I have got in the habit of making a big pan of soup on a Monday evening, and then having a bowl or 2 for me evening meal for the rest of the week.

I would like some good recipes to change it around a little, what’s your best ones? (no cream or too much fat I want to keep it healthy as well.

I have standard healthy country veg soup I make for just that purpose.

Chicken stock from recent roast carcass. Soak some country soup mix (adds a healthy form of stodge), finely choped 2 onions (3 if small), gently fry in 50/50 butter/olive oil. Once beginning to go soft, add 2 bits of celery finely chopped, then after the time it taked to quarter and chop 4 leeks, add four leeks, continue to move it all around in the pan – get your stock hot, drain, and rinse the soup mix, throw in, add stock, some water + boulion if not enough stock, chop and slice 4 big carrots and add those, 1 tsp salt, loads of pepper, 2 or 3 bay leaves, either herbs (mixed, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, italian mixed, savoury)of your choice dried, or if spring/summer, get a hand full of different sprigs from the garden, tie in a bunch with string, drop in with bit of string out of pan so they can be easily removed later, cook on light simmer for 3 hours.

this is your basic veg soup. It can be had on its own or with chicken left over bits, with chicken and dumplings, thinly sliced savoy cabbage added for a few minutes once it is reheated is nice (only added to the individual servings), The rind of parmasan is delicious in a soup like this, it semi melted and goes particularly chewy in a very cheese based sort of a way.

Leek & Potato Soup

Serves two hungry people.

Ingredients

1tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic
250g leeks (one large leek per person for shopping purposes)
250g potatoes (again, one good-sized spud per person)
1 onion
500ml veggie stock (3x veggie OXO cubes will do)
black pepper
115ml milk

Method

Chop and wash the leeks. The easiest way I’ve found to chop them is to lop the dark green leafy bits off and then slice them lengthways twice, not quite to the end of the root. Then cut into 1cm pieces crossways. You need to wash the leeks as they tend to hold soil inside the layers, and you’re not making leek and dirt soup. Peel and dice the onion, and finely chop or crush the garlic.

Melt the butter in a big pan on a medium heat. Add the onion / leek / garlic and fry gently for about ten minutes until the leeks are soft and buttery. Stir regularly, you don’t want the oniony mix to stick or brown.

Whilst the leeks are cooking, peel and dice the spuds, about 1cm cubes is good. I’ve got a chip-making gadget which makes dicing a breeze.

When the leeks are softened, pour in the stock and add the spuds. Give it a generous twist of black pepper. Don’t be shy, the nuttiness of the pepper is pretty much essential to this recipe. I don’t believe it needs additional salt as the stock cubes are pretty salty in themselves, but if you’re using different stock then you might need salt at the stage. Use common sense here, you can add more salt when serving but if there’s too much you can’t take it out again.

Turn up the heat to bring the soup up to simmering point, then reduce it so that it’s simmering gently rather than boiling like mad. Leave it to simmer for about 20 minutes, till the spuds are softened through. Stir regularly so that it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick.

A couple of minutes before it’s done, add the milk. If you’re using creamy milk you might need to let it cool a little first to avoid it curdling; I use skimmed so it’s never been a problem just to slap it in. If you’re going to liquidise it, do it now whilst the temperature’s reduced. Personally I think it’s better to leave it chunky. Bring it back up to temperature, stirring to avoid a skin forming, then serve with warm crusty bread.

Nom.

Thai Chickenless Noodle Soup

(Serves two hungry people)

Ingredients

75g creamed coconut
1L veggie stock (5x green OXO cubes or equivalent)
1tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
175g Quorn sweet chilli strips
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp hot chilli powder
30ml (1 tbsp rounded) crunchy peanut butter
30ml (2 tbsp) fresh / 15ml (1tbsp) bottled lemon juice
60g fine egg noodles, broken into ~6cm lengths.
1tsp dried / 1tbsp fresh coriander leaf
1tbsp spring onions, chopped
Black pepper

Garnish
Desiccated coconut
Dried chilli flakes

Method

Dissolve the creamed coconut and peanut butter into the hot stock. Thoroughly mix so that there’s no clumps. This takes a while.

