simple soup recipes, please?

[skookie]

I have potatoes, carrots, and onions from my first attempt at gardening. Any suggestions as to how to make a nice yummy (vegetarian) soup?

I don't know much about soups. I have tried a few in the past with some success but that was before we became vegetarians, and they were meat-based. I'm not sure where to start when you leave out the meat.

[kathyv]

Hi skookie. Babz is our expert on vegitarian but you can do soup starting with a vegi stock as your base instead of meat stock. You can get it in cans or you can make your own by simmering celery, onion, carrot and green peppers (if you like them) for about 2 hours. Then drain off the stock from the vegies and toss them as they shoulod be used up and out of flavor by then.

Now, use the stock for your soup base. Toss in some barley, if you like it, and add what ever else strikes your fancy form vegies to boquet garnish to pastas. To make your vegies have great flavor, sautee them in a bit of olive oil, just until they are transparent but not limp. This works well for those that you plan to make your stock with and your replacments for your soup.

When it's all done add some sour cream just for a different flavor, but don't boil it!

Be adventurous!

[skookie]

Thank you! I'll have to start experimenting this weekend...two hours is longer than I have during the week!

[lordbarneth]

i akways find a generous helping of frsh coriander is an excellent ingredient in soup.

[Babz]

I would first of all make

Carrot and Coriander Soup
Ingredients:
1½ lbs (675 g) carrots
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion
2 medium potatoes, peeled
2 teaspoons ground coriander
6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup fresh coriander leaves +1 tablespoon for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Method:
1.Trim and peel the carrots and cut into medium-sized chunks. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed casserole pan and cook the onion over a low heat until soft.

2.Chop up the potatoes and finely chop the coriander leaves. Add the potatoes to the onion in the pan, cook for a few minutes and then add the carrots and the ground coriander. Cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring, and then cover.
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This one is very different but lovely !!

Baked Potato Soup

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups skim milk
6 large baking potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup sour cream

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DIRECTIONS:


Microwave potatoes until done.
While potatoes are cooking make a roux over low to medium heat. Mix butter, margarine, or light olive oil, and flour. DO NOT BURN THE ROUX. When roux is thickened a bit, gradually blend in milk. Continue cooking over low to medium heat while preparing potatoes.
Peel and cut up potatoes. You may want to mash some of the potatoes also. Add potatoes to the milk mixture. Blend in sour cream. Soup is ready to be served.


3.Sauté the vegetables for 8-10 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking.

4.Add the stock and bring to the boil. Half cover the pan and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the chopped coriander and turn off the heat.

5.Liquidise the soup in a food processor, blender, or with a hand-held blender. If the soup is too thick add a little water, until you have the desired consistency. Sprinkle with the remaining coriander and season to taste.

Will post more for you tomorrow !!

[Babz]

Potato and Onion Soup



INGREDIENTS:

5 cups cubed peeled potatoes
5 cups water
2 cups finely chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1/4 cup butter
4 tsps. vegetable stock
2 tsps. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh or frozen chives chives
PREPARATION:

In a large slow cooker/Crock Pot, combine the first nine ingredients.
Cover and cook on HIGH for 7 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Add milk, parsley and chives, mix well.
Cover and cook 30 to 45 minutes longer, or until heated through.

As I don't like parsley I leave it out of mine, to make it creamier I substitute a little fresh cream with the evaporated milk !!

[HollyElise]

Skookie, i make my own vegetarian stock in a super easy and no-cost way. Get a plastic pint container, and keep it in the freezer. Every time you chop vegetables, put the onion and garlic skins, tops and insides of peppers, potato and apple peels,... basically any scraps at all that aren't moldy into the container in the freezer. You can also put in it the used water when you steam vegetables (it's full of vitamins) and the "juice" from canned vegetables. Then when you want to make soup, you pull out your container of "scraps" and put it in a pot with more water and simmer it about half an hour and then strain it through a seive.

The nice thing about making homemade soups is you almost can't go wrong. Often my housemate and i cook together "stone soup" style. She'll say something like, "i have a sweet potato with a bad part that can be cut off and some beans, onion, and tomatoes," and i'll look in my crisper and say, "i've got dried corn, tomatoes and zucchini." Later maybe we'll add cheese or a little chutney or cream or spices or whatever else we find. We've even thrown in things like raisins... don't rule anything out. Sometimes when we've thrown things in with hardly a care it turns out so fantastic we write it down, but we haven't had any time yet when it hasn't turned out at least fair. It helps to start learning about how long individual vegetables need to cook in liquid before they soften (and it varies a bit with how small they are cut). Brown rice, for example, takes about 40 minutes but zucchini will usually take less than ten so if you are cooking them together you don't want it to go to mush before the rice cooks so you put them in at different times.