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Soup to up the veg intake

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  • 08-06-2014 8:22pm
    #1
    IR1SH RANG3R
    Registered Users Posts: 341 ✭✭


    Ok so I need to up my veg intake and I reckon the best way I can do this personally is to introduce soups to my diet most days. Looking for good recipes that aren't too difficult and that can ideally be made to last in the fridge for 3-4 days so I can batch cook.

    Cheers


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    #2
    eclectichoney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,291 ✭✭✭eclectichoney


    Can I chip in with a related Q? (sorry OP!) Can somebody recommend a good, not too expensive, blender for making soups?


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    #3
    Alf Veedersane
    Registered Users Posts: 24,557 ✭✭✭✭Alf Veedersane


    IR1SH RANG3R wrote: »
    Ok so I need to up my veg intake and I reckon the best way I can do this personally is to introduce soups to my diet most days. Looking for good recipes that aren't too difficult and that can ideally be made to last in the fridge for 3-4 days so I can batch cook.

    Cheers

    I just grab a load of veg I like, bit of veg stock like Vecon, and boil. Plenty of specific recipes but you can play around with any veg and see what you like.


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    #4
    Alf Veedersane
    Registered Users Posts: 24,557 ✭✭✭✭Alf Veedersane


    eclectichoney wrote: »
    Can I chip in with a related Q? (sorry OP!) Can somebody recommend a good, not too expensive, blender for making soups?

    Any hand-held blender will do. You just blend in the saucepan and you're done.


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    #5
    IR1SH RANG3R
    Registered Users Posts: 341 ✭✭IR1SH RANG3R


    eclectichoney wrote: »
    Can I chip in with a related Q? (sorry OP!) Can somebody recommend a good, not too expensive, blender for making soups?

    No worries at all, planning on using a hand blender myself, looking on youtube for ideas now and all seem to use one of these.

    Gonna try carrot and coriander soup one the days after that will start experimenting with other veg. I'm quite odd I don't eat much veg but will eat any kind of veggie soup put up in front of me (with the exception of mushroom) so this is just a way to get more healthy foods into me.


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    #6
    Alf Veedersane
    Registered Users Posts: 24,557 ✭✭✭✭Alf Veedersane


    Potato or sweet potato thicken it but you can add lentils for that. Just make sure to have them in simmering for long enough. After that, I just add whatever is at hand.

    The Vecon stock is good. Other stocks can have a lot of salt.


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    #7
    runawaybishop
    Registered Users Posts: 9,500 ✭✭✭runawaybishop


    Carrots, onions and celery from the basis of tons of soups. Just add whatever you want to that base - like potatoes and leek, pea and mint, more carrot and coriander, peanut butter and butternut squash.


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    #8
    Mr. CooL ICE
    Registered Users Posts: 17,508 ✭✭✭✭Mr. CooL ICE


    eclectichoney wrote: »
    Can I chip in with a related Q? (sorry OP!) Can somebody recommend a good, not too expensive, blender for making soups?

    I got a cheap no-brand handheld in Tesco for about €9. Never let me down.

    It's hard to go wrong with soups IMO. I always start with frying an onion in a mix of olive oil and butter. After that, I throw in fennel seeds. I try to use a mix of stalks and roots, e.g. carrots and celery. Celeriac, while looks like a giant wart, it awesome in soups. I need to go easy on carrots as too much will make it overly sweet. Likewise, broccoli tends to make soups a little bit bitter.

    I find using vegetable bouillone instead of oxo/knorr veg stock is nicer, but that's just a personal preference. If you want to bulk it up a bit with some protein, you could simmer some lentils in water as you cook the soup and throw them in for the last few minutes (rinse them in a sieve before this).


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    #9
    IR1SH RANG3R
    Registered Users Posts: 341 ✭✭IR1SH RANG3R


    Would broccoli go well in soups? I would have thought it wouldn't blend very smooth? Although I am a complete beginner :)


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    #10
    lazeedaisy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,328 ✭✭✭lazeedaisy


    You should consider juicing, as cooking would loose a lot of vitamins and nutrients.


