Creamy Broccoli Soup

January has been an eventful month. My aunt visited us. Since it was her first time in Singapore, some major sight seeing happened. And we all got to eat some awesome sambhar, avial and some great southie goodies. She left for Bombay last week and now its back to regular routine and catching up with things at school, painting and blogging.

Though getting my kids to eat a majority of the vegetables has never been a problem, I always try and find new ways to get good stuff in. And sometimes certain circumstances also force you to try new recipes :) The circumstance here being that my hubby has had his wisdom tooth extracted. As he is on semi solid diet, I thought a soup would be a great idea.

Broccoli is one vegetable that we all love and usually we do roasted or boiled broccoli. But this time thought I could do the classic cheese sprinkled broccoli soup.

Here is a quick way to get it done.

You need:

• 2 heads broccoli cut into flowerets
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 medium carrot diced
• 2 sticks celery diced
• 1 pod garlic coarsely chopped
• 1 cup full fat milk
• 300 ml water
• 2 tbsps. olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
   

Steps:

• Take the olive oil in a thick bottom pot and add the garlic and onion. 
• Saute for a few minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and water. Allow it to come to a boil.
• Season with salt and pepper as per taste.
• Cook for 5-10 minutes until the broccoli is tender.
• Allow it to cool slightly for about 15-20 minutes.
• Add the milk and using a hand mixer or a blender, puree the contents.
• Check seasoning and reheat if required. 
• Serve warm or at room temperature with a generous sprinkling of cheese.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

• You can use low fat milk as an alternative.
• It is a thick soup. If you would like it thinner, add more water or milk as per your taste.
• You can use vegetable broth instead of the water.

 

Roasted Red Capsicum and Tomato Soup

I wanted to make a quick and easy dinner. The first thing that came to my mind was soup.

I then looked into the refrigerator to see what vegetables I had. Red capsicum and tomatoes. Sounded delicious. I decided to roast the vegetables before making the soup. And it was totally delicious.

You need:

• 3 medium red capsicums
• 6 medium tomatoes
• 3 medium onions
• 1.5 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• Grated cheese for garnishing

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180degrees C.
• Wash the vegetables well. Quarter the tomatoes and the red pepper. Halve the onions and then cut them into three pieces.

• Arrange them on a baking tray. Drizzle half of the olive oil over it and sprinkle the garlic salt.
• Bake for 20 mins. Turn the vegetables over and bake for another 20-25 mins until well roasted.
• Purée the roasted vegetables once cooled.
• Strain the purée and add water for desired consistency.
• Add the remaining olive oil and sugar. Season with salt as required. Heat till it boils.
• Serve hot with grated cheese and warm bread.

Notes:

• You could use a pod of garlic instead of garlic salt. Add it to the vegetables during the last 15 minutes of roasting in the oven.
• You could add 1/4 cup cream or milk for a rich taste.
• You could also use the purée as a dip. It is thick and creamy and would go well with pita bread, crackers or tortilla chips.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

Soup, for me, is a comfort food. I can have bowls of steaming hot soup and feel completely satisfied :)

I am slowly getting my children also hooked on to soups. Healthy and nutritious, it makes for a great meal. This uncomplicated soup and can be easily put together without much of an effort.

You Need:

• 300 gms white pumpkin
• 3 onions
• 2 potatoes
• 2 stalks celery
• 3 large flowerets of cauliflower
• 1/4 cup corn + 1 small handful of corn
• 1 small handful peas
• I carrot finely chopped
• 4-5 beans finely chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Steps:

• Wash and dice the pumpkin, onions, potatoes, celery, cauliflower. Also wash and add the 1/4 cup corn. Pressure cook these vegetables till they are well cooked.
• In a large pot, heat the olive oil and sauté the beans till they are half done, then add the carrots, remaining corn and peas and stir around for a few minutes till almost cooked.

• When the cooked vegetables have cooled, purée them and strain them into the large pot.
• Add the milk and extra water for desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat till it comes to one boil.
• Serve hot with some grated cheese sprinkled on top and warm bread.

Notes:

• Feel free to adjust the quantities of the vegetables as per your taste.
• You can use half a cup of cream instead of milk for a richer taste.

Tomato Soup

Good old Tomato Soup ..... completely yummilicious, great as a starter or as a light meal, quick to make and high on taste.

You need:

• 2 large onions
• I small carrot
• 6-8 tomatoes
• 1 wedge beet root
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Dried herbs (Optional)

Steps:

• Clean and chop all vegetables into big chunks.
• Pressure cook for about 4 whistles.
• Once cooled, blend.
• Sieve into a pot. Add olive oil and season as per your taste with salt, sugar, pepper and herbs. Add water as required if the soup is too thick. Heat till one boil.
• Serve hot with either crisp bread, buttered croutons or garlic bread.

Notes:

• You could leave out the beet root if your don't have it. Your soup will be a lighter colour.
• I had left over bread sides after making sandwiches. I toasted them in the oven at 160degrees for about 15 mins. The kids enjoyed dipping the sticks in the soup. You can also butter them and toast for more flavour. I was just lazy.
• Use butter instead of olive oil in the soup for a richer taste.
• Add cream for indulgence.
• Use white pepper powder if you don't like flakes of freshly ground black pepper in the soup.

Roasted Vegetable Minestrone Soup

As a family since we all love soups, I often try to make a meal out of it. I read this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Cooks and I knew I just had to try it out.

You need:

• 1 zucchini
• 2 med carrots
• 2 med onions
• 2 sticks of celery with leaves
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn
• 3 tomatoes - peeled, deseeded and chopped fine
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 500ml water + more
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• Olive oil
• Pasta - any small shape (I used about 3 hand full of dried small macaroni)

For Garnish:

• Cheese Shavings

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 240 degrees C.
• Dice the zucchini, carrots and 1 onion. 
• Mix with a tbsp of olive oil, salt and dried herbs and spread on a baking sheet.
• Place in the oven for about 15 mins. Let it brown slightly.
• Finely chop the other onion.
• Add 1 tbsp of olive oil in a thick bottom pot and sauté the onions for a minute.
• Then add the finely chopped celery and sauté for another minute.
• Add 500 ml of water and bring to a boil. Add salt as required.
• When it boils, add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and allow it to boil for a few minutes.
• Add the required quantity of pasta and let it boil for a few minutes. Add more water if required. Add salt and pepper as per taste.
• When the pasta is about 90% cooked, add the roasted vegetables and take off the heat.

Serve hot with cheese shavings and bread.

Notes:

• Substitute the water with vegetable / chicken broth for a richer taste.
• Add two handfuls of cooked chick peas along with the celery and let boil.
• Add chopped mushrooms with the celery. I skipped it as I am not too fond of mushrooms.