"Garden Soup Recipes"

Garden soup recipes can be as easy as stirring a pot - in fact that's mostly what making soup is all about - stirring the pot!

Soups can be made from virtually anything edible, but sticking to organic vegetables means you're guaranteed a full dose of healthy vitamins and minerals.

Garden soup recipes are great for using excess crops... yes they do happen sometimes! At the end of summer you may have a whole row of celery left, and it won't last very long in wet weather. Pull it and make soup with it!

Be flexible with your garden soup recipes. Add a little spice or a handle of mixed herbs to enhance the flavour of your garden vegetables. One of the best herbs to add to soups ( and stews and casseroles ) is lovage. It tastes slightly like celery so don't use if you can't stand the taste of celery, but otherwise it's a great herb to use to flavour your garden soup recipes. Growing it yourself is easy. It will come back year after year in ideal conditions. Find out how to grow lovage on this page....Growing Lovage

Start off most garden soup recipes by preparing the vegetables and covering with water. If you prefer a meaty taste, use stock instead of water.

Simmer the vegetables until cooked and it's ready to eat! If you want a thick soup, drain the water or stock into a jug and blend the vegetables or push through a sieve if you haven't got a blender. Return the vegetables to the pan, add a little of the reserved water or stock and stir over a low heat until hot. Add more water if necessary, a little at a time.

A bunch of chopped mixed herbs will make your garden soup recipe attractive to even the fussiest eater!

Here are a few garden soup recipes you can enjoy throughout the year.

BASIC VEGETABLE SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. potatoes
8 oz. carrots
1 small onion
1½ oz. butter
1 pint milk
1 vegetable stock cube
small amount of grated cheese
seasoning

METHOD:

1. Peel and slice the potatoes, carrots and onion.

2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the onion until golden brown.

3. Add the milk, potatoes, carrots, stock cube and seasoning. Bring to the boil and simmer for half an hour.

4. Sieve or liquidise the soup, then reheat and serve with a little grated cheese sprinkled on top.

CELERY SOUP

- nourishing and delicious! - this is a garden soup recipe you can use when you have a row of celery at the end of the summer that would otherwise die off in the autumn frosts.

INGREDIENTS:

4 stalks of celery, chopped
1-2 oz. butter or margarine
seasoning
flour
1 pint of chicken or vegetable stock
8-10 fl.oz. milk

METHOD:

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over a low heat.

2. Add chopped celery and gently cook until softened. Don't overcook.

3. Stir in a couple of ounces of flour. Don't leave any lumps.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in vegetable or chicken stock, and milk.

5. Return to heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until celery is completely cooked.

6. At this point, seasoning can be added and the soup served straight from the pan, or the soup can be whizzed in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return to the pan to re-heat gently before serving.

If you'd like to grow your own celery for this wonderful garden soup recipe, find out how on this page.. Growing Celery

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Grow your own organic vegetables to make the finest garden soup recipes for your family....

Thompson and Morgan are online worldwide suppliers of seeds and other products and they have some great pictures to drool over!

broad beans brussel sprouts Carrots

Chile Peppers Sweetcorn Tomatoes

Thompson and Morgan UK
Thompson and Morgan US
Garden Soup Recipes with veggies from Thompson and Morgan Worldwide

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ASPARAGUS SOUP

Asparagus is a wonderful in-between crop. It will normally be ready to eat after the winter greens and before the first summer lettuce. Make an asparagus soup to reward yourself after a long day in the garden...

INGREDIENTS:

asparagus
butter or margarine
water or stock
seasoning
1 medium sized onion

METHOD:

1. Prepare asparagus and onion and cut into small pieces.

2. Melt butter in saucepan and add asparagus and onions. Cook gently until the vegetablezs start to soften. Keep the heat low and a careful eye open at this stage. Don't burn the precious veggies!

3. Add stock and seasoning and bring to the boil. Simmer until vegetables are soft.

4. Either serve as a clear soup or puree the vegetables in a blender or through a sieve. Re-heat gently.

SUMMER TOMATO SOUP

-Served with a hot crusty loaf this summer tomato soup is as good as a wholesome meal on a warm summer evening.-

INGREDIENTS:

As many tomatoes as you can fit into a large soup saucepan
1 medium sized potato
1 small onion
A little cooking oil

METHOD:

Remove skin from tomatoes before cooking. This can be tricky and time consuming. Try blanching by plunging the tomatoes into boiling water for a few seconds. Make a cross with a sharp knife in the base of the tomato first and remove any leaves and stalks. This will help loosen the skin. Then either slide the skin off with your fingers or use a small sharp vegetable knife to remove it.

Peel potato and cut into cubes. Peel and chop onion. Gently fry both in a little cooking oil in a large saucepan. Stir until potato is fairly soft. Don't let it burn.

Then start adding your peeled tomatoes. Cut them up roughly and add a few at a time, stirring each addition well. Keep the heat on low-medium, and add your tomatoes until there's no more space! You shouldn't need to add water, but keep an eye on it!

Stir over a gentle heat until the tomatoes are cooked and everyone is hungry. Add a sprig of basil during the last few minutes of cooking to really zip up the flavour.

CREAMY POTATO SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

3 potatoes
4 cupfuls of milk
1 tablespoon minced onion
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
parsley

METHOD:

1. Peel and boil potatoes until cooked and press them through a sieve while still hot.

2. Heat milk with onion and add salt and pepper.

3. Cream butter and flour and thicken milk with this. Stir well.

4. Add sieved potatoes, stir well then strain.

5. Sprinkle with sprigs of parsley and serve immediately.

CARROT SOUP

- a colourful garden soup recipe with a little zest! -

INGREDIENTS:

carrots
a couple of small - medium onions
a little butter
seasoning
water or stock
1 orange

METHOD:

1. Prepare carrots and onions and chop into small pieces.

2. Melt butter in a large saucepan and gently cook carrots and onions in butter until they start to soften. Don't let them burn!

3. Add stock / water and seasoning and bring to the boil. Simmer until vegetables are completely cooked. Leave to cool a little.

4. Use a blender or sieve to puree the soup.

5. Add grated rind and juice of orange and re-heat gently for a few minutes.

Find out how to grow your own carrots on this page...Growing Carrots

BEETROOT SOUP

This is a recipe taken from 'Grow Your Own Groceries' ( scroll down to find out more about this book. )

Chop an onion, one or two cloves of garlic and two stalks of celery. Place in a large pan with a little water and light cooking oil. Cook until soft, stirring to prevent sticking or burning.

Peel and grate a parsnip, one or two carrots and six small beetroot. Add to pan with 2½ pints (1¼ litres) of chicken or vegetable stock, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender. Serve hot with crusty bread.

Grow your own beetroots for this recipe. Organic always tastes better! Find out how to grow beetroot on this page...Growing Beetroot

Find more vegetable recipes on this page......Vegetable Recipes

Here's a handy conversion table for all you chefs!

Happy Cooking!

Grow Your Own Groceries: Producing your own food is not only rewarding but - in times of economic and environmental changes - increasingly a must! Nature provides everything the human body requires to thrive, and cultivating some of those natural products in your own back garden will not only produce the best food on the planet for you and your loved ones, it is also economical, environmentally friendly and more fun than shopping.

You'll also find gardening advice as well as some ideas on planning a herb garden. Order it now direct from the publisher... Herb Gardening

Before the days of computer games and electronic pets, children used to have fun without rummaging about in the fridge every five minutes. Enjoy a few rainy-day games and crafts of yesteryear with today’s kids. They’ll love it and so will you!

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