Winter Soups A Small Selection Of Delicious Favourites!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t deal with cold weather well. I love snow, the romance of it….the silence as it falls, coating everything in a crisp clean blanket of white, everything feels new and fresh, everything is quiet….and then after a few hours, it’s brown sludge, kids have rolled the prettiness into deformed snowmen and cars have worn a brown, mucky trail into the roads…..and then then there’s the ice as it thaw’s and refreezes, people Bambi stepping on the footpaths, cars screeching into spins and everything comes to a halt…getting to work is an adventure-Wait, did I describe snow as romantic? Scrap that! Let’s get a reality check!

So anyway…. As I was saying, I carefully examined lots of their goodies and came home with organic Marygold
stock, I always cook with the Swiss Veg one, split pea’s, tahini,organic chickpea’s, toasted coconut flakes…. And chocolate made with Isomaltulose which is easier for your body to process than regular sugar (the same kind of healthy sugar in honey) Dr.McCoy’s coconut bars (also a business from Greystones, which is booming)…. So I came home, all positive about the healthy soups I was going to make and decided that I’m going to make lots of yummy soups in advance and freeze them…so on those nights where I’m freezing, tired and craving sugar….I reach for one of them instead of lasagne and chips… and the ‘fluffiness’ will become more ‘silkiness’ if you catch my drift… I’m
also getting my 2litres water down as I’m severely dehydrated from the heaters at work… The heating at home and the copious amounts of coffee I’m drinking….I’m losing my sparkle, if I ever had one..There’s also the fact that we’re still saving to buy a house and I have spent a scary amount in the past on latte’s and lunches…. The Vanilla Pod Eatery near where I work does incredible soup to go every day for €3 with bread, and most days I do bring a lunch….but on extra cold days or pay day, I still find myself going in for a soup and Americano…then my eyes wander to the desserts display….one French Macaron won’t hurt…right? I am definitely making more of an effort to bring my own though!

 

I know I talk about soup a lot…but it’s the best thing ever! Last night, I planned on making a courgette, potato and mint soup but could imagine the grimace on my husbands face, so I’ll save that for my day off next week.. I made a split pea and ham soup, made famous by ‘that’ scene in The Exorcist movie- yep, it was Campbells Split Pea soup that they used!  It was gorgeous though, thick, warming, smokey and pleasantly salty from the ham/panchetta..  So I’m
going to share my hearty soup recipes with you for when you’re feeling the same as me….you’ll have something cozy (other than our men) to cuddle up with..

Yeah….. that was Pea Soup- yes really!

I will say though, when making soup, it’s ultra important that you use the best stock you can find, if you have home made, good on you, that’s the best…if not, Marigold (Used my most chef’s, you can get it in health food stores)  or Kallo low sodium. Personally, I can’t abide Knorr, it’s incredibly artificial and salty and often have to add another one or two to get some flavour….. I think there is MSG in it too) My mum and Hubby call me “Queen of Soup’s” but between you and I…..it’s just the stock I use!

Split Pea & Ham

Barley & Courgette

Curried Butternut Squash

Courgette, Potato & Mint

Split Pea & Ham

• Wash and chop vegetables and put a little olive oil in a saucepan..
• Fry onions until soft and transparent, add a pinch of salt so they don’t brown. I usually pile them up in a thick pile so they sweat together rather than sautee.
• Add celery and panchetta and fry until panchetta is cooked.
• Add  your chopped garlic and  peas and if you’re using marigold, 2 tablesooons, regular stock cubes,1 vegetable cube and put plenty of boiling water in, about a pint and a half, you may need to add more as the pea’s cook. I never give water measurements for soup because everyone likes their consistency different, I love it nice and liquid, hubby likes it so thick, it’s like mashed potato….. So I tell him to make stew if he wants it like that.. We normally go in between, not too thick and not too thin….rather like myself 😉
• Cook until the peas are soft and using a regular blender wand blender, blend untilsmooth, taste to see if it needs more seasoning. I like to fill a ramekin and let Ryan try it and see what he thinks is needed, we call this “rules” portions.

It’s great served with crusty bread and a smear of butter, keeps really well in the freezer but you may need more water when you reheat it.

 

Barley & Courgette

• Peel and chop onions, garlic and then cut courgette into small cubes, you can peel it it you hate the skin (the nutrient rich bit)
• Precook barley if you haven’t already, in water and a pinch of salt, then rinse the starch off, set aside.
• Fry onions until transparent but not brown and add garlic, courgette and cook for another three minutes on medium-low heat,  add tomatoes, stock and seasoning and allow to simmer for 40 minutes.

Click here for Curried Butternut Squash

Courgette, Potato &  Mint

Leek & potato is another favourite of mine, substitute the courgettes for leeks and hold the mint!