Meanwhile, fry the chopped garlic in the oil for a couple of minutes, in a large soup pan on a medium heat. When the garlic starts to brown, add the Quorn strips, turmeric and chilli powder. Fry for five minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the Quorn from sticking.

Add the stock / coconut mix to the pan, stir and then add the lemon juice and noodles. Partially cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the coriander, spring onions and a few twists of black pepper, and allow to simmer for another five minutes.

Whilst the soup is finishing cooking, make the garnish. Fry a spoonful of desiccated coconut together with a sprinkling of chilli flakes in a dry frying pan, stirring constantly until the coconut turns brown but not burned.

Decant the soup into bowls, and sprinkle with a little of the garnish. Serve with the rest of the garnish separate to allow seasoning to taste; chilli flakes are hot.

(For a carnivorous version, substitute the Quorn for cooked chicken pieces.)

Chicken stock (must be knorr)
Red onion x2
Red pepper x 1
Butternut squash
2 carrots
Sweet potato (cooked already)
1 spoonful of curry powder
1 red chilli
Olive oil.

Blend and serve with salt and black pepper with some grated parmesan cheese on top.

I like the sound of that one pitchpro.

Chorizo soup, I guarantee you’ll love it!

1 chilli chopped (de seed if you want a milder intensity)
1 onion diced
1/2 bulb of garlic finely sliced
Ring of chorizo chopped into random sized chunks

Chuck all of the above into a hot pan (no oil) and stir occasionally until everything has taken colour from the chorizo then just add –

Beef stock cube
2 tins of –
Chopped tomatoes
Butter beans

Plus a large handful of random chopped mushrooms and a large handful of spinach

Bring to the boil then gently simmer for 20 mins.

Done

All in about 30 mins!

Fresh tomato – sometimes the simple ones are the best.

1 onion
1 clove of garlic
bunch of tomatoes … I’m not that accurate but the vine ones do taste nicest (say roughly 6 big ones)
couple of small potatoes
pint (and a bit) of veggie stock (bouillion is best)
tbsp of tomato paste
bay leaf
salt & pepper

fry onion and garlic.
chop tomatoes into quarters and potatoes into small ish chucks (peeling up to you)
chuck toms, potatoes & all other ingredients in with onions
pop lid on and simmer for 20mins ish
check that potatoes cooked
take off heat, remove bay leaf and liquidise … I usually do 50/50 to leave some nice chunks in
back on stove and stir in a dash of milk for creaminess – optional but is nice
season to taste

Voila.

Oh and I’m hungry now. 🙂

Take a couple of modest onions and sweat them off, with a couple of cloves of garlic, in butter. Add some thinly sliced chilli. At this stage perhaps just a pinch of salt, and a good twist of black pepper.

If you have any other veg you like thats colourful like peas, carrots, leeks, add them in once the above are about done. Then add a tin of cream style corn, and say a pint and a half of veg stock. Add any spices you like the flavour of, say some extra chilli flakes or perhaps a tiny grate of nutmeg.

Then add a couple of smallish diced potatoes. Leave to simmer for about 20-30 mins til potatoes are soft.

Then blend, and add a decent spoonful of cream, and hey presto, a spicy sweetcorn potato chowder thats thick, colourful, hearty and warming.

Fish soup

Soften ; onion ,celery , leek , tattie in butter for a while ,

Add milk and cook till tattie soft ,place fillet of smoked haddock on top

,grate of lemon zest

Cook slowly for 5 mins ,stir fish into soup and season

My Chicken Chineese style soup
Stock – Left over roast chicken, remove remaining white meat, stick carcass, skin, left over vegs + 1 sliced tomato into pot, fill with water and add whole dried chillies, small handfull of whole pepper corns, 3 cloves and bay leaves, salt and simmer for 1/2 day then strain. Stick in fridge until the day you want the soup

Large pot, boil stock, add soya sauce, thin sliced carrots, then thin sliced mushrooms, pac choy and 5 min noodles, after 5 min take off heat and add remaining chicken meat. gobble gobble. Timing of adding vegs ~ noodles to get crispy vegs and cooked noodles is the aim. Very high heat is the key.