SOUP!!!

With winter approaching... brrrrrr.... who has some good recipes for soup, stew, chili, etc.?  Also, I am having serious trouble adjusting to the soup/broth thing.  How can broth be a thick soup over here???  lol...


Oh, and Andee, feel free to give up that minestrone recipe... 

I just throw some carrots, onions, and celery chopped into my crock pot, add a cup and a half (ish) of split peas, some chopped smoked gammon, a bay leaf or two, and cover with water, add a spoon of veg stock, plug it in, 7 hours later, split pea soup! Yummy!

I love cream of carrot and lentil soup.  Chili is yummy as well.

a lazy way is to get frozen mixed veg, oxo cubes, seasoning (salt pepper, garlic powder whatever you fancy), rice or pasta, tinned tomatoes and kidney beans, and make a veg soup in a crock pot. Just make the oxo stock, put in the veg and tomatoes, beans seasoning, and later put in the rice or pasta (if left all day it blows up and soaks up all of the broth!) That's my cheap and lazy soup.

Ohhh, I make lazy chili all the time!!

Dice an onion and garlic if you feel like it.  Saute these in a large saucepan with a wee bit of a oil.  When soft-ish, add in 250g of mince beef or turkey.  Brown this.  Drain excess oil if you used fatty beef.  Add in 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 tin of kidney beans in chili sauce.  Bring to good simmer and chuck whatever herbs/spices you like.  I generally go for mixed herbs, garlic powder, lots of hot chili powder and some red pepper flakes.  Sometimes I kick it up with a dash of Tabasco or some Thai garlic chili sauce.  It's 100% flexible.

Either serve immediately if you're hungry, or allow to simmer indefinitely to really allow the flavors to meld.  Serves very generously...to serve more, just add more beans/meat/whatever!

Told ya' I was lazy...

I am having serious trouble adjusting to the soup/broth thing. 

wot? 
(what do you mean?)

Carrot and Leek:  chop 3 large carrots and 2 leeks, soften in butter for 5 minutes, add 1.5 pints (UK pints, ie 30 fl oz) of chicken or vegetable stock and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.  Liquidize, season and add grated nutmeg.

Yummy

Potato soup is one of my standbys, and so easy and yummy as well! And versatile. I also do a mean new england clam chowder.

Potato soup is one of my standbys, and so easy and yummy as well! And versatile. I also do a mean new england clam chowder.

Feel free to share that "mean clam chowder" recipe.... 
Oh, and I hate carrots, so please leave them out of my soup... lol... 

I made this delicious tomato soup a couple of weeks ago. It was great!

wot? 
(what do you mean?)

Well, in the states we generally use the terms stock and broth interchangeably.  Here in Geordie-land (not sure if its like this everywhere in UK) broth is a really thick soup, almost like a stew with barley and stuff in.  So my FIL came by last night and saw I was making some stock for a chicken and rice soup and laughed when I called it broth, saying broth is thick, you can stand a spoon up in it, and asked why I was making watery soup.  I guess here they generally drink stock and call that soup, while soup with stuff in it is called broth?  It confuses me....