Soupa de Legumes | Simple Goan Vegetable Soup

I have posted a few Goan dishes including soups that originate from the Portuguese/Catholic cuisine in  Goa, India. These are simple, home-fare dishes but do not lack flavour. In fact you can say that the flavour goes beyond what you expect from the ingredients. These are cheap and every-day dishes, quickly and easily made, yet comforting and filling.

This soup is a vegetable soup that is pureed and then greens and dried legumes added – chickpeas or white beans or any dried pea or bean that you have on hand.

Today I used a stock that included mushrooms, so the dish is a little darker than normal. Usually it takes the colour from the vegetables you use – varying from white if only potatoes are used, to yellow-orange from carrots and pumpkin.

Similar recipes include Narangi Shorba, Caldo, Goan Vegetable Pulao, and Feijoada.

Browse all of our Vegetable Soups and all of our Goan dishes. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Mid Spring recipes.

Miso Soup with Dried Shiitake, Ginger and Noodles

We love our miso soups and keep several different types of miso in the fridge. Today, weak from an illness, I made a fortifying broth with spices and served with noodles, mushrooms and greens. Delicious.

Similar dishes include How to Make Miso Soup, How to Use Miso, Sweet Potatoes in Coconut Miso, Miso Soup with Wakame, and Hungarian Mushrooms Soup.

Or browse all of our Miso dishes and all of our Soups.

Celeriac Soup with Mustard

Celeriac Soup is quite easy to make and it is naturally creamy. Most people know of the classic Celeraic Remoulade, that fabulous dish of grated celeriac with a mustardy mayo-based dressing. Fewer realise that it makes such a great soup, especially with mustard echoing the flavours of the remoulade. Nigel Slater has a recipe in Tender, which gave me the inspiration to use mustard.

Similar recipes include Toppings for Soups, Root Mash with Wine Braised Shallots, Soupe au Celeri-Rave, Celeriac Hummus, and Winter Roasted Veg.

Browse all of our Celeriac recipes and all of our Soups.

Barley and Vegetable Soup

In the midst of Autumn or Winter, on a foggy, drizzling day, there is nothing more perfect that a large bowl of Vegetable Soup. And if it has barley in it – even better.

Similar recipes include Turnips and Onions, Celeriac Soup with Mustard, Toppings for Soups, Barley and Lentils with Mushrooms, Minestrone with Pesto, Italian Barley and Vegetable Soup, and Thirteen Treasure Happiness Soup.

Cold Cucumber Soup

Gearing up for the heat wave that is Summer in South Australia, we are already thinking about the soups and drinks and other cooling things we will need over those 3 months. Even in Spring we can have had temperatures of 37C. An indication that it will be a long hot Summer.

This soup is cool and refreshing, and is adapted from one from Madhur Jaffrey. In truth it is a down-spiced version of a Cucumber Raita or Cucumber Pachadi, thinned for a soup. It has some delicious cream added as well. Enjoy with lunch, mid afternoon, or in the evening relaxing on the verandah. Serve in small portions in chilled bowls.

Similar recipes include Cucumber Pachadi, Toppings for Soups, Goan Vegetable Soup, South Indian Cold Cucumber Soup, Quick Tomato and Cucumber Cold Soup, and Chilled Asparagus Soup.

Browse all of our Cold Soups, and our Cucumber recipes. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Late Spring recipes.

Tops and Sides for Soups – Make a meal from a bowl of soup

Life is often frenetic and we want food that is comforting, uncomplicated and familiar. We want it suited for the season, our lifestyle and the rhythm of our home. Soup always fits the bill perfectly, whether it is big, bold and earthy, or chilli hot, or delicate and subtle.

Soup was once the pre-dinner course that was meant to add nutrition and quell the hunger. Soup was usually an inexpensive dish, and  it took the pressure off of the more expensive main course to satisfy hunger after a day’s hard work. It was often made with left over vegetables or from the abundance of a seasonal harvest.

In fact, then and now, soup can be a meal in itself if we add toppings and small side dishes to compliment the soup. The only thing that is needed with these combinations is some well buttered crusty bread.

Think laterally when considering toppings – twirls of cooked pasta, chopped tomatoes tossed with olive oil, turmeric roasted chickpeas, confit tomatoes, toasted pieces of left over bread torn into pieces. Reinforce or contrast  your soup’s taste, texture and temperature. Here are my suggestions for turning a bowl of soup into a delectable meal.

