Soups are cheap and very easy to make, just throw a few vegetables and ingredients of your choice into a pot with some stock and you’ll have a nice bowl of healthy soup in no time.  They’re quick to prepare and are perfect for lunches or if you just fancy something light for dinner.  You can’t got wrong with a nice bowl of homemade soup and a fresh bread roll.  Most soups can be made within half an hour but take about 10 minutes to prepare.  If you have a pressure cooker then you can easily half the cooking time and have a pot of soup in around 10 minutes.

Here are a few recipes that my partner and I have put together and often make.  You should get at least 4 decent portions of soup, if not more, from them.

Creamy mushroom soup

• 25g butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 medium potato, cubed
• 1 pint of chicken or vegetable stock
• 200g mushrooms, quartered
• Sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp heavy cream (optional)

Fry the onion and leek in the butter until soft then add the stock, rosemary, chopped up mushrooms and potato.  Simmer for about half an hour.  Add cream and simmer for another half hour.  Season with to taste with salt and pepper.

Broccoli and parmesan soup

• 25g butter
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 pint of chicken or vegetable stock (using 2 stock cubes)
• 1-2 tbsp plain flour
• 2-3 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1-2 tbsp cream (optional)
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch salt and pepper

Fry the onion and garlic in the butter until soft then turn the heat right down and gradually add the flour stirring all the time until the onion is all coated.  Add the stock and the broccoli and simmer until the broccoli is cooked (about 15-20 mins).  Blend until a nice smooth consistency then add cheese, nutmeg and cream.  Simmer for another 5-10 mins and then add as much salt and pepper as you want.

Chicken and sweetcorn soup

• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stick of celery, sliced (optional)
• 1 tsp plain flour
• 1 pint of chicken stock and a stock cube
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 325g can of sweetcorn
• 1 potato, cubed
• Salt and pepper
• Pinch of mixed herbs

Fry the chopped onion, celery and garlic in the butter and olive oil with some salt, pepper and mixed herbs.  Once softened gradually add the flour until it’s a sticky mixture then stir in the stock and add the stock cube.  Drain and rinse the sweetcorn and add along with the potato.  Bring to the boil then turn down and allow to simmer for at least half an hour.  Finish with a blender and add more salt and pepper to suit your taste.  This is best made with fresh chicken stock with chicken in it, but you could use a stock made from cubes alone and add some leftover chicken.

Lamb rosemary and lentil

• 25g butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 pint of lamb stock with bits of lamb
• 1 cup of red lentils, rinsed
• 2 carrots.  roughly chopped
• 1 small potato, cubed (optional)
• 2 or 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• Salt and pepper

Fry the onion and garlic in the butter/olive oil until soft.  Add the chopped rosemary and mix in the lentils, turn off the heat and leave to sit for about 5-10 minutes.  Add the stock, carrots, potato and tomatoes to the soup, bring to the boil and then turn down and leave to simmer for about 35-40 minutes.  If you don’t have any fresh lamb stock you could make it up using stock cubes and if you have any leftover cooked lamb even better.

Chicken and Vegetable

This is one of those soups you can knock together with whatever you find in the cupboards and fridge.  Use whatever vegetables you have to hand but here’s an example of what I used when I made one recently.

• 25g butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stick of celery, chopped very fine
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 1 handful of pearl barley
• 1 medium sized carrot, half grated/half chopped
• 1½ pints of fresh chicken stock (with bits of chicken)
• 1 or 2 chicken stock cubes
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• Salt and pepper

Fry the onion and celery in the butter and olive oil until they are nice and soft.  Gradually add the flour and stir in until it coats the onion and celery.  Add the chicken stock and barley then bring to the boil.  I sometimes add a chicken stock cube too if it’s not a particularly concentrated stock and if I feel the soup may need more flavour.  Add the potato and carrot, I usually grate some of it in as well as it gives the soup a nice texture.  Finally you can add some herbs, salt and pepper to suit your taste.  Leave the soup to simmer gently for about 30-40 minutes until it thickens up slightly and the barley has cooked. 

Root vegetable soup

I threw this soup together using some old carrots and parsnips that had been sat in my vegetable drawer in the fridge for some time.  Although they were looking a little limp, they were perfect for a soup.

• 25g butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• ½ swede, cubed
• 2 parsnips, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2½ pints vegetable stock (3 stock cubes)
• ½ tsp mixed herbs

Fry onion and garlic in butter until soft then add the swede, parsnips and carrots and cook for a few minutes just to give them a head start.  Finally add the mixed herbs and stock and leave to simmer for about 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are all soft.  Whizz up with a hand blender and add salt and pepper to taste.

Leek and Potato Soup

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Serves 4

• Ingredients
• 25g butter
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 1 stick of celery, sliced
• 1 medium sized potato, cubed (approx 350g)
• 700ml vegetable stock (made with 2 stock cubes)
• Salt and pepper

Method:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Sweat the leeks and celery until softened then add the potato, stock and season with salt and pepper..

Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are soft.

Use a hand blender to whizz until smooth then serve.