Winter Soups

Winter Soups

Cold weather always seems to bring on the hunger pangs, and if you're working outside in winter you actually need lots more calories just to maintain your body heat. However, people who live and work in warm conditions don't really need any more food in winter than in summer. For most of us, the challenge is satisfying our hunger pangs without putting on weight. A great way to do this is to indulge in easy to make, warming winter soups. They are great for any meal or for a snack, they're good to take to work or school and they're very healthy. A bowl of Rosemary Stanton's delicious vegetable soup has the equivalent of two or three serves of vegies.

Basic vegetable soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1kg of vegetables, prepared and chopped (choose one or more from carrot, pumpkin, potato, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, celeriac, orange sweet potato, spinach, mushroom)
• olive oil
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1 litre chicken stock (see recipe below or you can buy ready-made stock), or water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs (thyme, marjoram, basil or a mixture of sage with tarragon or dried parsley)

Method

1. In a large saucepan, cook the onion in a little olive oil.
2. Add the other ingredients, bring to the boil, cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.
3. Remove the bay leaves and puree the soup in batches, adding a little water or white wine if necessary (or desired).
4. Reheat and serve in deep bowls, topped with a dollop of thick natural yoghurt. 

Variations

Use beef or chicken stock in a pumpkin soup For carrot or sweet potato soup, use half stock and half orange juice with 1-2 cloves garlic for extra flavour. For potato, cauliflower or broccoli soups, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup skim milk powder to the blender, to give a creamy texture. Roast the vegetables first to give soup extra flavour. For example, for pumpkin soup, place a halved onion, about 1 kg peeled pumpkin pieces and 2 cloves of garlic into an oven dish, and sprinkle with a little olive or macadamia oil. Roast in a moderate oven until the vegetables are tender (about 30-40 minutes). Then puree the vegetables and the garlic flesh with your stock.

Chicken stock

Either keep the bones from a chicken meal or buy 750g chicken bones from a supermarket or chicken shop. Place the bones in a large saucepan; add a bay leaf, 6 peppercorns, 2 sprigs of parsley, a roughly chopped carrot (or other leftover vegetables) and 4 cups of water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain stock, refrigerate and remove any fat that forms on the top. Use immediately or freeze until needed.

Further reading

For more of Rosemary Stanton's healthy winter soups, see the July 2000 edition of the Burke's Backyard magazine.

Copyright 2000 CTC Productions