Leek and Potato Soup

This soup is a good soup for those wanting to eat sensibly to be healthy. I personally have always wanted to eat healthily and keep slim without avoiding all the good food treats. My own diet consists of 3 meals per day and a treat supper. I try to avoid eating in between meals and I have never liked junk food. I think once you eat a whole food diet that your palate finds junk food totally unsatisfying but this does not mean that I avoid cakes , ice cream, chips etc. I just like to make my own so I know what goes into the food and never deny myself treats. I always think you are what you eat so it is important to create a good balanced diet of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals. I always include vegetarian and vegan food in my diet. I like to experiment and try food of all cultures. I do like to eat local and seasonal foods from the UK.

This leek and potato soup recipe is a great lunch meal but with the addition of protein and beans or pulses it can become a meal in itself.
Ingredients

8 leeks diced

4 large potatoes peeled and diced

1 onion diced

4 garlic cloves diced fine

1 1/2 pints of chicken or vegetable stock homemade or cube

salt and pepper

dried or fresh sage about 1 tablespoon of fresh 1 teaspoon of dried

olive oil or butter to fry

Method

1. Heat the oil gently in a large pan to a medium heat not hot

2. Add the onions and garlic sweat for 5 minutes(put on the pan lid to sweat)

3. Add leeks and sweat for 5 minutes

4. Add potatoes and sweat for 5minutes

5. Add stock , sage and cook until all the vegetables are cooked but firm in texture

6. Add salt and pepper to taste

Variations

1.Add cream to make cream of leek and potato soup

2. Put all or half the soup into a blender to make a smooth leek and potato soup

3. Serve with grated cheese such as Lancashire, Parmesan or Cheddar

4. For a different flavour make cream of leek soup and serve with crumbled Stilton cheese to make Leek and Stilton Soup

5. Add 3 rashers of bacon after the onions to create Leek ,potato and bacon soup

6. Add milk to the soup instead of all stock to create a soup that is less rich than cream of leek soup

7. To make this soup into a meal soup add a tin of either, butter beans, chickpeas, haricot beans, flagelot beans, red kidney beans to make Leek, potato and bean soup

Diet tips

This soup has a good roughage content, fibre, vitamins and supplies part of the 5 portions of fruit or vegetable per day. Serve with wholemeal or granary bread to add extra fibre and carbohydrates. Bread with seeds in such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds are very tasty and add extra vitamins.

I hope you can enjoy this soup and it helps with your diet to loose weight or to maintain a healthy diet. If you have any comments or questions please post in the comments and I will try to post any answers.

Thanks for reading Crazycupcakes

Chicken Minestrone Soup

I have been making soups that are filling , tasty and are good for the cool damp weather we are having in the UK. This is my variation on a chicken minestrone soup.

Ingredients

3 carrots peeled and diced

4 pieces of celery sliced and diced

1 red pepper diced

2 onions finely diced

1/2 cup of very small pasta pieces

olive oil for frying

1 cup of dried barley

1 cup of red lentils

1 cup of left over chicken meat diced into bite sized pieces

3 rashers of bacon trimmed of fat and diced, smoked or unsmoked according to personal preferences

salt and pepper to taste

2 to 3 pints of chicken stock(enough to cover the soup when cooking) homemade or bought

Herbs such as 1/2 teaspoon of dried or fresh thyme and 1/2 teaspoon of dried or fresh rosemary

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan to a medium heat and add the onions, garlic and bacon. Cook and sweat for about 10 minutes

2. Add the carrots, celery and pepper and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes

3. Add the barley, red lentils and stock and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until the barley is cooked

4. Add the pasta and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add more stock or water if the pasta soaks up a lot of the liquid

5. Add the chicken meat and simmer for 5 minutes

6. Serve with crusty bread

Variations

1. Omit the pasta for Chicken and Barley soup

2. Add 5 tablespoons of tomato puree for Chicken and Tomato Minestrone soup

3. Use a vegetable stock and omit the chicken and bacon and substitute butter beans for Butter Bean Minestrone Soup. This would make a vegetarian or vegan minestrone soup.

Garnish

Fresh chopped parsley or any other chopped fresh herbs of your choice.

Grated local cheese or Parmesan cheese

Serve with garlic bread

I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog and thanks for reading

Crazycupcakes

Mushroom and Oregano Soup

Soup ingredients and making the soup.

This mushroom and oregano soup is a very quick soup to make but with maximum flavour of mushrooms and oregano herbs. These are the ingredients I used to make it.

Ingredients

1 large onion peeled and diced fine

2 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped fine

1 lb of mushrooms or 1 of those large boxes sliced into small pieces

1 1/2 to 2 pints of stock either vegetable, chicken or a cube. I use homemade stock to get maximum flavour

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

dried oregano or fresh chopped oregano

Method

1. Take a large pan and warm the olive oil to a gentle heat

2. Add the onion and garlic and sweat for about 5 minutes, I put the lid on the pan to help this process

3. Add the chopped mushrooms and sweat for 10 minutes

4. Add the stock and oregano and simmer for about 20 minutes until the mushrooms are soft

5. Add salt and pepper to taste

6. I like to put all the soup into a blender and blend until it is a good smooth texture

7. Serve with crusty bread and a garnish of fresh oregano.

Variations

1. Add a dash of white wine to make mushroom ,oregano and wine soup

2. Add about 1/2 pint of milk to the soup just before serving and heat gently to create a rich texture to make smooth mushroom soup

3. Add about 1/2 pint of cream after the soup has been blended to make cream of mushroom soup