Vegetable soup - general principles and methods of cooking
At the dinner table there is always a place for fragrant vegetable soup. It stimulates the appetite, provides normal digestion and metabolism. Without it, adherents of dietary or vegetarian food, believers during fasting, do not do. Vegetable soups are prepared from time immemorial in different countries of the world. To date, there are about 200 of its varieties, and maybe more, because each housewife often has its own cooking secrets.
Vegetable soups are boiled in broth — meat, mushroom, vegetable, or in water. The main ingredients are cabbage, potatoes, onions and carrots. Sometimes beans are added to the composition. In the season of vegetables can be added fresh tomatoes and herbs, leeks, asparagus, zucchini, bell pepper. The more vegetables included in the soup, so it turns out rich and tastier. A big advantage over other soups is that when cooking, it retains all the beneficial vitamins and substances. In winter, you can use frozen vegetables. When cooking vegetable soup should not overdo it with spices - they can drown out the aroma of natural vegetables. The soup is served croutons, bread or patties with various fillings.
Vegetable soup - food preparation
The taste of the soup depends on the quality of the vegetables. Therefore, if, for example, carrots or potatoes have undergone damage, it is necessary to carefully cut out this part, leaving no rotten or damaged parts, then rinse well. For vegetable soup, the ingredients are usually chopped finely so that they can boil soft, give the taste of the liquid and make it thicker. When laying vegetables it is important to follow the sequence so that it does not happen that the potatoes are boiled soft and the cabbage is still raw. Cauliflower and potatoes have the same cooking time (15 minutes), the white cabbage cooks 10 minutes longer.
Vegetable soup - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Winter Rhapsody vegetable soup
It is believed that vegetable soups are light food, more suitable for hot summer, but this soup will convince everyone of the opposite. It is thick and satisfying, just for a cold winter evening. After all, it is not for nothing that a close relative of the Italian rybolite falls. The soup is quite simple to prepare, but rich in taste, and even with interesting ingredients. Instead of traditional beans, cowpea is used - black eye beans (sold in stores). It does not need to soak, it is so quickly boiled soft. If you will not find thyme and basil, or you do not like their taste and aroma, cook without them or replace them with other herbs. Ingredients: Vigna - 350g (Black Eye Bean), celery: 1 stalk and 1/2 of the root, one carrot and one bulb, 300g of pumpkin, 50g of hard cheese, Chinese cabbage - 1/2 of the head, a couple bay leaves, salt, vegetable broth - 1 liter, 4st.l. vegetable oil (preferably olive oil), a couple of sprigs of basil and thyme.
Method of preparation
Boil the beans, drain the water, but do not pour it out. Celery stalk, onions and carrots finely chop and fry in a saucepan for about five minutes.
Cut peeled pumpkin and celery root into cubes, add to carrots and onions and fry all together. Then pour boiling broth and 0.5 l of water in which the beans were cooked (decoction).
When the celery and pumpkin are soft, add the beans and chopped cabbage. If the soup seems too thick to you, you can dilute it with bean broth, salt it. Cook until cabbage is ready. Soup in a dish sprinkled with chopped basil and grated cheese.
Recipe 2: Vegetable Soup with Cauliflower
Sometimes, from the heavy, carbohydrate-rich winter fats, the stomach wants to rest. There is nothing better than a vegetable soup. It is both light and healthy, because there are so many different vegetables with vitamins and trace elements. By the way, do not forget that you can experiment with soups, for example, instead of cauliflower, put broccoli or white cabbage, and instead of corn, take green peas.
Ingredients: 2.5 l of water, a small cauliflower cabbage, 4 medium sized potatoes, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 jar of canned corn (250g), to taste: greens, salt, pepper and spices, oil vegetable, sour cream.
Method of preparation
Boil water, put chopped potatoes, after 10 minutes - cauliflower, disassembled into florets.
It's time to do the roasting of vegetables. Finely chop the onion and fry together with the finely grated carrots in oil.
As cabbage and potatoes will be soft, in the soup we will put a fry, tinned corn together with some water from a can. Salt, pepper, add spices and allow to boil for five minutes. Then turn off the fire and let it brew for 15 minutes. Vegetable soup is best served with greens and sour cream.
Recipe 3: Vegetable “Onion Soup”
The onion soup recipe is taken from French cuisine. This easy-to-prepare and inexpensive dish will appeal to many. Do not be afraid that the soup will have the taste of boiled onions, so unloved since childhood. The taste of this soup is completely different. In addition, it is an excellent aphrodisiac - without the pungent smell of garlic and onions, but with the preservation of all their beneficial properties. Onion in the cooking process is almost completely dissolved in the soup. If you are confused by the individual floating pieces of fried onions, grind them in a blender. Fried onions with sugar gives the soup a light golden color. If you like a darker shade, put onion peel in the soup, and at the end of cooking, remove it from the pan. Croutons can be cooked in advance or while cooking soup. Ingredients: 800g of onion, 1.25l of broth (chicken, meat or vegetable), for frying butter and vegetable oil, 0.3l of white dry wine, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp. sugar, pepper and salt to taste. For croutons: hard cheese - 200 g and white loaf.
Method of preparation
Chop the onion in half rings and put together with the sugar in a saucepan with hot oil. Fry for about 20 minutes until the onions become light brown in color. It is necessary to constantly mix it, which is not burned.
Add chopped garlic to the onion and fry for about a minute. Then pour the broth and white wine, salt, sprinkle with pepper and cook for about an hour, making a slow fire. While the soup is boiling, preheat the oven. White bread, baguette or loaf cut into slices, cover with a slice of cheese on top and dry in the oven until the bread becomes golden. Now you can serve - toast with cheese is placed on the bottom of the plate and poured hot soup.
Vegetable soup - useful tips from experienced chefs
Vegetable soups are not subject to long-term storage, over time they quickly lose vitamins - the most valuable thing in them. Therefore, it is desirable to prepare them in small portions immediately before use.
To make the vegetable soup more nutritious and have a rich taste, cream or sour cream is added to it.
