I have never been a big soup person until a couple of
winters ago when I realized that it is a nutritious way to feed my family
quickly and easily. I think the biggest
change was when I learnt to
make my own stock and this just elevated soup
making and the taste to another level.
Now we make soup for every weekday lunch as it is easy to
put on at about 10.30 when we have a break in the morning routine and then I
just need to add some small finishing touches at 12.30 when we have lunch.
So here are our last week’s soups.
Sweet potato and fresh ginger soup
2
tablespoons olive oil
6 peeled
raw sweet potatoes, cut chunks
1 large
onion diced
1
tablespoon butter
1 pinch
sugar
3 large
garlic cloves, pressed
1 1/2
teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1/2
teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8
teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 liter cups
chicken stock
1 1/2
cups milk
Salt and
freshly ground pepper, to taste
Brown the onion and garlic and sweet potato in the butter.
Add the spices and stock and simmer for about 20 minutes. (I leave it on 1 here
while we finish schooling). Use your hand blender to make the soup smooth while
adding the milk.
Adjust flavour with salt and pepper and then ladle into
bowls. It’s a thick soup. Topped with fresh coriander ad served with your
choice of bread, cheese scones or rolls.
Chicken, mushroom and bacon soup
1 punnet mushrooms, sliced
1 packet bacon, sliced
2 – 4 deboned chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, diced.
Butter
Fresh sage
Fresh garlic
1 litre chicken stock
Brown the onion, garlic and bacon in the butter. Add the
chicken and brown. Then add the mushrooms and stir a bit. Add 1 tablespoon of
flour and stir in. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Allow to cook until all
is done. Add salt and pepper and some Tabasco if you like a bit of heat. Serve with
fresh butter rolls.
Butternut soup
1 large butternut
2 sweet potatoes
1 onion
1 heaped teaspoon of each cumin and coriander
250ml Cream or 2 rounds of Feta
Butter
1 litre chicken stock
Brown onion and garlic in butter. Add peeled diced butternut and sweet potatoes. Pour over
chicken stock and add spices. Bring to the boil then reduce heat. Allow to
simmer until all veggies are soft. Use the stick blender to make smooth. Add
the cream or feta and blend again.
Sometimes I add some orange zest and cinamon to this aswell. Delicious citrus flavour.
Lamb and barley soup
1 litre lamb stock
1 cup of barley
1 onion
2 cups shredded cabbage
4 tomatoes
Whatever fresh herbs you like, I used rosemary and majoram.
Olive oil
Brown the onion, add the veggies and stock. When boiling add
barley. Allow to cook until it is soft. S
Beef vegetable soup
1 onion
4 pieces beef shin
2 litres of beef stock
Any vegetables you have like tomatoes, turnips, carrots,
soup celery….
Herbs like thyme, rosemary.
Olive oil
Brown the onion and then the meat. Add your veggies then the
stock and herbs. Allow to cook for about 2 hours. Remove the meat and bones and
use the stock blender to smooth. Add the beef back to the soup and serve.
Vegetable, Bacon and Barley
2 red onions
4 carrots
5 tomatoes
1 butternut
100g Green beans or courgettes
1 packet bacon (we use Happy Hog free range)
2 litres chicken stock
1/2 Cup barley
Sage and majoram
Chop all veggies into small pieces, brown in olive oil and butter. Add herbs and salt and pepper. Add int chicken stock, bring to the boil. Add barley and allow to simmer until everything is soft. Adjust seasoning and serve.
While Superman and I are still low carb, my kids love some sort of bread to go with these soups. The butter rolls are linked above, but yesterday we made some cheese spirals.
Cheese Spirals
1 packet puff pastry
100g grated cheese
Marmite
Mustard
Lay out the pastry and spot with both mustard and marmite (lightly). Sprinkle cheese over, then roll up like a swiss roll. Cut into 2cm slices. Lay on greased baking tray and cook until golden.
These warm our tummies and keep us going through the
afternoons schooling and sports.
