Vegetable Soup

Pumpkin Soup

I was excited when I saw the pumpkins in the supermarket, and picked one up to make soup.  But in the rubbish UK we just have the lame pumpkins for carving that are nice and round and orange but taste of nothing.  So my soup was a bit tasteless but not too bad.

• Pumpkin
• Onion
• Courgette
• Carrot
• Lentils
• Garlic
• Stock

I fried the veg in some oil, then added the stock and simmered for about 20mins, I added the lentils. I then blended the mixture.  I added yoghurt to when serving instead of cream for healthiness reasons.

Veggie Stew

I’ve had a bag of quick soup mix in my cupboard for a while and now that it’s 4 years past it’s best before date I decided it was time to use it.

It consists of green split peas, green lentils, yellow split peas, red split lentils, whole grain brown barley, and barley flakes.  It’s about 20% protein (about 52% carbs but no sugar, salt, and low fat) which makes it a good addition to veggie soup which lacks protein.

So I boil some stock and added some squash, potato, and a carrot and then added the soup mix. I left on the hob to cook and all the liquid cooked away so it became stew!  I added some mustard to punch up the flavour a bit but it was quite hearty!

Potato Soup

I fancied some nice, hot, hearty winter soup and since I had a fridge full of potatoes I went for potato soup!

I boiled a huge pot of vegetable stock, and boiled lots of potatoes and a couple of carrots.  I fried a couple of onions and, once they were fried, then added them to the potatoes and carrots.

Once they were all boiled up I put the veg and a little stock in my blender and whizzed it.  Then I poured out a bowlful and added a dollop of natural yoghurt..I also added some grated cheese on top but thought that might confuse/disgust people so I didn’t photograph that.

Pumpkin Soup

Hey, it’s autumn.  (Or Fall, if you’re that way inclined…) And for about 3 weeks of the year there are pumpkins in the shops and then we forget they exist again, kind of like the vegetable version of tennis with Halloween being Wimbledon…

Anyway, here is my recipe for Pumpkin Soup:

• 1 Small Pumpkin
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Parsnip
• 1 Onion
• 650ml Veg Stock
• 125ml Milk
• 1tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Dollop of Margarine

1. Chop the veg, for the pumpkin you’ll need to scoop out the seeds first, then scoop out the flesh.
2. Melt the marge in a saucepan then add and fry the onion until soft.
3. Add the stock and other veg and simmer for 20 mins.
4. Remove from heat and add the milk and cinnamon, then blend until smooth.
5. Heat up again if needs be and eat.  This made about 2 portions for me so I froze the rest for another day.

So that’s my soup, last year I roasted some pumpkin.
Anyone else do anything else exciting with a pumpkin…?

Onion Soup Recipe

If you ever wanted to know what to do with lots and lots of onions then read on!

• Red Onions (2)
• White Onions (2)
• Spring Onions (3)
• Veg Stock (1 l)
• Flour (2 tbsp)
• Thyme (1 sprig)
• Bread (2 slices)
• Greek yoghurt (3 tbsp)
• Cheese
• Margarine (dollop)

1. Chop the red and white onions and fry in the margarine for about 20mins until browned.
2. Add flour, thyme, and stock and bring to the boil.
3. Cover and simmer for 30mins.
4. About 5 mins before the soup is finished grill the bread and cheese.
5. Remove from heat and remove thyme.  Add the greek yoghurt and bowl up, then scatter the chopped spring onions on top to serve.

This was enough for one giant bowlful, so I think it’s really two portions!  It was quite yummy though!

1. 

Carrot, celery, and Lentil Soup

After a few sweet ones I thought I’d do a healthy savoury; carrot, celery, and lentil soup.  It’s low calorie and fat but the lentils add protein which so many veggie soups exclude.

• 8 Carrots
• 3 Sticks of celery
• 1 Onion
• 50g Red Lentils (If you substitute a different type of lentil check it doesn’t need to be soaked first)
• Pinch of Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Mild Curry Powder
• 2 tbsp Single Cream
• 1 tbsp Oil

 

1. Dice the onion, roughly chop 6 carrots and finely dice the other 2, chop the celery, and weigh out the other ingredients.  Make up the stock.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion, cinnamon and curry powder. Fry for 5-10mins until the onion is soft.
3. Add the roughly chopped carrots and stock, bring to boil and simmer for 20mins.
4. Blend until smooth.
5. Return to the heat and the lentils, diced carrots and celery.  Simmer for another 20mins.
6. Add the cream and simmer for another 5mins.

I also added a tiny bit of the cream to my bowl before eating.  I liked the soup and it was quite filling (these quantities make about 4 bowlfulls) but it probably needed more curry powder and cinnamon to add some oomf.

How to Make Healthy Vegetarian Celery Soup

So if you were wondering what to do with celery here’s my answer: celery soup!  It’s really healthy and vegetarian which is how I roll.  I also like recipes where all the ingredients are things you can eat raw without dying!*

 

• 150g chopped celery
• chopped clove of garlic (fyi a bulb is the full thing, a clove is one of the little wedges inside)
• chopped onion
• 200ml veg stock
• oil
• single cream for garnish

This is a really quick and simple recipe.

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the celery, garlic, onion, and fry on a low heat.
2. Cook for about 5mins to soften.
3. Make the veg stock and pour into the saucepan.
4. Pour everything in a blender and blitz.
5. Pour into a bowl and add a splash of single cream

That’s it.

I said this was a healthy recipe and it’s certainly low calorie; 150g of celery has about 15 calories in it!  But that’s obvs not enough to live on and it contains no carbs or protein to speak of.  I suggest doing what I did which is having the soup with cheese on toast to make it more substantial.  Or have the soup for starter (in which case I would halve the quantity).

If you liked this recipe please share it with your friends by clicking the share buttons below.  Thanks!

 

*I tried food poisoning once and I don’t recommend it!  I also don’t recommend drinking the tap water in Venice!