Cream of Vegetable Soup

I am a big lover of soups. I am always ready to dunk into some hot-hot soups and that’s the first thing I would for in any menu card in restaurants. As much as I love that small bowl of soup in a restaurant, nothing beats the comfort of having a big bowl of soup at home, especially on cold nights. Pair the soup with a toast or garlic bread, there cannot be a better combination. Most of the soups that I prepare at home are loaded with vegetables, making it one of the healthiest meal options. Apart from the health part, soups can be quite tasty too. For fuzzy eaters, you can hide as many vegetables as possible in such whole vegetable soups and they would never know. I make soups quite regularly and my blog has a few of those collections - Cream of Broccoli Almond Soup, Golden Carrot Soup, Spring Onion Alfa Alfa Soup, Cream of Pumpkin Soup and French Onion Soup have been featured on this blog. I should make it a point to post my other soup recipes here.

Moving on to this recipe, it is quite simple to make. All you have to do is to chop different vegetables, bring them all to a boil, blend and season. See – isn’t this simple enough? For the creamy texture, I used half a cup of toned milk and to keep the calories in check, did not used fresh cream or any fancy ingredients. The seasoning has been kept to the bare basics of black pepper and salt. And that’s one of the reasons why this is my comfort food. Without any special ingredients, you would have a gorgeous looking soup – thanks to the carrots, that add a beautiful color to this soup.

To make Cream of Vegetable Soup

Servings: 2
Time: 30 mins
Difficulty: Easy
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What I used –

Carrots, 2 large
French Beans, 8-10
Cauliflower Florets, 1 cup
Cabbage, a small chunk
Fresh Green Peas, ⅓^rd cup
Sweetcorn Kernels, ⅓^rd cup
Onion, 1 large
Garlic Pod, 1 -2 (optional)
Spring Onions, a few sprigs
Oil, 1 tsp
Crushed Black Pepper, ½ tsp
Salt, as required
Toned Milk, ½ cup
Water, as required

How I made –

Firstly, start by roughly chopping all the vegetables. As everything gets blended in the end, there is no need to waste time finely chopping.
In a largish pan, heat oil. Add crushed garlic (if using) and let it slightly brown. Add finely chopped onion and fry until translucent.
Add roughly chopped vegetables (Carrots, French beans, Cauliflower and Cabbage) along with green peas and sweetcorn kernels. Stir well and cook on slow flame for 2-3 mins.
Add a cup of water along with required salt and keep the pan closed. Let the flame be on medium.
After 5-7mins, the vegetables should be more than half cooked. Add more water if required and cook until ¾^th (Most of the water should be evaporated) Let the vegetables rest for 5-10mins before blending.
In a mixer jar, add the vegetables and blend until smooth.
In the same pan, add the pureed vegetables and set the flame on low. Add some water if the vegetable puree is too thick. Add milk and stir well.
Add crushed pepper powder, check for salt. Let the soup come to a boil. Switch off the flame.
Serve hot with chopped spring onions on top.

Note –

If you like garlic flavor, add a pod or two of it. I did not use it for this soup making, but I usually do.
Do not add too much water. The idea is to cook the vegetables in just as much water required for cooking so that the nutrients of the vegetables are not lost in the water.
The soup is on the thicker consistency and hence adding more water would take away the richness of it.
I added toned milk to give it a creamy texture. If desired, fresh cream can be added too. Fresh cream can be added on top before serving too.
The soup should not boil for too long after adding milk. It can give it a curdled appearance. Just let it come to one boil before removing it off the flame.
Any vegetable can be added to this soup and not necessarily all from the list. Make sure the vegetable combinations work, before adding them.
This soup can be served along with garlic bread or toast.