Green Soup Preparation Method

A delicious soup that I have served both hot and cold.
Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
-----------
1 onion
1 T olive oil
1 T flour
2.5 cups chicken stock (home-made is best :-)
2 large lettuces - use only the greenest leaves
1 bunch spinach
2 small bunches of watercress
1 cup scalded milk
2-3 T cream
Freshly ground pepper
Bunch Parsley - finely chopped

Method
------
Wash and tear up lettuce, spinach, and watercress leaves.
Saute onion in olive oil until soft in large pan. Then stir into flour, and cook for
1 minute.
Add stock and bring to boil, stirring regularly.
Add leaves, reduce heat, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat, and allow to cool. When cool, place in blender, and puree.
Return puree to pan, add scalded milk and cook until heated through. Add freshly
ground pepper.
If serving hot, transfer soup into bowls, place a dob of cream in the soup, and
sprinkle with chopped parsley.
I prefer it without cream when serving cold.

Cream of salsify and mushroom soup

Servings: 4
450 g Salsify ( 1 lb)
2 Onions, chopped
3 tb Sunflower oil
275 g Mushrooms (9 2/3 oz),
-- cleaned and roughly
-- chopped
1 tb Olive oil
1 l Water (2 1/8 pints)
25 g Butter (1 oz)
25 g Flour (1 oz)
1 1/2 dl Milk (1/4 pint)
Sea salt

Black pepper, freshly ground Scrub the salsify in plenty of water, discard the ends of the roots and cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) lengths. Soften the onions with the salsify in the sunflower oil for 10 ... 15 minutes in a heavy, covered pan. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, as salsify is dry.

Meanwhile stew the mushrooms in the olive oil until they have given off their liquid, reserve the liquid and add themushrooms to the salsify and onions. Cover with the water and bring to the boil; simmer for 20 minutes.

In a heavy pan, melt the butter, stir in the flour and gradually add first the mushrooms-liquid, then the milk. When you have a thick sauce, slowly stir in the liquid from the soup, add the vegetables and liquidize.Season with salt and pepper to taste.


(Salsify is a long, thin, darkly earth-coloured root, can be found in greengrocers's shops in February, also available as preserved ; when scrubbed, it is revealed to be white whithout an obvious outer skin. Also known as "vegetable oysters" - some curiously salt, fishy flavour - or as "poor people's asparagus")

Cream of carrot soup

2 lbs. carrots
2 medium potatoes
3 or 4 large onions
1-2 *fists* of garlic (not cloves!)
~1 T dried thyme
~2 t ground coriander seed
~2 t ground ginger root (less if you don't like hot food)
~1/2 t black pepper
~1/2 t ground cardamom
~1 C good red wine
1 C sour cream
salt to taste

Peel and dice the first four ingredients, and put in a large pot.
Yeah, it seems like a whole lot of garlic, but it makes a lot of soup and
it's going to cook for a long time. Add the seasonings, then the wine,
then water until the veggies are completely covered. Bring to a boil and
then slowly simmer, stirring occasionally, for hours. You cannot overcook
it at this point. When you think it's ready, test the largest chunk of
carrot you can find--it should be quite soft.
Strain the soup through a colander, reserving the liquid. Puree
the veggies in a food processor--you'll probably have to do this in
batches. Use a little of the liquid to help it form a smooth puree. Stir
the sour cream into the puree; you may not want to use the whole cup, so
try adding less and tasting it.

Strain the reserved broth into the puree through a fine-meshed
sieve. (The spices will have given up all their flavor by now, and they
make the soup kinda gritty.) Stir it in, and then *carefully* salt it.
Makes lots--probably enough for a first course for 10. Serve
warm. If desired, you can simmer some broccoli florets in the strained
broth while you're pureeing and then throw those in for color and texture
contrast.

Chicken & Corn Chowder Soup

1 lbs chicken breast 1 chopped onion
4 T butter 2 stalk chopped celery
4 c fresh corn (6 ears) 2 med. boiling potatoes, diced
3-4 T flour 3 c chicken stock
1 c heavy cream (or substitute buttermilk - marilee)
Melt butter and fry chicken, but do not let brown -- when it's
glistening, lower heat and simmer 10 minutes or until meat is firm.
Cut up and set aside.
Puree 2 c of corn until smooth (note: marilee says keep 1/2 of the
kernels whole or even used a can of creamed corn). From the chicken
frypan drippings, saute onion and celery until soft. Sprink with
flour and cook until bubbly. Add rest of ingredients, and simmer 15
minutes until the pototo is tender. Stir in cream or buttermilk,
salt and pepper. Heat and serve. Serves 6-8.

Simple Corn Chowder Soup

1 large can of creamed corn
1 small can of nibblets corn
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
milk
salt and pepper to taste.
In a sauce pan, cook the potatoes and onion in boiling water.
Once cooked, do not drain cooking liquid and add cans of corn, and
continue heating until warm. Put a pad of butter in your bowl, and
ladle in hot soup. Add milk, salt and pepper to taste.

Vegetable and Cheese Chowder

This is from the Favorite Brand Name Recipes' Meatless Meals
collection and is very quick and easy:

Vegetable and Cheese Chowder

1/3 cup quick or old fashion oats, uncooked
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 package (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables (can substitute canned or,
even better, fresh vegetables of your choice - you would just
need to cut the cooking time down a bit)
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 cups (8 oz) cheddar cheese, shreaded
Place oats in food processor or blender; cover and process for 1 minute;
set aside.
In a 4-quart saucepan or a dutch oven, saute celery and onion in butter
until tender; blend in ground oats.
Gradually add milk and water; continue cooking over medium heat, stirring
constantly, until thickened.
Reduce heat; add remaining ingredients except cheese.
Continue cooking over low heat for 10 minutes or until veggies are heated
through. Remove from heat; add cheese and stir til well blended.

Vegetable and Cheese Chowder is ready to serve