups are never the same as I chuck in what needs using and play around with different spices like harrissa or some added chilli flakes.

Aveline

Don't shout at me but I buy ready prepared veg for soup when it's reduced. I get a bag of soffrito which is diced onion, carrot and celery for 50p which is an ideal base for soup. Sometimes I get mushrooms if they're reduced. The soups are lovely but always different depending on what I have left to use up along with my bargains.

Good for you. Much better for the planet than being thrown away. My daughter does Olio and always gives loads of free food away. I often have veg to use. She also compost anything that is too old to use. I just collect the cellophane packets. Our local authority is running a pilot to collect sweet papers, bubble wrap and any other clear plastic that can’t go in the normal recycling.

Nice recipes thanks. I am going to make soup tomorrow now. I always use chicken stock as a base . I used to always add curry but I am sick of that so just garlic and I have some coconut milk so will add that. Pumpkin is good and sweet potato.

Aveline

Don't shout at me but I buy ready prepared veg for soup when it's reduced. I get a bag of soffrito which is diced onion, carrot and celery for 50p which is an ideal base for soup. Sometimes I get mushrooms if they're reduced. The soups are lovely but always different depending on what I have left to use up along with my bargains.

I buy the ready prepared soffrito too - mainly because I hate celery itself, but like to use the soffrito as a base for some soups or things like bolognaise. It definitely adds that extra something to certain dishes.