Soup ...

Alizarin

Hi everyone,

I have a really dumb question ... (please don't laugh at me, and I'm really sorry if this has been posted somewhere before) ... how do you make soup?

I have loads of carrots and sweet potatoes that I need to use up, and I was thinking I might try and make them into a soup tomorrow with maybe a bit of leftover chicken from tonight ... but I don't have a clue where to start! I've never even thought about making my own soup before!

I know I could probably find a decent recipe online somewhere, but everyone on this board seems to have so much knowledge and I really need an idiot's guide.

Thanks in advance!

Mr_Lahey

Alizarin wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I have a really dumb question ... (please don't laugh at me, and I'm really sorry if this has been posted somewhere before) ... how do you make soup?

I have loads of carrots and sweet potatoes that I need to use up, and I was thinking I might try and make them into a soup tomorrow with maybe a bit of leftover chicken from tonight ... but I don't have a clue where to start! I've never even thought about making my own soup before!

I know I could probably find a decent recipe online somewhere, but everyone on this board seems to have so much knowledge and I really need an idiot's guide.

Thanks in advance!

A simple Carrot soup:

http://www.greedygourmet.com/2009/01/29/simple-carrot-soup/

ubamother

I make loads of soups - mainly from leftovers rather than recipes! I find a good way to get flavour is to cook some chopped onions and garlic in butter/oil until soft - add your sweet potatoes and carrots, chopped up and sweat off for a while. Then add whatever stock you've got - homemade, cubes, whatever and simmer til all is soft. add seasoning, liquidize if you like it smooth and you're done. Another good way is to roast your veg in the oven before turning into soup. Homemade stock? boil up bones with big bits of veg - carrot, celery, onion - in cold water for an hour and you have stock. just use veg if you have no bones or want veggie soup. Once you've got the basics you can turn practically anything into great soup.

23rdspiral

don't worry, we all have to start somewhere.

i'm not sure about sweet potatoe soup - never had it or made it. but this is what i'd do with the carrots and chicken... and maybe the sweet potatoe too if i was feeling adventurous!

chop carrots into slices, chop onion finely, chop a potatoe into small cubes. gently fry onion & carrot till the onion has colour but not burnt at all, add the potatoe, water (enough to cover plus 5cm-ish) and stock power, a little salt and pepper and some dried mixed herbs, when veg is cooked blitz either 1/2 or all with a handblender, and if needed add more water untill it's the thickness you want. add shredded chicken. let it boil to make sure the chicken is fully cooked through.

i'd also add a little chillie powder and sweetcorn and then it wouldn't just be chicken & veg soup, but chillie chicken chowder!

good luck!

23rdspiral

woo Ubamother, we must have been thinking the same things at the same time!

Rikki

I make a sweet potato and carrot soup. It's really simple.

1 sweet potato, 4 carrots, 1 onion, 1 chicken stock cube 1/2 pint of water.

Dice the onion and sweat in a little oil until translucent, add dice carrots and sweet potato, crumble chicken stock cube in 1/2 pint of hot water and add to the saucepan. Cook until everything soft then either blend all of it till its smooth or just half and then add back to the rest.

MichH

I highly recommend sweet potato soup - delicious! Very simple to make, as above a bit of garlic, chopped onion, then sweat the sweet potato. Add your stock and seasoning. Chicken and carrots too would be lovely.

Love soup - very filling, economical too!

Edited to add: I like the sound of chilli chicken chowder, going to store that for future reference.

stef240377

A sweet potato and lentil recipe i use -

100g/4oz red lentils no need to soak
1 onion chopped
knob of butter
1 garlic clove
450g/1lb sweet potato )both cubed and peeled
450g/1lb of floury potato )
1.2ltrs/2 pints of hot veg stock
2 tbsp curry paste

Cook lentils in boiling water for 15 ins. Cook onion in butter for 8 mins until soft and starting to brown. Stir in garlic, curry paste and cubed potatoes, cook for 5 mins, stirring.
Drain lentils, add to potatoes with the stock and cook for 12-15 mins until pots are tender. Whizz in a blender until smooth. Return to heat to warm through and season to taste.

OPTIONAL.
2tbsp chopped fresh mint
142ml carton of natural yogurt
naan bread

Stir mint into the yogurt and season to taste, ladle the soup into bowls and swirl in yogurt, serving with naan bread.

I have made this numerous times and tried at the weekend throwing all the main ingredients in the slow cooker and leaving to cook through, blending and serving as normal and results were same if not better.

BitterAndTwisted

I'd be tempted to make two separate lots of sop form your ingredients up there: sweet potato and chicken soup with carrots and rice.

When making any kind of soup I always sweat off a combination of chopped onions, celery and/or garlic then add whatever veggies and stock I have to hand. Also add some dried or fresh herbs or spices, whatever you have to hand. It's fun experimenting and nearly anything can be made into some kind of soup, really

littleredhen

we all love sweet potato chips - peel and cut into chunk drizzle with olive oil and cook in the oven until crisp - yummy

newleaf

Sweet potato makes lovely soup, either on it's own or with carrot or butternut squash. I sometimes like to spice mine up a bit with a spoonful of Thai red curry paste & finish it off with a can of coconut milk.
Carrot & either butterbeans or red lentils is also good.
I make a big pan of soup every week from whatever is left from my weekly veg box, and take it to work for lunches.