Heart-warming soup recipes

As a true Dutchie, I must admit I truly love soup and I eat about 4 soups a week. One of the biggest reasons is that it is one of the easiest ways to get my greens in without having to eat all day long. Soups are versatile, stuffed with vitamins and nutrients and they are absolutely delicious.

There are soups for any moment; some simple herbal broths at 4 o’clock, a nice chicken soup when feeling a bit under the weather, and meal soups for lunch or dinner. Since I sometimes don’t have time for lunch when I am at work, I also take some soup with me in a thermos bottle so that I can sip throughout the day or when I am on the road without a decent lunch option in sight.

Make or buy?

Buying soup can be quick and easy, but in that case, I would recommend checking the labels. Often, a lot of salt and conservatives have been added. This takes a while the first time, but it will give you a lot of health benefits over time. A lot of salts are also in drinking broths, but since I personally don’t eat that much salt and I have a low blood pressure, I am fine with having this as a snack some days.

However, making it yourself is always better, but it can seem a little more inconvenient. Therefore, whenever I have time to make soup myself, I usually make a big pan of it, enough for 4-5 portions. Since tomato-vegetable soup is the quickest recipe I know, this is usually what I make.

After making it, I let it cool off for a few hours with the lid on the pan and then I divide it into little Tupperware containers or in ziplock plastic bags that I then put into my freezer (the first option is the most sustainable, so I only use the second option when that is the only way I can store everything). This way, whenever I want soup, I can just pull out the containers and re-heat it in a pan. Sometimes, this does cost you some flavour, so I usually add some extra pepper or other spices when re-heating.

I hate using a microwave for anything unless making popcorn, so I would recommend just using a pan whenever possible. However, using a microwave I a good option when you have one at work for instance.

Recipe 1: (Vegan) tomato-vegetable soup

For this tomato soup recipe, you’ll need 1 onion, two cloves of garlic, 750 grams of (roma) tomatoes, 750 ml of water, 2 vegetable bouillon granules, 1 small can of tomato paste, 5 carrots, 1 leek, 2 spring onions, 1 spoon of olive oil, basil, thyme, black pepper and rosemary.

Start your soup cutting the vegetables and by fruiting the (chopped) onion and garlic. Then, add the water, bouillon granules and all the vegetables. Cook this for about 10 minutes and then use a (hand)blender to puree everything together. Then add the basil, black pepper, thyme and rosemary and cook for another 5 minutes on a low heat.

To serve, you can top it off with some fresh basil leaves or a little splash of (vegan)cream. The nice thing about this soup is that it contains a lot of vegetables and flavour, without carrying too many calories. Also, because of it’s thick consistency, it is the perfect soup to warm you up.

Recipe 2: Chicken soup

For this chicken soup recipe, you’ll need 1 whole chicken, water to cover the chicken, 3 chicken bouillon granules, pepper, olive oil, 2 onions and soup vegetables (or choose veggies yourself, like spring onions and carrots).

First, you can fruit the onions in a spoonful of olive oil. Then, you bring the water to a boil with the bouillon granules in it. Add the chicken and the other vegetables and cook until the meat falls off the bones of the chicken. Then, take a big spoon or a strainer and get everything out of the soup. Pick the bones and remove them from the other stuff and put the vegetables and the chicken meat back in the broth. Add pepper and if needed some salt (but better not) and let it simmer for 5 minutes extra before serving.

What is also possible is to use half of the cooked chicken in the soup and the other half for the creamy, cooked chicken wrap recipe!

This soup is one of my favourite recipes when I feel sick, since the salt in the broth will help retain the water in my body and the chicken contains loads of vitamins and proteins, which will help your body heal. Since it’s also mainly based on water, it is not to heavy on the stomach and it is delicious with just some toast for a more substantial meal.

Recipe 3: Sweet potato broccoli soup

The ingredients for this sweet potato broccoli soup recipe are simple: you’ll need 3 sweet potatoes, 2 whole broccoli’s, 1 jalapeño pepper, 1 teaspoon of harissa, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 750 ml of vegetable broth, a little curcuma and black pepper and olive oil.

This recipe is on the basis of Jamie Oliver’s recipe, so I won’t repeat the recipe of a true master here. What I do extra is to add 1 jalapeño pepper and some curcuma, since I love the extra spice of the jalapeño and I add curcuma and black pepper since all the health benefits of this combination.

This is very much a dinnertime soup, since it is very filling. Therefore, I don’t usually feel the need to supplement it with bread, but of course you could. It is also very nice when served in a small batch as a starter. Sweet potatoes, just like broccoli, are called ‘super foods’ and with good reasons. Giving your body slow carbohydrates, antioxidants and huge amounts of vitamins, this soup is an absolute star to boost your health!

Additions to your meal

Almost any soup can be supplemented by cream, vermicelli, meatballs or croutons to make it somewhat more exciting. I also love eating crackers with cheese, toast with butter or breadsticks with soups to make it somewhat more filling or a piece of quiche for a real meal.

What are your favorite soups and when do you eat them generally? Which one is going to be your first try?

Lots of love,

Lisa

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