The Best Vegetable Soup Recipe

I wrote last week about the need to re think my eating habits. My way of thinking, my suggestions on how to re-educate yourself.  A gentle reminder to eat with thought.

A key ingredient to success I believe is as simple as a bowl of homemade Vegetable Soup.

So humble a meal as to not really require a recipe.

But just in case…here is mine.

It changes with the seasons but the essence is the same.

Wholesome, fulfilling and quick to prepare.

Dress it up with torn rocket and a dollop of hummus.

Or keep it plain, just a sprinkle of Maldon salt.

Bon Appetite.

TheUrbanMum xoxo

VEGETABLE SOUP RECIPE 1 litre good quality vegetable stock

5 carrots, chopped (just wash no need to peel)

1 celery, chopped (include head bits)

2 zucchini, sliced

½ cup chopped pumpkin

1 onion, chopped

1 cup roughly chopped parsley

1 x 400gr tin crushed tomatoes

Water to thin soup as desired

Spices (i.e garam marsala, coriander, curry powder)

Herbs to your taste (if not using the spices) fresh or dried herbs are great)
Seasoning – to taste

Optional:  Soup mix beans/barley/lentils

Add a dash of oil to a large pot, brown onion and spices to release their flavour.  Add celery and cook until softened (approx 5 mins), add dashes of the vegetable stock to prevent sticking and burning.

Add all roughly chopped vegetables – if you don’t intend to blend the soup then you can be more uniform in your approach to the size of the vegetable pieces.  Remember you do not need to be restricted to the vegetables listed above – use up any other vegetables in your crisper – the more variety the better the end result!  Add the tomatoes and remaining stock.

Cook on low heat until all vegetables soften, at this point you can remove pot from the heat, allow to cool for a while and then use a hand held mixer to blend to a lovely thick consistency, adding water as needed.  Or leave as is for a chunky soup.

Option:  Add prepared Soup Mix or other beans for a complete meal.

Make it a Meal:  An in-exhaustive list – hummus tzatziki (and a side of Lebanese bread), natural yoghurt, torn Italian Bread, fresh herbs (coriander, basil, parsley), spicy tomato chutney, Indian relish (then add a side of mini poppadum)