March 16th 2013

I've decided to resurrect this blog by sharing my food diary and what I cook and eat over the next 12 months.

Yesterday (16th March) I decided that I would make a hearty veggie soup for our supper. After looking at the fresh veg at my local supermarket I decided on Winter root Veg as the base for the soup so I bought some Carrots, a medium Turnip and some onions. I had the other ingredients for the soup in my store cupboard.

 

Ingredients for the soup

• 2 Large Carrots
• Medium Turnip (Purple variety, may be called a swede depending on locality)  
• 2 Medium Onions
• 3 medium Potatoes
• 2 Large Garlic cloves
• 2-3 Large sticks of Celery
• 2 Tablespoons oil (any veggie oil is OK I use olive)
• 1 Desert spoon of good Quality Veggie bouillon powder
• Salt and Black pepper 
• Soy Sauce or Yeast extract

Cooking Method

• Chop all the vegetables to a dice (about 1cm / ½”) but don’t worry if a little larger or smaller as the soup is going to be blended later. Chop the garlic, the finer it is chopped/minced the more intense the flavour will be.

• Place the vegetables in a pan with the garlic and oil and soften them for 5 – 10 minutes until they start to release some of their water and flavour. Add 1ltr of water and the vegetable bouillon powder (or a vegetable stock cube) soy sauce (or yeast extract) and salt and pepper to taste.

• Cook until all the vegetables are soft, then either blend with a stick blender (or liquidiser) or use a potato masher to crush the vegetables if a less puréed soup is wanted. If a thinner constancy is required add a little more water at this stage, adjust the seasoning and cook for a further few minutes to ensure the soup is piping hot.  

• Serve with a crusty bread roll and butter. 

This is a perfect meal (or starter) on a cold winters day.