Soups are perfect for those cold winter days and can be made in advance, chucked in the slow cooker so dinner is ready when you get home and frozen for those days when you can't be arsed cooking but need instant food.
Making Broth as a starter for all soups is a fab and cheap way to make healthy soups taste amazing! That's step one. Step two is adding meat or legumes of your choice and Step 3 is adding vegetables and spices for flavour.
You can throw it all in the slow cooker and let it simmer for as long as you fancy. I find when cooking this way it's uber convenient, but everything ends up kinda tasting the same and it goes a lovely brown colour.
You can let your broth cook so its hot, prep veggies and when you get home shove in a large pot with added legumes/meat and allow to bubble for 15 minutes. This will give you a clearer soup with recognisable vegetables that retain their colour, texture and shape. You can reduce cooking time by grating or finely chopping the vegetables.
In terms of flavours, anything goes! Tuscan seasoning, Italian herbs, Indian curry powder, Moroccan Spices..... use whatever takes your fancy. Add a little, taste and if needed add more.
Pictured below: Chicken soup with vegetables and Tuscan Seasoning
Step One:
To make Broth:
In the slow cooker put either:
lamb shanks
lamb neck chops
goat chops
left over bones from any roast or meal
Chicken frames
Chicken Drumsticks
and
2 litres (ish) water
1/2 tsp salt
2 capfuls of vinegar.
Allow to cook for 8 to 24 hours.
Step Two:
Fish the bones out
Add your choice of meat or precooked or tinned legumes. If you've used neck chops or similar bones with meat on, you can skip this step.
Step Three:
Add your choice of chopped/grated vegetables and spices/herbs.
You can add these and allow to cook for the day or put your broth in a large pot and cook on the stove for 15 to 20 minutes.
If you want a creamy soup you can add cream/milk or coconut cream and stir through when soup is just about cooked.
If you want a smooth soup, use a stick blender to puree the vegetables, perfect if you need to hide veggies form fussy kids.
Pictured (right) Creamy chicken soup with vegetables; Below (left) goat chop soup; (right) lentil and veggie soup - this got pureed into a smooth soup and I added Curry powder and coconut cream
