soup, soup, soup

Yep, Melbourne has turned on the cold again this weekend.

It's been a blustery, rainy Sunday afternoon, so of course I thought of soup.

I've spent the last few weeks moving house and STILL don't have the internet sorted at the new place, but thanks to a USB dongle, I'm able to post this soup I whipped up today with 'stuff I found in the cupboard/fridge that was going bad'.

Clearly choosing the ingredients was a very technical process *wink*.


 Stuff you need;

3 or 4 potatoes, chopped into small cubes
half a head of cauliflower, broken into small florets
400 gram tin crushed tomatoes
1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup red split lentils
tinned corn
2 cloves garlic
2 and a half Massell vegetable stock cubes
olive oil
fresh parsley to taste

What you do;

1) Fry the garlic and potato in olive oil til it's browned.

2) Add a litre of water with the dissolved stock cubes and the crushed tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and add cauliflower and lentils.

3) Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils, cauliflower and potato are cooked through and soft. Then add the tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste.

4) Finally, add the tinned corn and chopped fresh parsley and heat through.

That's it! My very basic peasant soup. Cheap as chips and oh so easy. The beauty of it is that you can put whatever you want in it - I just happened to have potatoes and cauliflower I needed to use. Last time I used carrot and broccolini and it was great too.

Trying new things - Organic soup

from www.pitango.co.nz

I came across Pitango soups the other day. I had the one pictured, minestrone soup with heaps of vegies. I do like making my own soups, but for a quick fix when you're too tired or sick to whip up a batch yourself, this one's quite good. Pitango also have a few other vegan options like pumpkin and tomato & thyme. They've got some tasty looking organic hummus on the website too.

I've been making and eating lots of soups lately as winter creeps up on us. There's nothing like a hearty soup with some crusty bread to warm you up on those chilly winter nights.

Cheers, M

Mushroom Wonton Soup

Wonton soup is really easy and yummy - it's just a bit time-consuming - so it's good for a weekend meal. This is just a twist on the classic chicken wonton soup, with mushrooms instead ... yep, I love mushrooms. This mix makes about 50 wontons - you can freeze them too.

What you need;

for the broth

1.5 litres water with 2 Massel chicken stock cubes

1 tablespoon soy sauce

a chunk of peeled ginger 

for the wontons

3 large field mushrooms

1 small zucchini 

1 small carrot

fresh chives

2 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons cornflour

wonton wrappers

 What you do;

1) Get the water boiling and reduce to simmer. Add the stock cubes, soy sauce and the chunk of ginger. Leave to simmer while you make the wontons so the ginger can infuse.

2) Grate the zuchinni and carrot and chop up the mushroom into little pieces. Mix in a bowl with chives, crushed garlic, soy sauce and cornflour. 

You might want to add a bit more cornflour depending on how wet the mix is.

3) I like to make the wontons in my hand. You put the wrapper on your palm, then spoon a bit of the mix in to the centre. Run a wet finger around the edge of the wrapper and fold it over into a rectangle. Press the edges closed, and try to get as much air out of the centre as possible. Then pinch the edges into a wonton shape - it's a bit like a pleated skirt ... but not really.

 

4) By this time the broth should be smelling amazing. While it's simmering, put in the wontons (however many you need - a good meal is probably 8 per person, an entree 3 or 4). They'll go translucent and float to the top when they're done. I always put in an extra one to taste test and make sure the edges are cooked through.

5) Divide the wontons into bowls with a slotted spoon and cover with the broth (get rid of the ginger). Add some chopped chives to make it pretty and eat!