Soup season is here

It’s a busy time in the semester and there’s no doubt now that winter is here! I don’t know about you, but I am feeling like something a bit heartier than a plain chicken noodle soup dish. Here are a few soup recipes which are easy to whip up.

• Curried vegetable soup in three easy steps, taking half an hour to cook. You can also double the ingredients to make an extra big batch for freezing. It’s great to have something handy to heat up when time’s starting to get away from you during exam week!
  • 2 cups reduced salt vegetable stock
  • 1 small brown onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 2 teaspoons rogan josh curry paste
  • 1 small carrot, chopped
  • ¾ cup water
  • 85g canned chickpeas
  • 60g green beans, trimmed
  • 2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves

(A) Combine ½ cup stock, onion, ginger, and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until onion softens. (B) Add curry paste; cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to low, add carrot; cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Add remaining stock and the water; bring to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered for 10 minutes. (C) Add chickpeas and beans to pan; simmer, covered until beans are tender. Stir in half the coriander. Stand soup for 10 minutes. Blend or process soup until smooth and serve with remaining coriander leaves. You can also accompany with yoghurt and pappadums.

• Crab and corn soup which takes about ten minutes to cook. It will take a bit longer, but you can replace the crab with shredded cooked chicken breast if you wish.
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 100g fresh crab meat
  • 125g canned creamed corn
  • ½ grated ginger
  • ½ teaspoon soy sauce
  • 2 green onions/scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tablespoon water

(A) Heat stock in a small saucepan over high heat and then simmer. Reduce heat to low and add the crab, corn, ginger, soy sauce and half the onion, stirring to combine. (B) Whisk egg white with water in a small jug or deep bowl. Pour the egg white into the pan in a thin, steady stream while continuing to stir the crab mixture. (C) Enjoy the soup topped with the remaining onion.