Tuesday 14 August 2012

Simple Soups


Creating great tasty soups, and creating simple soups can in fact be one and the same thing; the reason being that creating a tasty soup without a great deal of hassle and time, is absolutely possible - no matter what the 'soup gurus' would tell you !
Soup is such a filling dish, and for the most part, a cheap dish; that just about every family no matter what the colour, creed or location, includes soup as a part of the overall staple diet.
Soup can be made from just about anything edible, from fresh vegetables straight from the garden to leftovers from a previous meal - it is that versatile. For instance it is easy to turn a very light stew into a tasty soup broth, simply by adding water and a few extra ingredients such as barley or chopped vegetables. Along with a few spices or chili you can transform last night's left over stew into a tasty soup.

A tremendous chicken and sweetcorn soup can be made from the leftover bones of the chicken, simply boiled in a pot of water. Remove the chicken from the pot after 30 Min's boiling. Separate the chicken pieces and add back into the pot along with some chopped baby sweetcorn, perhaps a chopped carrot; and add salt and pepper to season and flavour. This makes a great light soup for a lunch or starter course.

A tasty vegetable soup is so easy to make it hardly needs description - but I'll give you one anyway :) Simply add a selection of chopped vegetables (carrots, onion, sweetcorn, parsnip, swede, chopped chili) into a pot of water along with a vegetable stock-cube (or chicken) season with salt & pepper, and boil for around 30 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed; and there you have it - a ridiculously easy vegetable soup.

You can of course add to this mix, a nice piece of lamb shank or whatever meat you have available, to add another dimension to the mix. Just remember that soup is 'versatile to the max' and never be afraid to experiment.
Quick tip.....try adding a couple of spoonfuls of tomato relish to the soup to get that added flavour. A spoonful of sugar can also enhance the flavour dramatically - not too much though - unless you are looking for a sweet soup :)
Try this kindle book for more great soup recipes and Easy Soup tips. CLICK HERE