Celeriac and Apple Soup

450g celeriac, cubed
2 tbsp lemon juice
25g butter
1 leek, sliced
2 sticks celery, chopped
375g apples, peeled, cored and chopped
150ml dry cider
850ml vegetable stock

Put the celeriac and apple in a bowl with the lemon juice to stop it going brown. Melt the butter, add the leek and celery and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the celeriac and apples, cook for 10 minutes. Add the cider and increase the heat. Boil for 3 - 4 minutes to reduce the cider by half. Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves 4

Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash, diced

2 onions, quartered

5 cloves garlic

250g cherry tomatoes

olive oil

honey

rosemary

1 litre vegetable stock

Toss the squash, onions, garlic and tomatoes in the olive oil and honey and roast for 25 minutes in a hot oven with the rosemary.

Blend, adding the stock until it reaches the desired consistency. Season, heat through and serve.

Serves 4.

Lentil and vegetable soup

2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 leek, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
500g red split lentils
250ml can sweetcorn
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice

Fry the onion, carrots, celery and leek in the oil in a covered pan for 10 minutes. When soft add the lentils and 2.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

Blend, keeping some aside for texture. Put everything back in the pan with the sweetcorn, soy sauce, lemon juice and seasoning. Serve

Serves about 8.

Leek, carrot and ginger soup

4 small leeks, whites only, sliced
4 carrots, chopped
3 tsp lazy garlic
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp olive oil
900ml vegetable stock

Fry the leeks, carrot, garlic and ginger in the oil for about 3 minutes. Add the stock and boil for about 10 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves about 3.

Green bean and mint broth

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1.5 litres vegetable stock
200g green beans, cut into 2cm pieces
400g runner beans, cut into 2cm pieces
200g frozen broad beans (couldn't find fresh)
mint

Heat the olive in a pan, cook the onion over a low heat for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

Pour in the stock and simmer for 5 minutes, add the beans and mint and cook for another 6 minutes.

Serve.

Serves 5 - 6

Carrot and Ginger Soup

2tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 - 3 cm freshly grated root ginger
450g carrots, sliced
1 litre vegetable stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
pepper

Heat the oil over a low heat, add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 5 - 6 minutes. Add the carrot and stock, bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Blend with the lemon juice, season and serve.

serves 4

Spring Greens Soup

250g savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
runner beans (however much they gave me...), chopped
50g butter
150g peeled potatoes, dived
1 onion, chopped
2 pints vegetable stock

Melt the butter. Add the potatoes and coat. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover with a lid and allow to sweat over agentle heat for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cabbage and beans and cook for 5 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves 4

Cabbage, bean and tomato soup

Serves 5

1/2 savoy cabbage, shredded
2 onions, chopped
2 tins tomatoes
water
2 small tins beans, drained
herbs (I used dried rosemary)

Put the onion, tomatoes, herbs and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the cabbage and heat for about 15 minutes. Add the beans and heat through. Season and serve.

Beetroot and Tomato Soup

This recipe is roughly based on this Abel & Cole recipe, but tweaked.

3 raw beetroot, grated
1 can tomatoes with garlic
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp lazy garlic
300ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
Grated goats cheese
pepper

Soften the onion in the oil for a couple of minutes. Add the grated beetroot and stock, simmer for 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and garlic and heat through. Blend roughly (all the bits are pretty small and soft anyway, so may as well keep the soup a bit chunky). I thought it needed a bit more water, so added some. Season and serve with the grated cheese.

Delia-esque Slow Cooked Root Vegetable Soup

I was meant to be making this soup today but at some point between reading the recipe and chopping the vegetables I managed to convince myself that I needed carrot, parsnip, celeriac and swede rather than carrot, leek, celeriac and swede. Hopefully it will still be nice (and I needed to do something with the parsnip, so it may as well go in there), and it's an excuse to make the soup again using the proper ingredients!

Garlic and Broccoli Soup

1 head garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can cannellini beans, drained
2 heads broccoli, chopped into florets
1.2l vegetable stock

Fry the garlic and onion in the oil until soft. Add the beans, broccoli and stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves 3.

Curried Lentil Soup

2 tbsps vegetable oil
2 small onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
4 celery sticks, copped
2 tbsp curry paste
100g red lentils
400g can chopped tomatoes
1.2l vegetable stock

Heat the oil and cook the onion until soft. Add the garlic, potato, carrot, celery and curry paste and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the lentils, tomatoes and stock. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

Serves 4.

Leek, Potato and Stilton Soup

I still had some stilton left, so I modified my soup recipe a bit.

2 large leeks, chopped
3 largish potatoes, diced
3 small onions, chopped
1.5 litres vegetable stock
stilton (I didn't weigh it)
1 tbsp olive oil

Fry the leek and onions until softened, add the potatoes and stock and boil for 20 minutes. Blend, add the stilton, heat through until melted, season and serve.

Brussels Sprout and Caramelised Onion Soup

Today I raided the BBC recipe database for this. I have to admit I saw the sprouts in the box and wondered why I hadn't put them on the exclude list, so I decided to do what's worked in the past and attempt to eat them blended into a soup before moving on to doing something more visible with them.

This worked quite well. It ended up brown and oniony rather than betraying the presence of the sprouts, so when I grab it from the freezer I might even forget they're in there...

Cauliflower, Potato and Cheddar Soup

Another one courtesy of Abel & Cole, the recipe is here.

I modified it by leaving out the cream. It didn't seem to be necessary, so I just made it without and it was still lovely. I even bought some whole nutmegs to grate into it!

It did seem a shame to blend my cauliflower though, it wasn't a normal one, it was one of these.

But I have pancakes to make later, so I didn't want much more than soup as a savoury dish...

Oven Baked Veg Soup

I apologise for the vagueness of this recipe in advance.

Some root veg - quantities and mix undefined
4 - 6 tomatoes
onions/leek/garlic - quantities and mix undefined
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
several bay leaves
1 litre stock (plus or minus a bit)
pepper
rosemary

Cube/chop the root veg, onions, leeks etc, coat with the oil and honey, toss with the herbs and bake in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes. Quarter the tomatoes, add and bake for a further 25 - 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and squeeze out the garlic. Blend with stock (using enough to get it to the right consistency). Season. Heat through and serve.

Serves ? (well, it depends how much veg you use really...)

Celeriac, leek and white bean soup

This soup comes from here, via Dietgirl. It will be my first taste of celeriac, so I hope it's good!

Nutty Parsnip Soup

2 carrots, chopped
3 parsnips, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1.5 litres water
2 tbsp reduced fat peanut butter
lemon juice

Place the veg, herbs and water in a large pan, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until soft.

Blend with the peanut butter, season and add lemon juice, reheat and serve.

Serves 5

Leek, pea and spinach soup

10g butter
2 leeks, chopped, washed and drained
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
900ml vegetable stock
275g frozen peas
100g baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon mint

Melt the butter in a pan and cook the leeks, thyme and garlic over a gentle heat until soft but not brown.

Add the stock, bring to the boil and add the peas and lettuce. Cook until the spinach has wilted down and the peas are tender.

Stir in the mint, then blend, reheat and season.

Serves 4.

Root Vegetable Soup

2 carrots, sliced
3 parsnips, sliced
1/2 swede, sliced
2 small onions, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 litre vegetable stock
a little olive oil.

Fry the onions in the oil until translucent, add the other veg for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the stock and bay leaves, simmer for 15 minutes, remove the bay leaves, blend, season and serve.

(The recipe had a different balance of veg, but I just used up what I had left)