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Simple
These recipes are so simple, you'll be excused for thinking that they cannot taste all that nice. They contain just two ingredients - onion plus one other vegetable. Or four ingredients if you also count the water and salt.
The first time I came across such a recipe in a macrobiotic cookbook - for a cream corn soup - I ignored it. When I finally tried it a few months later, I was surprised at how delicious it was.
This is good enough to serve even at dinner parties.
The secret is to use good quality and fresh ingredients. Organic vegetables generally have a much richer taste and fuller flavour. And with vegetables like corn, freshness makes a world of a difference.
I'll illustrate with a cream carrot soup and suggest variations further down... Photographs will be put up later.
Cream carrot soup
2 large onion
2 medium carrot
3 cups water
1/4 tsp sea salt
- Cut onion and carrot into large chunks
- Boil, together sea salt, over medium heat for about 15 minutes until vegetables are soft.
- Leave to cool slightly and blend in a food processor. You need not cool it completely, but if the soup is too hot, it will "fly" out of the blender and mess up your kitchen!
- Re-heat gently. Serve garnished with coriander, spring onions or other herbs.
Variations
There are endless variations to this recipe, using onion plus one other vegetable. You can try:
- onion + cauliflower
- onion + corn
- onion + pumpkin
- onion + mushrooms
- onion + parsnip
Use leek instead of onion and you get another series of variations:
- leek + potato
- leek + cauliflower
- leek + pumpkin
Of course, you can also use three or more vegetables, eg
- onion + potato + carrot
But more ingredients may not necessarily taste better. You might end up with tastes - and colours - that clash. Or with a mixture that does not taste like anything in particular.
I prefer my soups simple. The maximum I would use is three and the third vegetable would be something with a mild taste and mild colour, like potato or cauliflower.
Seasonings
For more interesting variations, change the seasonings:
- Use white miso instead of salt, in which case add miso about three minutes the end of the cooking period. Dark miso and soy sauce do not usually work well in blended soups but you can always try.
- Add a bit of chilli - I usually use just one chilli, green or red, with the seeds removed - to perk up the soup.
- Add a bay leaf, or some other herb, and remove before blending.
Creamier
Or change the cooking liquid! For a creamier, richer flavour, cook in soy milk, rice milk or other grain milks, or even coconut milk.
Surprised to see coconut milk in a healthy cooking recipe? There is nothing wrong with coconut milk! Sure it contains more saturated fats. But that is not a problem if you are vegetarian / near-vegetarian and generally eating healthily.