Similar dishes include 30 Soups for Early Winter, 30 Soups for Mid Autumn, and 30 Soups for Early Spring.

Browse all of our Soup recipes, or explore our Mid Winter dishes.

Minestra con Pasta e Verdure Arriostite | Minestra with Pasta and Roasted Vegetables

We made a lot of minestrone soups this Winter – hearty vegetable soups fortified with dried beans and pasta.  Minestrone is that perfect, soupy blend, often with vegetables. It is a bowlful of goodness that leaves one sated and nourished, and feeling happy and content, at any time of the year.  No one can resist a good minestrone.

In this version, the vegetables are roasted before the soup if made with cannellini beans and vermicelli pasta. It is another incredibly delicious variation on a theme – the vegetables are a seasonal mix so that soup can be made at any time of the year.

We will often make a minestrone on the weekend in Winter – it is so hearty that a bowl of soup, some crusty bread and a simple salad is all that is needed for Wintery Weekend dinners. We are taking our inspiration from Ursula Ferrigno’s books.

Similar dishes include Tiny Pasta in Broth, Geonese Minestrone, Lentil, Barley and Vegetable Soup, and Italian Farmhouse Vegetable Soup.

Browse our Minestrone Soups, all of our Soups and all of our Italian dishes. Or explore our Late Autumn recipes.

When Life Gives you Vegetables, Make Soup – 5 Quick Home Made Soups

We need to have some quick soups in our repertoire  for those nights we get home from a long work day, or the fridge is full and it needs to be cleared out. I am all for home cooking, love it in fact, cooking without the pressure of producing cafe-quality or restaurant-quality food. Solid, nutritious, flavoursome food.

The first soup is one to make on the weekend before doing the shopping for the following week. It is a clean-out-the-fridge recipe that will take under 2 hours to peel, chop and cook vegetables into a delicious soup. Make a large batch and freeze what you don’t need immediately.

Try these 5 kitchen and lifestyle friendly soup recipes. Similar dishes include 30 Soups for Early Winter, 30 Soups for Mid Autumn, and 30 Soups for Early Spring.

Browse all of our Soup recipes, or explore our Mid Winter dishes.

Rustic Potato and Chickpea Soup with Greens and Tahini

In times of stress, it is important to boost your immune system with healthy nourishing food. As winter approaches with its usual bevy of illnesses, it is good practice to do the same. I love to use turmeric at these times – other great spices that keep you healthy include powdered ginger and fresh garlic.

This soup came together one morning when I felt a strong need to nourish myself. It is tasty and the greatest ever welcome to the cold weather.

A couple of notes on the recipe. I used a soup base made by cooking green mung beans with some earthy, grounding spices until the beans were quite mushy. It is a trick I use a lot – most often I use mung beans, mung dal or toor dal. So healthy too.

I have included some Indian ingredients in the recipe – for example asafoetida. They are easily available at Indian shops.

Angostura Bitters and some acid – lemon juice or vinegar, or even a little tamarind or amchur – are great additions to liven and freshen the flavours of any soup. It counteracts any muddiness that comes from longer cooking. Add lemon or vinegar at the end of cooking. The others can be added during the cooking process. Angostura Bitters can be found in supermarkets and bottle shops.

Similar recipes include Chana Madra, Celeriac Soup with Mustard, Minestrone, Spinach Soup and Chickpea and Pasta Soup.

Browse all of our Soup recipes and all of our Chickpea Soups. Or explore our Early Autumn dishes.

Narangi Shorba

Blended soups often turn out frothy in our house, due to the high speed blender. A soup cappuccino. I could use a stick blender, but I love the smoothness of our high speed one, and it has a soup function – it heats the soup as it blends! Got to love such a blender in Winter.

Narangi soup, an orange vegetable soup from the North of India, is loved because of its beautiful colour and its sweet-green-chilli flavour. It is light and lovely – the perfect precursor or accompaniment to a meal.

Red Pumpkin is traditionally used but I haven’t seen one here in Adelaide for years. So I substitute with either butternut or kent pumpkin.

Similar dishes include Goan Vegetable Soup, and Tamatar Shorba.

Browse all of our Pumpkin Soups and Shorbas. All Indian Soups are here. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here.