More or less, anyway.
A lot of people don't like cooking or think they can't because celebrity chefs and cooking classes overcomplicate everything. They present cooking as an art when more than anything it's a science. If you learn the basics it's not much more difficult than tying shoelaces.
First you chop whatever you're using up small into pieces that are smaller or nonbigger than a teaspoon size.
Earlier I used onions, carrots, broccoli and leftover roast chicken. So I tore the chicken into little pieces, chopped the onions and carrots into half a centimetre pieces and the broccoli into little florets smaller than the spoon I was using to eat later.
Then heated a glug of olive oil in a large saucepan for a few minutes, turned the heat to the lowest setting and put all the vegetables in to fry for 5 minutes, stirring a few times a minute. I gradually turned the heat up towards the end of the 5 minutes to make sure the vegetables were frying enough. I didn't fry the chicken because it was leftover roast chicken so didn't need extra fat frying for flavour. If I had used fresh meat such as chopped up sausages, beef chuck cubes or minced beef I would have fried them first before putting the vegetables in for as long as necessary to get them browned, doing it in batches instead of all at once if necessary.
Then after the initial frying add some stock if you have homemade chicken stock you made from your roast chicken , or if not you could just add water though this won't taste as nice, alternatively you can add vegetable stock which you can also make at home. (Vegetable stock method: Put chopped up celery, onions with skin on, carrots, some peppercorns, a few bay leaves and some fresh herbs like thyme and parsley in a pot full of water, and simmer for a few hours. Drain into large container through sieve and throw away the vegetables and herbs.)
Top up the soup you're making with more water to get the soup consistency you like, then put a lid on to avoid liquid being lost from steam escaping , and bring to the boil before turning the heat down, adding any ingredients you aren't frying (here I put the leftover chicken in) and simmering for 20 minutes. There are rare exceptions though. For example if you're having garden peas in the soup add them with about 2-3 minutes left to cook. Some foods really don't react well to anything past a short cooking time, among them tins of haricot and other kinds of beans, because there are precooked in the factory so also only need a few minutes simmering to prevent them going too mushy.
Divide soup into containers to be placed in a fridge or freezer and into your bowl to eat. Now add salt and pepper once it's in your bowl.
In this way you can make a soup quite quickly with anything left in your fridge.
You can do many things to make it tastier but this basic recipe is tasty enough for most people. If you want to add tomatoes, sugar, spices, syrups, tortilla chips, cream, pesto or something else you can make a more tasty version but I personally don't because it's a lot more effort.
A great thing about soups like this is you can tweak them for your dietary needs too. Need more carbs? Put in a portion of quinoa, finely chopped potatoes or rice to cook in with the soup when you reheat it (or the first time cooking if you want).
02 Jul 2018, 4:59 pm
