With the weather being the way it is, its a good time to make soup.
Soup is something that you can make versatile, its easy to cook if you don’t cook often and works well if you are on a budget.
It can be styled up or down depending on your mood.
Last week I made a green soup, it was getting cold and I was feeling something coming on, you know that time when you start to cough a little and you think you might get sick? This soup is the perfect remedy for that.
GREEN SOUP Â Â you will need
Three green veggies of your choice – for this one I used baby peas, salad greens and leek – all about 1 cup each
Onion diced
Fennel (I used 1/4 of a bulb), to give it a lift, diced
1 medium potato
Stock, either vegetable or chicken – around 4cups, or 1L
Large pot
Blender or stick blender
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Lots of fresh mint, oregano, thyme
In your pot, heat stock until boiling and add vegetables. Boil the onion, fennel and leek in the stock to flavour it. Add in the potato and continue to boil for around  15 mins or until potato is soft. Add about 1/2 cup mint leaves, some oregano and thyme as you wish and allow it to simmer for another 10 mins.
This soup is good with cheese toast, which I made whilst the soup was simmering out of some halved bread rolls, and toasted pine nuts and pecans
Im sort of really into fennel at the moment. Its very versatile vegetable for summer and winter dishes.
Heres more about this vegetable if you haven’t cooked with it before
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennel
Anyway, back to the soup. The last thing you add is the salad leaves, just before you want to blend it to eat.
Salad leaves you say? Well, its because I like salad. Its green, its healthy, and its also able to give the soup different flavour depending on the leaves.. LIke if you have radiccio, it can add a slightly bittersweet flavour. With the fennel, the potato, onion and leek, a crunch of toasted pine and pecan nuts, its a pretty unbeatable combination.
Once you have added the leaves and let it sit for awhile on the stove, take it off the stove and allow it to cool slightly.
Blend the soup in a blender and return to the pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with a sprinkle of chopped pecans and pine nuts. You could also add cream if you wanted just heat it through the soup after blending.
But I like the really green look of it.
So did these guys.
Serve it for friends, yourself on a day when you are feeling a little ‘about to get sick’, or for your mum..
Hope you enjoy my Green Soup!!! Stay warm!!!
x