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    #11
    lazeedaisy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,328 ✭✭✭lazeedaisy


    IR1SH RANG3R wrote: »
    Would broccoli go well in soups? I would have thought it wouldn't blend very smooth? Although I am a complete beginner :)

    One of my favourite soup is broccoli and cheddar but again it can cook to mush


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    #12
    IR1SH RANG3R
    Registered Users Posts: 341 ✭✭IR1SH RANG3R


    lazeedaisy wrote: »
    You should consider juicing, as cooking would loose a lot of vitamins and nutrients.

    Will be doing a bit of juicing as well, see what it's like. I'm waiting for the food processor/blender to come back up on Groupon and gonna get myself one of these


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    #13
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I pretty much put everything that's to hand in soup. I find it's better to have small amounts of lots of stuff rather than lots of one thing, especially if you can get lots of different colours in there. My typical soup is:

    -Little bit of oil + a large-ish knob of butter - heat till it sizzles.
    -Add one leek, a small onion, half a sweet chili pepper (diced very small) and a small clove of garlic, and let them fry off and get all soft and buttery.
    - Then turn down the heat a bit, add a small carrot, one large or two small potatoes, a little bit of broccoli and some beans (runner, sugarsnap, mangetout, whatever, but only a small few because too many greens can be a bit bitter).
    - Then in goes a chicken oxo cube, a bayleaf, some parsley, rosemary, thyme (I put a lot of herbs in since I have tonnes in the garden, but if you can just buy a shaker of Herbs de Provence and that will have most everything in it), and then add some water from the kettle.
    - Keep it simmering until everything's gone soft, then pop the hand blender in until soup happens.

    I get about three days out of soup. In terms of health, if you want to add a bit of protein lentils are good, but I personally don't like them in soups and if you're going low-salt don't use oxo.


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    #14
    foxy06
    Registered Users Posts: 2,138 ✭✭✭foxy06


    IR1SH RANG3R wrote: »
    No worries at all, planning on using a hand blender myself, looking on youtube for ideas now and all seem to use one of these.

    Gonna try carrot and coriander soup one the days after that will start experimenting with other veg. I'm quite odd I don't eat much veg but will eat any kind of veggie soup put up in front of me (with the exception of mushroom) so this is just a way to get more healthy foods into me.

    You may be my twin.


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    #15
    Alf Veedersane
    Registered Users Posts: 24,557 ✭✭✭✭Alf Veedersane


    lazeedaisy wrote: »
    You should consider juicing, as cooking would loose a lot of vitamins and nutrients.


    certian heat-sensitive vitamins would be reduced but if you're makiing it all in the one pot, anything that leaches out from the veg into the water is still used.


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    #16
    frag420
    Registered Users Posts: 6,158 ✭✭✭frag420


    foxy06 wrote: »
    You may be my twin.

    Eh.....you guys could be my long lost triplet siblings!!!


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    #17
    IR1SH RANG3R
    Registered Users Posts: 341 ✭✭IR1SH RANG3R


    frag420 wrote: »
    Eh.....you guys could be my long lost triplet siblings!!!

    What's you guy's/girl's diets like overall if you have the same tastes etc. as me? Looking for ideas to add in :)


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    #18
    judgefudge
    Registered Users Posts: 915 ✭✭✭judgefudge


    I usually make soup with one large onion, 2 courgettes (yum), two carrots, 4-5 tomatoes, sometimes a leek or maybe a pepper. And then some veg stock. Boil it up for bout 20-30 mins and blend. I add salt and chilli powder to taste cause I like a bit of a kick to it. Yum.


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    #19
    Mr. CooL ICE
    Registered Users Posts: 17,508 ✭✭✭✭Mr. CooL ICE


    Not soup, but I've made veg chilli in the past. Just another option for you to mix things up.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrSlnzPMpII


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    #20
    frag420
    Registered Users Posts: 6,158 ✭✭✭frag420


    IR1SH RANG3R wrote: »
    What's you guy's/girl's diets like overall if you have the same tastes etc. as me? Looking for ideas to add in :)

    I don't eat soup as much as before, I now just whack veg into stirfrys, chillis etc. If I do go for a soup it's very similar to the recipes above!!


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