Chicken Noodle Soup

My sister-in-law came to supper last week. I had chicken thighs that needed using and I've only every seen her eat soup - so soup it was. You probably don't need a recipe for this but sometimes I find a recipe a reassuring starting point so here's my incredibly easy recipe for chicken noodle soup - adapt at will.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4

1 litre good chicken stock
450ml stock cube stock
6 chicken thigh fillets roasted (or leftover roast chicken equivalent), torn into pieces
Oyster or shitake mushrooms
Straight-to-wok Udon noodles
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
star anise
coriander
3 baby pak choi, torn into strips and washed

1. Pour the good chicken stock into a large saucepan and gently heat through for about 15 minutes adding the star anise, ginger, soy sauce and sugar.

2. While the stock is heating up, tea the mushrooms into strips, melt some butter in a small frying pan and gently fry the mushroom until golden. Then remove from the heat and put to one side.

3. When the stock is hot add the strips of  chicken, mushroom and pak choi and the noodles.

4. Add stock cube stock to taste (I ususally use most of it) and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

5. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with coriander.

There are sugarsnap peas in this soup.... I wouldn't bother next time

Spicy Bean and Vegetable Soup

I made this soup for my husband once when we were doing Anna Richardson's Body Blitz and ever since he has requested it and got all misty eyed about how I used to make it all the time. So on Bank Holiday Monday, when he dashed off to Carnival by himself having deemed me 'too blimpy' to be allowed to go too, I bloody well made him some. I've even frozen some for when we get back from our holiday and I am lying in a pre-baby panic coma.

Now I'm not a huge soup fan and I hate courgette's so I don't eat this but my mother and husband love it and I trust their taste buds so here it is. This is from a diet book but you can substitute the oil spray for olive oil if you'd rather.

Spicy Bean and Vegetable Soup

Makes 4-6 servings (depending on who you are feeding)

Mild cooking oil spray
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1-1 ½ tsp hot chili powder or smoked paprika
2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
400g can red kidney beans
400g can cannellini beans
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded
3 small courgettes, trimmed
198g can sweetcorn, drained

1. Mist a large pan with the oil and gently fry the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until very soft, stirring regularly. Stir in the chili powder and cook for a further minute.

2. Tip the tomatoes into the pan, then refill the can with cold water and pour over the tomatoes. Drain and rinse the beans and add them, the tomato puree and stock cube to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Cut the peppers into roughly 1cm chunks. Cut the courgettes in half lengthways and then into 1cm slices.

4. Stir the peppers into the pan and continue simmering for a further 5 minutes. Add the courgettes and sweetcorn.

5. Simmer the soup for 5 minutes more or until the courgettes are tender, stirring every now and then. Season with a little salt and black pepper before serving.

Heavenly Ham and Lentil Soup for Easter Monday

We spent the Easter weekend with my Mumma in Hampshire eating. She is the queen of Easter - beautiful tablecloths, eggs and decorations everywhere, tastefully done Easter tree, her sheer capacity for consuming chocolate. She cooked up a storm all weekend including her amazing fish pie and smoked ham, jacket potatoes, leeks, peas and parsley sauce. Last time she did a ham my lovely, helpful husband tipped the stock away in a frenzy of washing up but we managed to save it this time and soup was looming for the rest of the weekend.

We'd eaten so much I was not sure how I felt about soup which in my mind is always a bit heavy but we were all completely astounded by what appeared. Rather than something creamy and heavy this is clear and life-giving, the perfect antidote to a weekend of overeating. I love ham but can never really be bothered to cook it myself but now I know this is one of the outcomes I'm definitely going to add it to my repertoire.

Heavenly Ham and Lentil Soup
Serves 6-8

1 tbsp olive oil
knob of butter
2 litres smoked ham stock
1 onion, finely chopped
2 leeks, finely sliced
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 medium potato (ideally new potato), finely diced
3 handfuls green lentils
1 finely chopped tomato
1 bunch curly parsley
black pepper
Parmesan (optional)

All you need for this (apart from a sharp knife and a chopping board) is a big saucepan. It's important that the vegetables are quite finely diced and the potato is a firm variety as you want it to hold it's shape.

1. In a large pan heat the oil and butter over a medium heat and sweat the vegetables, excluding the parsley, for five or so minutes.

2. Add the ham stock and the lentils, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1/2 and hour until the lentils are cooked.

3. Chop in a large bunch of curly parsley, including the stalks, just before serving.

4. Sometimes its nice to sprinkle a little bit of Parmesan over this - I prefer it without but some like it with so you may want some on the table for people to add if they want.

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Another one of Joe's choices for this weeks big shop. It was incredibly easy to make, soothing and tasty. I think next time I make it I may tweak it a little - I felt the broth was missing a little something that I can't put my finger on at the moment. Not that this should deter you from trying this recipe out and maybe you will let me know what you think if you do.

