holiday soup

5:30 pm. Despite my tiredness from a long week and a bout of illness, I was happy. Why? Well, my holiday had officially begun. Technically, I suppose it doesn't begin until Monday, until I leave for the States, but in my mind I was already on the flight.

But first - packing, cleaning, organising, those oft-forgotten aspects of the holiday. And step 1 for me was cleaning out the refrigerator. My easy solution: make a soup. (I do realise that making a soup is my answer to everything, but I can't help it - soups are great.)

Soups are easy - it takes a lot to mess one up. Even the most simple soup tastes good provided it is seasoned well. But this summer vegetable soup is just perfect.

Summer vegetable soup
(serves 2)

In my refrigerator:
a bag of chantenay carrots (I couldn't resist these luxury carrots last time I was at the shops)
a very oversized courgettes (from my parents-in-laws' garden)
a handful of runner beans (same)
a bulb of fennel (the secret ingredient)
leeks
watercress

Matched with what's in my pantry:
50 g lentils
1.5 litres of stock (either homemade or use Marigold boullion powder)
bay leaves
bouquet garni

Another great thing about these soups is that the quantities are purely optional and depend on the contents of the fridge.

To conjure:

Let the carrots, leeks and chopped fennel stalks and leaves sweat in a large pot with a couple sprays of olive oil for about 10 minutes.

Add the stock (about 1 litre and a half). Add the chopped courgettes, beans and the rest of the fennel. Add in the cupboard spices too, as well as some salt and pepper.

In a separate pot, boil the lentils for 1o minutes, then drain and add to the soup.

Allow the entire soup to simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir in the watercress just before serving.

Garnish with reduced fat sour cream and shredded basil leaves and pepper.

Calories: for 1/3 of the soup, topped with sour cream and basil, served with one piece of toast and 25 g goats cheese: 400 calories

I served this with toast smeared with lovely French goats cheese and sprinkled with pepper. My husband came home later and gobbled up the rest. His compliment? "It's great, you can't even taste the lentils." I'll take it, I suppose.

The one thing I would say about this soup - it's not meant to sit for a long time. The watercress will wilt and the other vegetables will go mushy. But this is what makes it so great - you're cleaning out the fridge and filling yourself at the same time. Plus, it's a one-dish meal, so there isn't much to clean up (Though that's not my job anyway - hey, I did the cooking!)