not boring at all
Winter soup: simple and heart-warming
Vegetable soups on cold days are both heart-warming and healthy. Use these simple tricks to turn a soup into a tasty, wholesome meal.
Warm and tasty
It’s understandable that winter soups aren't for everyone. Nonetheless, it's a pity to miss out on the nutritional value of soups for fear of them being «boring». But the solution is easy. Using a simple, puréed vegetable soup as the basis, it takes only a small and simple step to turn a healthy and uninteresting soup into an equally healthy and appetising meal.
Winter soups made easy
Making a simple winter soup is basically easy – it takes approx. 40 minutes. Potatoes and / or carrots are mostly a good basis. You can then add a winter vegetable, depending on what you happen to have or feel like:
- Wash, peel and chop the vegetables.
- Sauté in a pot with high sides (especially if onions are included).
- Cook until tender (in water or stock, usually 20-30 minutes).
- Blend with the cooking water.
- Season.
- Enrich as desired.
And as with salad, bread «works» beautifully with soup, of course. For dipping or in cubes – perhaps even fried as croutons.
Simple recipe ideas to follow
These recipes have been kept relatively simple. But be creative and enhance them as much as you like!
Parsnip soup
Peel and dice the vegetables. Sauté the onions in oil or butter (high-sided pan to ensure everything fits in). Add the potatoes and parsnips and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add the stock and cook the vegetables until tender (20-30 minutes). Blend the vegetables with a hand mixer and add the cream.
- 400g parsnips
- 200g potatoes
- 1 onion
- olive oil or butter to sauté
- 800g vegetable stock
- 200g cream
- 1/2 bunch of parsley
- salt, pepper (nutmeg and lemon juice to taste, if desired)
Pumpkin soup
Dice the vegetables. Finely zest and juice the lemon. Sauté the onions, garlic, pumpkin and curry in oil for approx. 3 minutes. Add the lemon juice and zest. Add the stock and cook the vegetables until tender (20-30 minutes). Add the coconut milk, simmer again briefly. Blend the soup with a hand mixer. Season with salt and pepper, decorate with parsley.
- 500g pumpkin (e.g. Hokkaido or butternut), peeled and chopped
- 1 large onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lemon
- oil for sautéing
- 3 tbsp. curry powder
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 250ml coconut milk
- 1/2 bunch of parsley
- salt, pepper
The extra added touch
It doesn’t take much to concoct a wholesome meal from a soup – and one that tastes good too. Even when you enrich your soup, the nutritional value remains.
Cream topping
Fat enhances the taste of the soup and keeps you feeling full longer. Whether it’s whipped cream for decoration, a dollop of crème fraîche, or a swirl of cream stirred in – fat adds flavour.
Seeds and nuts
In summer, we use them to enrich the flavours of salads – why not do the same in winter to soups? Seeds and nuts go with most soups. Browning them a little in a pan beforehand intensifies the taste.
Tip: for an extra warming effect, add a little chilli, ginger or turmeric to the soup. This promotes circulation and strengthens the immune system.
Meat and alternatives
How about fried bacon, slices of sausage, ham or maybe yesterday’s meat leftovers (without sauce) cut into cubes? Vegetarians could try fried cubes of tofu.
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