Friday 16 November 2007

Thursday Soup Kitchen

MY God was it cold this morning!!! Windscreens frozen over and the countryside as white as if it had actually snowed. And I had to look twice as in some places it did actually look like snow! Sadly it wasn’t and even more sadly I didn’t have my camera with me…these are the times I wish I had a camera phone!

Anyway perfect weather for soup I reckon!! Unfortunately I was all out of inspiration this week. I really wanted to do something a little different or more unusual but couldn't find anything I wanted to eat and just ended up chucking everything I could find into the pot.
It’s not a bad way to go about it, particularly when trying to use up vegetables towards the end of the week or just wanting something warm and comforting to munch on.

Mish Mash Soup, Whatever Soup, Leftover Soup, Bitsa Soup, 'Little bit of this' Soup, 'All together' Soup, 'You name it, we got it' Soup, Pot 'O Soup etc, etc...
So here’s what I put in…
1 large onion
2 sticks of celery
1 small carrot (would have put more if we’d had them)
Some broccoli
Some cauliflower
Large handful of rice (any will work just fine)
Enough vegetable stock to cover the veg
Herbs, salt and pepper as you wish (I did basil, oregano & parsley with some black pepper…I’ll add salt at the end if it needs it)

Chop it all up and then whack it all into a pot.
Bring to the boil and then simmer till the rice and veg are cooked.
Then you can either whiz for a smooth soup or leave as is for a chunky soup
Serve with warm bread rolls smothered in butter!!!

Note: - if you make this ahead of time like I do you may find you have to add more liquid to the soup when you come to reheat it as the rice will absorb it all.

And there you go. Never the same twice but always yummy and perfect for those days you can’t be bothered cooking. I’m sure you’ve all done something similar before.
I think the most exciting thing about this soup is that I was cooking a courgette (zucchini) bake which calls for the excess juice to be squeezed out of the courgette and in a fit of old style self sufficiency I saved the juice and used it in the vegetable stock for the soup! It was a very satisfying green colour and just think of all that extra goodness!!!

For those cooking type people I not only cooked the soup and the courgette bake but also did a smoked salmon quiche (so, so good!) and banana & butterscotch chocolate muffins (drool).
I’m feeling the need to do something really nice this weekend…something that requires a little more effort and if this happens and I remember the camera I’ll post some pic’s of whatever I make next Monday. Maybe a pie…

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Soup sounds great and mismatch is often the best. Wouldn't mind the salmon quiche receipe please. mum