Soups of all varieties are refreshing, stimulating and nutritious. A hot bowl of soup is an ideal way to warm you and cheer you up any time of the day. Here are some quick and easy soup recipes to try out...
Hearty Monsoon Soup
This soup when served with bread toast, bread stick crumbs or cheese croutons makes a complete meal.
Ingredients
Chicken wings & legs (for stock—half kg
Water—2 and a half litres
Onion—1 big
Celery & spring onion—1 stick each
Carrot—4 small
Potato—2 small
Tomato—2 small
Cabbage—1 cup (sliced to half inch cubes)
Spinach—half cup
Prawns or chicken boiled chopped—1 cup
Chicken cubes—2 (or veg cubes)
Salt and pepper—to taste
For seasoning
Chopped capsicum—2 tbsp
Chopped spring onion—2 tbsp
Chopped celery—2 tbsp
Preparation
Add cleaned chicken wings and legs, roughly chopped onion, carrots, potato and tomato to a shallow pan. Pour one and a half litres water, cover the pan, cook on a medium flame for 1 and a half hours. Cool and refrigerate overnight.
Next day, remove fat and strain the stock. Heat a shallow pan, pour strained stock, then add chopped chicken (or prawn) and chopped spinach. Bring to boil, add chopped carrots, potatoes and shredded cabbage. Add soup cubes, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer and cover it again and cook for 45 minutes over a low flame.
Add chopped capsicum, spring onion and celery just before serving.
Herbed Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
Onion—40 gm
Cabbage—40 gm
Carrot—40 gm
Oil—5 gm
Vegetable stock—360 ml
Noodles—10 gm
Tomato—1 medium
Garlic—1 clove
Bay leaf—1
Salt and pepper—to taste
Spring onion—half cup
Chopped fresh basil—3 tbsp
Chopped capsicum—3 tbsp
Chopped celery—2 tbsp
Nutmeg—1 tbsp
Grated cheese—10 gm
Preparation
Chop onion, shred the cabbage and dice the carrots. Heat oil in a saucepan; add onion, carrot, and cabbage, and sauté for five minutes. Pour vegetable stock into it and bring to boil. Add noodles, skinned and chopped tomato, garlic and bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer heat and cook for 20 minutes. Add chopped spring onion, celery and basil leaves and finally nutmeg powder, stir well and keep it over the low flame for another 10- 15 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with grated cheese.
