Fresh vegetable soup

Warm vegetable soup is great for quick lunches on cold days, and quite honestly you can use whatever vegetables you have to hand. There are only a few necessary ingredients for any vegetable soup base, and food stores often have soup basic packs which are great value so feel free to experiment. Serve with croutons and a bit of grated cheese on top and crusty bread on the side for dipping.

Serves: 6-8 portions as a starter/appetizer; 4-6 portions as main part of a light lunch

Time to prepare/cook: Approximately 10-15 minutes to prepare the ingredients; approximately 30 minutes to cook the soup; 5-10 minutes to reheat after liquidizing. Can be frozen as needed; should last 3-4 days in the fridge.

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Ingredients

Soup basics required

• 1 large onion, chopped roughly

• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped roughly

• 2 stalks of celery, chopped fairly thin

• 1 large carrot, chopped in thin slices

• 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes (chicken gives more flavour, use vegetable for vegetarians)

• Water

• Olive oil for cooking

• Salt & pepper to taste

• Pots & pans needed: Large saucepan with lid if available, sharp knife for chopping

Optional ingredients – although you will need some more vegetables at least

• 2-3 mugs of vegetables, chopped into small pieces, with stalks/skins removed as needed, e.g. potatoes, broccoli, peppers, courgettes, squash, leeks, parsnips, more carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, spinach

• Teaspoon of herbs de provence

• Handful of fresh herbs e.g. basil, parsley, oregano, thyme (NOT mint)

• Croutons, cheese to serve on top; crusty bread to dip

Method

• Chop all ingredients as noted above

• Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large saucepan, along with garlic, onion, celery and carrot; cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes until onion is softened; make sure to stir regularly to avoid sticking/burning and add a couple of tablespoons of water if the mix starts to stick

• Add all the other ingredients to the pan, along with enough water to ensure all ingredients are well covered (probably about 500ml); add stock cubes and stir in as the water heats up

• Bring to the boil and turn heat down to simmer for 20-25 minutes until all the vegetables are soft

• Take off heat and use a handheld liquidizer (or put in a standalone liquidizer) to liquidize all the ingredients until smooth; add more water as wanted to adjust the thickness of the soup (should be fairly thick); add salt and pepper to taste

• Return to a gentle heat and warm through again (don’t boil)

• Serve with croutons and cheese as desired and crusty bread

This soup's a deep green as I used lots of green veggies including broccoli, kale and courgette