Soup. It’s a great way to pack a nutritional punch, keep costs low, and use up leftover ingredients. But, do you want to know the best thing about soup? There are NO RULES. Sure, there’s structure, but beyond the basic platform for creating a delicious pot of liquid gold, the sky’s the limit!
I put this bad boy together on a Saturday afternoon after a great Essentrics® class and a phone chat with a friend. I energetically popped into the kitchen, knowing I had all the fixings, and starting playing around. What showed up in front of me was this 1.5L masterpiece.
What I Used & Why
Orange vegetables!
Root vegetables dominate in winter months, bringing loads of flavour and colour to the table. I initially purchased these veggies with the thought of making something else, but since I’d been having soup for lunch all week I couldn’t resist but keep up the routine.
I’m going through a bit of an exploration of my gut, as I’ve had gas, bloating, distention, pain, low stomach acid, and a flip flop between constipation and diarrhea over the past few weeks. Going easy on my stomach by eating and drinking more liquids and soft foods for the first half of the day has been helping, and I was drawn to the colour orange this week while shopping - likely to help support my sacral chakra which houses my uterus (yes, I’m menstruating) and colon (digestive upset).
Being a bit off kilter in my tummy gave me a week off of meal planning. I wanted to slow things down, so instead of pre-planning my meals and making a bunch of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I purchased a bunch of raw veggies I knew I could make a few different simple meals with.
Before I walked into the kitchen today, I knew I had half a large butternut squash left over from a stew I made earlier in the week, a few carrots I’d planned on roasting, and one more onion. I also saw that I had a can of coconut milk laying around, which was weird, because it’s uncommon for me to have things laying around, since I typically only buy what I need. Bottom line, this soup spoke to me. It had to be made!
I guess my point is that once you get used to putting the same style of meals together, you don’t need recipes. You only need experience and intuition. I couldn’t have ‘unplanned’ this meal any better, making something from nothing and exceeding my expectations with the outcome. Anyone can do it, even you. In my experience, practice makes progress, and progress turns to a skill that’s second nature. Expansion of your comfort zone is where it’s at :)
Give it a shot! Here’s my 5-step formula for creating blended soups. Work your way from Step 1 through Step 5, remembering to think a bit about what you’ll make before you select ingredients at each step.
Step 1 | Base | 2-3C | Sauté for 5-7 minutes
Use a mix of onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and ginger. I always use onion and garlic, most always use carrot, and add celery for a more earthy flavour and ginger for a hint of spice.
Step 2 | Boost | 2-4t | Stir in and sauté for 2-3 minutes
This is where you get to spice up your dish! I always start with a decent dose of salt and pepper. Then, depending on the flavour profile I’m aiming for, I’ll add in a few others to step up the taste. I usually use a mix of either sweet and spicy (cinnamon + cayenne, or cinnamon + ginger), full on savoury (oregano + parsley + bay leaf, or rosemary + thyme + sage), or traditional (Italian, Indian, or Asian).
Step 3 | Bulk | 4C | Add to base & boost and stir to combine
This is where you add your veggies, proteins, and sometimes fruit, to make the dish what it is. Balance these with your spices and you’re golden. You can keep it simple or get even more creative, mixing in just veggies, adding veggies with some fruit, or combining a blend of veggies and protein. Mix and match from the following, while remembering that what you mix together determines the flavour and consistency of what you’ll get:
Fresh Veg | Asparagus, Peas, Corn, Leek, Bell Pepper
Root Veg | Carrot, Parsnip, Yam, Potato, Celeriac
Squashes | Butternut, Acorn, Kabocha, Pumpkin, Zucchini
Protein | Red Lentils, White Beans, Chickpeas, Green Peas, Yellow Peas
Grains | Quinoa, Millet, Barley, Wheat Berries
Fruit | Apple, Tomato
Step 4 | Broth | 4-6C | Add to bulk, then lightly boil for 10-15 min or until cooked
Pick your fave, whether it be veggie broth, chicken broth, cheater chicken broth (a mix of filtered water and a few tablespoons of chicken bone broth protein powder, miso paste + filtered water, or plain old filtered water. 4-6 cups alone, or 3-4 cups + 1-2 cups of full fat coconut milk for creaminess, a hint of sweetness, and loads of healthy fats for satiety. The amount of liquid you add depends on the constituents of the soup (see step 4), how creamy or runny you’d like your soup to be, and the amount of additional ingredients (or “bulk, from step 4) you add. Start with less and add more as you go. You can always add more, but once it’s added it’s in there for good! Better to be safe than sorry.
Step 5 | Blend | and you’re ready, Freddie
You’ll need a good blender for this, as you want it to be nicely blended without chunks. You’ll likely also need to split your pot into two separate blends, so be sure to blend half the solids and half the liquids in each round. Increase the speed as you go, and try to release some of the heat by gently lifting the lid once it’s not splashing anymore. Once you’re done, pour some into your bowl(s) to eat immediately, and the rest in a jar for the week or multiple jars for freezing, leaving up to 1/4 of the jar empty to allow for expansion.
Step 6 | BONUS | Variable amount | Toppings!!
The best part about a blended soup is you can always make it chunky again by adding some toppings, like coconut flakes, toasted nuts and seeds, crumbled crackers, roasted veggies, or bread. Mmm, bread. Whatever you’re feeling, go for it. Don’t be afraid to mix it up!
There’s not much to it, especially after you practice a few times. Find a recipe you really like, get comfortable with it, then try a spinoff of your own creation. See what happens. You may surprise yourself!
Once you get into the rhythm of making soups from scratch, any blended soup should take you roughly 30 minutes, and no longer than 45 minutes from first chop to last blend. You can always give it more flavour or care if you roast your veggies beforehand or make your own broth. Once you’re in the flow you’ll have more time to expand into more dynamic recipes.
I wish you luck, my friend. You got this!