Have the darker days been getting you down? Are you in need of some cosy comfort food, full of nutrients, to get you through the cold evenings? Do you want to save money by cooking, but don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen making overly-complicated meals? Say no more, I got you. These are some of my favourite and easiest soups: you can mix and match flavours and ingredients, because soup is the most versatile, delicious and nutritious meal! These recipes come from my experimentation station and I often cook by instinct, eyeballing what I add, just going with what I fancy. I hope to show you how easy soup is: you can of course adapt the recipes, these are just tried and tested guidelines. 

 

Soup is perfect to make in bulk, for a group or to have leftovers for the week. The quantities are flexible depending on what you have at hand. You can make these with pretty much just one pot, a knife and a spoon, so there’s not a lot of washing up either. You just chuck the ingredients in and let the pot do the work! I always start off frying garlic and onion in a big pot (important to prevent spillage!)  with some oil and see where the road takes me from there…

 

Lentil Stew 

You simply can’t beat a bowl of lentils. This is my ultimate comfort food recipe, and it’s even better the next day once the lentils have had time to soak up the liquid.

1. Fry one onion; one clove of garlic (or more if you like). If you have them, add a chopped carrot and celery stalk.
2. Gradually add some chopped cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Then toss in some paprika and dried herbs (I used rosemary and sage).
3. Add a tbsp of tomato paste. You can also use tinned tomatoes, adding 1 tbsp of sugar to combat the acidity. Add a tbsp of soy sauce.  
4. Add the dried lentils and stock – three parts stock to one part lentils, but you could add the stock as you go along if you want it denser. If you have it, add a parmesan rind. You will never go back after you do this once!  
5. Taste for salt as you go. This means that you’ll get to eat something tasty, and know the ingredients are cooked. 
6. What makes this incredible best is adding some cooked and chopped sausages (veggie or normal!) as the lentils cook.
7. When the lentils are soft, top with parmesan and some croutons, and enjoy. This soup goes well served with steamed broccoli or peas, and some thick toast.  

 

Spiced Soup 

Ingredients and Method:

1. Fry an onion and a clove of garlic
2. Add chopped vegetables. What I found works really well with these spices are: one carrot, an aubergine, a couple of courgette, and half a cauliflower. Butternut squash would also work. 
3. Fry these and add a tsp of cumin, turmeric, paprika and curry powder. Adding these before the stock helps intensify the flavours. Then add one tbsp of tomato paste and  soy sauce. 
4. Make sure the veg are all coated, then add your stock – the quantity of stock depends on how thick or not you want it, but I would start with 500ml.
5. For protein add a tin of chickpeas or lentils (dry red lentils cook quickly so they would be another speedy option). 
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and black pepper.
7. Let it simmer until the veg (or lentils) are cooked through. 
8. Serve and enjoy with your favourite grain (rice, barley etc.) or bread! 

 

Ramen Noodle Soup 

I found and adapted this last recipe because I was craving Wagamama but could not afford to spend €15 on noodles. As you can probably tell, I’m more of a freestyle cook so I don’t often follow a recipe but this was so easy, delicious and cheap. I’ll be making it again! 

1. Fry two large cloves of garlic, half an onion, a thumb sized piece of ginger and a carrot. Then add mushrooms, pak-choi, frozen peas and broccoli.
2.  Season with black pepper and paprika. 
3. The recipe included a block of tofu with the vegetables, which would be good for more plant based protein, but I had none.
4. Add 500ml of stock infused with 30ml of soy sauce. I didn’t think this was a lot of soy sauce,  but the flavour really carried and I didn’t feel the need to add any more salt as soy and stock are both quite salty. 
5. While the veggies cook in the stock, soft boil an egg. This takes six minutes in boiling water, and then needs to be placed in an ice bath to prevent further cooking. Then cook some noodles in boiling water according to packet instructions.
6. Drain the noodles and put them in a bowl. Add the veggies and broth. Top it with spring onions, shaved almonds (the only nuts I had, but I’m sure peanuts would be dreamy here) and chilli flakes.