Soups as Comfort Food

It’s winter, last evening we had our first snowfall of the year. It was not a heavy snow but it was followed by verrrry cold weather, is there a  better way to warm up than having some nice hot soup? Below is one of my favorites:

Creamy Potato Soup

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 8 medium potatoes, mashed
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup flour
• 6 cups soy milk
• 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Parsley and basil for garnish

Directions

1. Peel, cube, boil, drain and mash.
2. In separate pan, melt butter, add flour and cook while stirring for about a minute or so.
3. Add half the milk and stir until lumps are out of flour mixture.
4. Add remaining milk and on med-high heat, bring to a boil.
5. Stir almost constantly or it will scorch.
6. After boiling, turn heat off and add the mashed potatoes.
7. Sprinkle some parsley and basil, serve.

Having scoured the web, we bring you a few easy to make recipes but are truly delicious.

At Foodista.com – The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit I found the following recipe by Alisa Escanlar:

Vegetable Beef Soup

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons cooking oil
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1 can (14 oz) whole tomatoes, broken up, with juice
• 10 ounces frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• 4 cups water
• 1 tablespoon beef bouillon powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme, ground

Directions

1. Heat cooking oil over medium heat in large saucepan and add ground beef.
2. Scramble fry until browned and crumbly.You can remove excess oil. Drain the hamburger and add back to pot.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Then, cover and simmer in medium to low heat.
4. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender but not too soft.
5. Serve with crackers.

From South African cooking blog: KOEK! we bring you:

Photo by: Koek! blog

Pappa Al Pomodoro

Ingredients

• 8.5 ounces olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 leeks, finely chopped
• 34 ounces meat stock (made with beef and chicken)
• 64 ounces puréed canned tomatoes
• Half a loaf of bread, thickly sliced
• Generous handful basil leaves, torn
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle

Directions

1. Warm the olive oil and garlic in a medium cooking pot. When the garlic has coloured slightly, add the leeks. Saute over a low heat for 20 minutes, adding water as necessary to keep the vegetables from turning brown.
2. Stir in the stock and puréed tomatoes and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and add the bread, pushing it into the liquid with a wooden spoon. Stir in the torn basil leaves and season to taste with salt and pepper. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Now whisk the soup energetically until it has a porridge-like consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
5. 5. Ladle into bowls, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Vegetable Beef Soup