The Recipes - How to make Celery Soup (Vegan friendly)

When making most soups I use a basic formula of sliced potato, chopped onion and chosen veg, then Oxo vegetable stock, cornflour, water and black pepper. This formula works for most of my soups. Celery soup is very easy to make and really good tasting too, and from a budget point of view it's relatively cheap as well. Celery is also low calorie, full of anti-oxidants and a good source of fibre. It has also been used in Chinese medicine for centuries.as an anti-inflammatory so should definitely help with Arthritic conditions too. I  always serve the soups with crusty bread or sliced wholemeal bread. 

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The Recipes - How to make a Celeriac Soup (Vegan friendly)

What is celeriac? For those of you who don't know, it is the large root bulb of the celery plant. This is why this soup tastes like a sort of much creamier and thicker celery soup. It's a very good winter soup because it's especially thick and warming. It has a look of semolina when its out. The root can be hard to peel, it's best to cut it in half but maybe peel it with a potato peeler first. Then cut chunks off it. Don't make the chunks too large because you want them to cook through. If you smell it it does have a slight celery smell, though it does look like an old skull or something from Doctor Who, with the tendril bits coming off it. Try it out, I am sure that you will like it, and it's the crusty rolls yet again to serve....

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The Recipes - How to make an easy Chinese Soup (Vegan friendly)

When i tried this Chinese soup, for the first couple of mouthfuls i wasn't sure, a few more and i was hooked! It's an acquired taste if you haven't had much experience of Chinese food. I always do this in a big pan and use all the red pepper etc so that there is no waste. Always shake up your Soy sauce before you use it as it settles. Always again use the freshest beansprouts spring onion etc as possible as this soup can last a few days. We have used it from the fridge up to four days. Always cool down your soup and then get it in the fridge before 90 minutes have passed for good hygiene rules, and store it in good quality sealable containers. My daughter loves to drink the juice last, and everyone that has tried it loves it by the end of the bowl. Though it could be because of the salt content in the Soy sauce. (joking). It's lazy cooking as well because it lasts a few days, and it was even good on day four! Don't leave it longer than that though....The Chinese leaf is usually obtained from Morrisons, I can never find it in the other supermarkets  Oh well, crusty roll time again.

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The Recipes - How to make Minestrone Soup (Vegan friendly)

Minestrone soup should always contain some sort of pasta. Here we used spaghetti cut into short strands. Then you can add anything that is left in the fridge. Courgettes whatever, just an even mix of vegetables. Then use parsley as the herb here. Always use the garlic, onion, potato and tomatoes as the base for the  minestrone though. Crusty rolls at the ready!

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The Recipes - How to make a Creamy Mushroom Soup

This recipe again started out in a book. I doubled up the mushroom quantity, reduced slightly the stock quantity using Oxo vegetable stock, and added some cornflour. This is my daughter's favourite soup so we have to have it at least once a week! It also makes a good Christmas meal soup. Always make sure the celery stick goes limp before you take it out though, and always use the freshest ,white mushrooms. Button or closed cup will do. Semi skimmed is the best milk for this so that it is not too rich. Out come the crusty rolls....

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The Recipes - How to make spicy carrot soup, with cumin and coriander.

This recipe again started out as a basic one in a book. By using more stock, and using the Oxo vegetable stock, taking away the milk, and using Chantenay carrots, this soup took on a really nice taste. You can use any carrots, but always make sure they are fresh, crisp and bright orange for this recipe. Carrots also are one of the cheapest vegetables that you can buy, so this soup is an all rounder for budget cooking and taste! Crusty roll anyone?

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The Recipes - How to make Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup (Vegan friendly)

This recipe started out in a book again, shallots were used and a small carrot, so i changed it to a brown onion, a larger carrot, and Oxo Vegetable stock and got a really nice taste! You need to use the freshest broccoli and cauliflower though. I find it easier using in a ready made twin pack but always check the quality. The carrots here again provide the sweet taste to it. We sometimes have this one at Christmas too as it was my late brother's favourite, and he also insisted on it being served in a mug not a dish. There is always one! Grab the crusty bread rolls.

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The Recipes - Fresh Tomato Soup with celery, carrot, onion, veg stock and cornflour. (Vegan friendly)

Well, who doesn't like fresh tomato soup? Especially in winter. The problem is though tomatoes are out of season then, so its best to make this soup in summer when they are always ripe and freshly available. If you do choose to make this soup in winter, Christmas say like we do,  always source the supermarkets' reddest and juiciest tomatoes you can find. The carrot content in this recipe replaces sugar as they provide the sweet flavour to it. If you want it more sweet shall we say, like a certain very popular supermarket brand, just add a little extra carrot than specified. But be careful!! And always serve this with a nice crusty bread roll.....

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The Recipes - Spicy Carrot, Coriander and Celery Soup

Part of this recipe came about when mum was making a recipe from a book. At the time I had some herbs chopped up and frozen in bags. Part of the books' recipe used Parsley in it and mum and her friend mistakenly used the frozen Coriander, luckily they dropped some of it on the floor or it would have been too spicy to eat. I liked the Coriander taste though in the soup and played about with the quantity so that it didn't overshadow the vegetables.With a little tinkering with the quantities of the other ingredients too this is what we ended up with. Hope you like it too.

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