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!)

roasted mushroom soup

Mushrooms are the ultimate earthy ingredient. I’m not sure I could think of a vegetable that I associate more with the land. They also have the wonderful tendency to soak up all the flavours they are combined with, so that the result is juicy and mouthwatering.

I have had many a wonderful mushroom soup in my day, but I don’t make it at home often. No particular reason, really, it’s just that there’s always something else to make. But last night was different. Over the weekend we stocked up on piles and piles of chestnut mushrooms from East Anglia and, given the recent weather and the reports that we are due for more chill and shower, earthy mushroom soup seemed perfect.

I decided to roast them without their stems with garlic and olive oil to really pull the flavour out. The stems were finely chopped, along with shallot, spring onion and celery for the base of the soup.

Roasted mushroom and garlic soup
(serves 3)
500 g chestnut mushrooms, stems removed and chopped, heads kept whole
2 medium stalks celery, finely chopped
4 shallots, finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1.5 litre water + 1 tbsp Swiss Marigold vegetable bouillon powder
1 bay leaf
1 bouquet garni
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp reduced-fat fresh cream
Fresh chives

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Combine the mushroom heads, garlic and 1 tbsp of the olive oil and season with black pepper in a roasting tin lined with foil.. Allow to roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the other vegetables. Allow the oil to heat in a large pot, and once heated, add the mushroom stems, celery, shallot and spring onion, stirring to allow it all to coat with oil. Sautee for up to 10 minutes on a medium heat.

Slowly, add the stock, bay leaf and bouquet garni. Allow the soup to come to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes.

By now, the mushrooms in the olive will be soft and dark with many juices. Remove the tin from the oven, and pour the mushrooms, juices and all, into the pot, reserving 3 of the mushrooms. Allow the soup to return to a boil and then reduce to a simmer again for another 5minutes. Season to taste.

Remove from heat and extract the bouquet garni and the bay leaf. Use a hand blender to puree the soup. Add the cream and stir through, and put the pot back on a low heat to keep warm.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with chives, black pepper, and one of the sliced roasted mushrooms.

Calories per serving: 150.

(Obviously, this soup isn’t quite enough for a dinner meal. I served it with a salad of greens, shredded beetroot, sliced plum tomatoes, reduced-fat mature cheese – which complemented the beetroot marvellously – and lemon juice. I also had a slice of wholemeal bread for mopping up the juices.

My husband also had the salad and three pieces of bread.

With soups, I always try to make at least three reasonably generous servings, in case a) whomever you are serving is still hungry or wants seconds or b) the soup would make an excellent lunchtime meal the following day.

The other trick is to keep the use of cream to a minimum, allowing just enough to make the soup that bit richer, but not so much that the calories would suffer. I did garnish my husband’s bowl with a bit of extra cream, which is a great last-minute way to bulk up the soup for someone else without adding much work.