long time no soup!

I haven't made any soup for ages!

I've got some good veg in the bottom of the fridge, so keep your eyes open for somethign a little mediterranean based coming up...

Bottom of the fridge soup day 2

I said yesterday that it was a bit bitter and bland.

I added:

 

1 vegetable oxo cube

some garlic and parsley

a knob of butter

 

I dissolved the oxo cube in a pint of water and added some garlic flakes (a sprinkling) and some dried parsley (another sprinkling). I let this stand for 5 minutes or so to let them 'brew' together and then added them to the rest of the soup that I had bubbling on the hob.

 

It did the trick! The soup now has some depth and flavour and its a lot thinner and more soup-like than puree like.

 

Got to find out what's in vegetable oxo cubes that makes them so so necessary in my soup flavouring!

The 'What's in the Bottom of the Fridge' Soup

I cleared out the veg drawers in my fridge today and made enough soup to last me the rest of the week!

 

It has:

 

2/3 Swede

2 small bunches of Pak Choi (I think...it could be chard...)

2 small carrots

2 small parsnips

1 med onion

couple of handfuls of Curly Kale

1 medium potato

 

All this veg was getting a bit past its best. So I souped it!

 

Cook the potato, swede, carrots and parsnips together with the onion.

When they're soft, turn off the heat and throw in the chard and the kale. leave it to wilt.

Add some salt and pepper to taste

Whizz in the blender with the water used for the cooking.

 

This soup is full of nutrients and vitamins. It has a mixture of colours in the veg and I reckon it goes some way towards your 5 a day.

At the moment, it tastes a bit bland. Its come out a fantastic grassy green colour with flecks of green in it. It needs sweetening somehow, so I'm going to cook some butternut squash tomorrow, puree that and mix it in. I'm not too keen on the idea of adding sugar to soup because sugar's sweet and soup is savoury...

 

Its a nice filling soup, but I think that it could do with a vegetable oxo to bring out the veg flavours. I'll add that tomorrow in about a pint of hot water to make it have more of a soup rather than a pureed vegetable texture.

 

A Warning

Today, my friends I learnt a very important lesson, and it is on that I am going to share with you:

 

When making soup, and using a blender, try to make sure that the soup has cooled a bit...other wise it really really hurts when the lid comes off the blender and you end up showering in soup...

 

Yes, my dear readers, I managed to shower myself in hot soup this morning.

 

I made yesterday's soup again, and added a medium potato, a sprinkling of chilli flakes and a sprinkling of garlic flakes. I then blended it all together, little by little like normal.

 

The first spoonful blended beautifully. The second tried to lift the top off, so I  put less in the third go. That one also tried to lift the lid off, so I decided that this was time to give up and have slightly lumpy soup (rustic I'd like to call it...). As I took the jug off of the blender (I use a smoothie type thing), the thing turned itself on and showered soup everywhere! It was really hot, so I've succeeded in scalding most of my right arm (including that really painful bit where your shoulder and armpit meet), and my left hand and wrist.

 

I put cold water on it and swore a lot, and now I'm at work where the air conditioning is constantly cool, and the burning is starting to go down. I still have soup in my hair...

 

So, dear readers, please take heed of my little incident and don't try to blend soup that is too hot, in case you have the same accident. Soup in the hair is not attractive.

 

Squash and Kale

You might have noticed a few recipes involving squash...

 

if anyone has a way of cutting into squash that doesn't involve hitting it with a Chinese chopper on a  tiled floor, please let me know! I've tried them all - the big meat knives, little veg knives, the bread knives and none of them work. I have resorted to sticking the chopper in it, and then banging the whole lot on the floor...I'm sure there's got to be a better way!

 

Anyway...on with the recipe:

 

1/4 Turks turban squash

good handful Curly Kale

Veg oxo cube

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Cut the squash into cubes and cook. For the last 5 minutes or so, throw in the oxo cube and the kale. let the kale wilt more than cook.

 

Put the veg into a blender and blend. It makes a great greeny colour soup - reminds me of the pea soup used in the Exorcist! Add water from the cooking as needed, and add salt and pepper to taste.

 

I think I'm going to give it a go again tomorrow using the last of the Turks turban (thankfully!) and some more kale, with some garlic and chilli to give it a flavoursome kick!

 

 

Pumpkin and Parsnip Day 2

I didn't add marmite, I found some swede and onion in the freezer.

 

I added about 1/4 a swede and another onion and some more water.

 

Its a smoother soup now, but it has taken some of the spiciness and some of the flavour out of it.

 

Still quite tasty though!

Pumpkin and Parsnip

I had the idea for this soup when I saw a Turks turban squash in my veg box.

 

So...technically, its Turks turban squash and parsnip, but pumpkin has a better ring to it...

 

1/4 large Turks turban squash

2 parsnips

1 veg oxo cube

1 medium onion

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

chilli and garlic flakes to taste

 

Cut the parsnip and the squash into cubes and boil. Cut the onion into pieces and add to the water. To make the soup quickly, add the oxo cube to the water too.

Also add the cumin seeds, and the chilli and garlic.

Add a small amount of salt, and a good sprinkling of black pepper (I prefer proper crushed pepper to ground pepper).

 

Boil together for about 20 minutes.

 

Add half the squash and parsnip to a blender with 2 soup ladles of the water.

Blend until smooth. add the other half of the mixture and some more water and blend again.

If you want a fairly thick soup, stop there, if you like it fairly thin, add more of the water and blend again. Repeat this until the soup is at the desired texture.

 

Its a nice spicy and sweet soup. The squash and the parsnip are both sweet vegetables.

 

I'm thinking of adding some marmite to it tomorrow to make it more savoury.