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.
