‘Chuck it In’ Vegetable Soup

Sometimes you just end up with some odds and ends of vegetables at the end of the week – be it from having to buy a packet of veg rather than individually, because you forgot to add something or you just have more than you expected for some reason.  Seeing as you are here, I know that like me, you’re not about to let those delicious veggies go to waste!

There are so many different ways that I like to ‘save’ veg when they are left over, such as pickling, dehydrating, freezing or blending, but nothing beats the great way of saving veg as by making a ‘chuck it in’ vegetable soup.  Not only does it mean that you can use the fresh produce going to spare, but you can chuck in some tinned beans to boost it up or even the ends of frozen veg bags.

The best things about it is that anything goes – and it is lightning fast to prepare and cook too.  Oh and did I mention that it is delicious too – especially with some homemade bread!

As you can see, I have a wide range of veggies ready to go into the soup (even slightly soft ones are good to go in too – all being that they’re not too bad, I’ll let you be the judge)  The pepper towards that back had sustained a bad bruised to one side making it very sloppy in parts, so I just chopped the sloppy bits of and used the rest.

One of the best hings about this soup is how absolutely gloriously colourful it can be!  When the evening get a bit glum and it gets darker earlier how can you not smile when you have a rainbow soup to keep you comfortable and warm?

Just chuck all the hard veg e.g. carrots, onions, garlic, celery, peppers, parsnips, suede etc for the first batch of cooking.  The softer veg will go in when we add the stock – otherwise they will become very mushy!

Remember to chop up the stems of any vegetables that have them e.g. broccoli and cauliflower as they will be delicious in the soup and save on any waste.

To be honest, I am a HUGE fan of broccoli and cauliflower stems, I actually think they might be my favourite part of them – especially raw!  I love to snack on them while I work and the great thing about them is they stand up when you’re not gnawing on them! lol!

*lol please excuse the tea bag dish that seems to have slipped into the pic unnoticed! 😉

This really is THE most easy and flexible soup you can ever have in your repertoire as it basically uses any veg that you have hanging around, is in season or you have a glut of from your garden or allotment.  You can even switch it up with your own blend of herbs and spices and perhaps turn it into a curried vegetable soup by toasting off some cumin seeds in the dry pan before adding the garlic and veg.  Experiment and see what works for you!

For this batch I used the following to make enough for four people (two for our evening meal and two portions for our lunch boxes)

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced

1 medium red onion, diced

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 parsnips, roughly chopped

1 yellow pepper, roughly chopped (you’ll see this is pretty rustic!)

a small bunch of celery, roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic

2 courgettes, roughly chopped

small head of broccoli, stems and flowers roughly chopped

1 Portobello mushroom, sliced then chopped

4 button mushrooms, chopped

3 tomatoes, roughly chopped

a bag of green beans sliced into approximately 6 cm pieces

2 Kallo stock cubes

1 litre of water

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp turmeric

(as I have mentioned, you don’t have to put all this in, just use what you have and switch it up with come frozen or tinned veg if you’re short on variety)

Method

wash, chop and dice all the vegetables starting with the onions, pepper, carrots, parsnips and celery (as you can add these to the pan first if you’re running out of chopping board space)

dice or press the garlic cloves

drizzle the olive oil into a large stock pot and bring to a medium heat

add the first batch of chopped veg along with the garlic and stir occasionally, to prevent sticking, while you chop the other vegetables

add the second batch of vegetables (the courgette, mushrooms, tomatoes and broccoli) stir thorough

cook the vegetables, stirring regularly for about 10 minutes until tender, stir through the herbs

make the stock and add to the pan along with the tinned tomatoes and stir through thoroughly

add the green beans and the turmeric and turn the mixture down to a simmer

simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

slice your Mixed Seed Loaf or other bread and put a layer of Pure spread or margarine onto it

serve the soup in warm bowls and for an extra treat, cut some cheddar into tiny cubes and scatter onto the soup!  As they mix through they melt and make the most delicious little bits when you get them in your soupy mouthful

This is so comforting!  I am writing this just after eating it for my lunch (if you’re following me on Instagram, you’ll have seen the pre-noming!)

There is no better way to get through left over veg when you want to start a fresh or before heading on holiday. This is great as left overs, frozen into portions or even shared with friends.

Let me know how you get on with yours and any exciting veg you add to them!

Happy souping!