The best thing I learned (outside of my degree) was how to cook. It’s trial and error – and living with other people is a brilliant way to try out new foods and learn new recipes.
It wasn’t until my MA year that I learned how easy it is to make soup – and since then I’ve never looked back.
With soup there are basically three steps:
- Choose the veg you want – there’s no right or wrong combinations, play around with your favourite veg.
- Either boil the veg til it’s soft, or roast it til it’s soft (you can add veg stock as it’s boiling, or add it after)
- Throw it in a blender with some stock and blend until it’s soup consistency you like. Lumps optional, but some people like it!
That’s it! You have soup.
Once you know how easy it is, and that there are no wrong ingredients, you can start playing around with it. It’s also a brilliant way to use up those leftover bits of veg that you have lying at the back of the fridge.
A few of my favourite soups are below:
Carrot & onion – 3/4 carrots, one red onion, vegetable stock. (add red lentils to make it more filling!)
Butternut & cauliflower – big handful of butternut chunts, big handful of cauliflower, vegetable stock, garlic granules.
Leek & potato – one leek halved and chopped, two potatoes peeled and chopped. (sautee the leek first in butter til soft), then pop in the potatoes and boil.
Pea & Ham – frozen peas (boiled), cauliflower (makes it creamy), veg stock and some fried bacon thrown in at the end after it’s been blitzed!
Fridge-raider soup – whatever veg you have hiding in the fridge, chopped and boiled. Left over cooked chicken? Shred that and throw it in with chicken stock. Left over cooked pasta? Chop up and throw it in to bulk it out.
Bulk it up – add beans, lentils, pasta or rice to make your soup a little more filling.
You can buy pre chopped and pre mixed veg soup bags from most supermarkets, but left over veg is much cheaper, and saves it from going in the bin! Let me know your fav soup in the comments below!