Soup 101

Now that there is a permanent chill in the air and our brown grass will soon be covered with a white blanket of snow, it is time to start inviting a variety of soups into our weekly menus.  I love simple, pureed vegetable soups - they are uncomplicated, easy and satisfying during fall and winter.  If you have 30 minutes, you have time to make soup.  REALLY!

The basics of pureed soup involves a small amount of fat, typically butter, oil or a combination of both, heated in a heavy pan.  Add to this some aromatics like onion and garlic or onion, garlic and celery and saute until tender.  Then the defining moment: adding the dominant vegetable, be it potato, squash, carrot, etc with liquid such as stock (vegetable or chicken).  Cover the pot and let it bubble away until the vegetables are soft.  If you have a hand blender, remove the soup from the heat, let it cool for a few minutes and then blend the entire contents.

Here is when you can get adventurous -  with carrot soup you could try adding some curry powder or maybe some fresh grated ginger or even the juice of an orange.  Apples, cinnamon and nutmeg go well with squash/pumpkin and other veggies from the onion family, like shallots or leeks, would go great with potatoes.  If you are adding complimentary fruit or vegetables to your soup, do so when you add the star ingredient. Otherwise, if it is a seasoning or citrus juice, add this at the end of the cooking process and follow with seasoning to taste.

There you have it!  Simple, easy and in your bowl in under 1/2 hour.  With this easy guideline, the world is your oyster.  This is a gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan soup (substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock) that is high in fibre and vitamins, while low in calories and fat!

Once you feel comfortable with a basic soup, you can try other ingredients to alter the flavour of your favorite recipe: bacon added as the first ingredient will add a substantial depth to the soup and works great with potato soup (think of a baked potato with all the dressings), wine can be added with the stock or even try a spoonful of tomato paste for an extra kick.  Need more bite?  Don't forget chillies...