This comes from Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home - I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of what this book has to offer. What I love about this recipe is the use of pork fillet, which I have to confess to never using before. I'm not a huge pork fan but this was tasty and easy and really cheap compared to my usual beef. £4 something for nearly 500g so I cut it all into strips and put the remaining bits in freezer bag ready for the next batch of this. I think next time I will probably use straight-to-wok noodles and add them to the soup in the wok rather than cooking noodles separately.

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Serves 4

275g pork fillet, cut into thin discs and then fine strips
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp fish sauce
250g ramen noodles
1 tbsp garlic oil
6 thin or 3 fat spring onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 litre chicken stock
300g beansprouts
175g baby pak choi, torn into pieces
2 tsps chopped red chili

All you need for this (apart from a chopping board and a sharp knife) is a saucepan to cook the noodles in and a wok or deep heavy-based frying pan. I'd advise doing all the chopping and weighing out of ingredients first then cooking the soup itself will be a matter of minutes.

1. Put the strips of pork fillet into a bowl and add the lime juice, soy sauce, paprika and fish sauce, but don't let this stand for more than 15 minutes.

2. Cook the noodles according to packet instructions and then refresh in cold water.

3. Heat a wok then add the garlic oil and fry the spring onions and ginger for a minute or so. Add the pork and its liquid to the wok, stirring as you go.

4. Cook the meat in the pan for another two minutes, then make up the chicken stock with boiling water, add the hot stock to the pan and bring to the boil.

5. Check the pork is cooked through, then add the beansprouts and baby pak choi. Add water if the soupy base has evaporated too much - about 125ml of freshly boiled water should do the trick, but you may not need it.

6. Arrange the drained noodles equally in warmed bowls, ladle over the pork and vegetables and finally the soupy stock. Scatter the chopped chili on top and serve.

Finished soup (without the red chilli)

Watercress Soup

I'm not very good with numbers, although I have known this for years and have whole heatedly given myself over to my numerical incompetence every now and again it rears it's ugly head in the kitchen. When ordering the ingredients for the Salmon and Watercress salad last week I ordered 200g of Watercress rather than the necessary 100g which is why on the hottest day of the year so far I was to be found making Watercress soup. It was actually really tasty and because I put in the fridge after I made it, it meant that the next night I could just heat it up which was actually much nicer than slaving in the kitchen in the sweltering heat. This is incredibly easy...

Watercress Soup

Serves 2 or 4 as a little starter

4 new potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
1/2 pint stock, can be chicken or vegetable, I used Hugh F-W's souper mix which I had in the fridge
75g watercress
Milk
double cream if you have it
Butter
Olive Oil
salt and pepper

You just need a big pan for this and a blender.

1. Heat the oil and butter in the pan and sweat the onion until translucent - 5 or so minutes.

2. Add the potatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes without letting them get brown.

3. Add the watercress to the pan with the stock, season and then cover the pan and simmer it gently until the potatoes are tender. About 10 minutes.

4. Switch off the heat and allow the soup to cool a little before pouring it into the blender and whizzing it.

5. Clean the pan and return the blended soup to the heat and add enough milk to give it a nice consistency.

6. Bring to simmering point and then remove the pan from the heat, test the seasoning and serve in soup bowls with a swirl of the double cream and a few bits of chopped watercress if you've got any leftover.

Nigella's Hot and Sour Soup

This was incredibly easy to make and yummy and the fruits of me trying to be organised and actually go through my cookery books and pick new recipes to try out which makes me feel smug. I love making chicken laksa but wanted a bit of a change and this is a great soup to have in your arsenal and the prawns make a nice change from chicken. It comes from Nigella Bites- an oldy but a goody.

HOT & SOUR SOUP
Serves 4-6

1.5 litres chicken stock
1 heaped tbsp tom yum paste
1 stick lemon grass, inner part only, roughly chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
4 tbsp fish sauce
3 small fresh red chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
150g straw or button mushrooms. halved or quartered
500g peeled raw prawns, thawed if frozen
5 small spring onions, cut into short lengths and then into strips
small bunch coriander, chopped

I didn't have the kaffir lime leaves so I left them out and it was fine. I used button mushrooms which were yummy and defrosted my prawns in the fridge during the day so they were ready to go in when I cooked in the evening.

1. Heat the stock and tom yum in a decent sized saucepan with the lime leaves, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, chillies and sugar.

2. Bring to the boil, add the mushrooms and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the prawns and spring onions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until the prawns are cooked but still tender.

Does not look as yummy as it was

3. Sprinkle with a little coriander and put more on the table for people to add if they want.

Ina Garten's Mexican Chicken Soup

Now I'm not going to lie - this didn't really set my world on fire but I'm not really into Mexican food. However, Joe loved it so much I thought he was going to explode before he stopped eating it. It's pretty fun to eat too and filling for a soup although once you see what goes into it that's not surprising.This is from her book Barefoot Contessa at Home.

You need a big pot for this. Big.

MEXICAN CHICKEN SOUP
Serves 6

2 chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
2.84 litres chicken stock (2 1/2 quarts)
800g chopped tomatoes in puree
2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
6 fresh white tortillas

To Serve:
sliced avocado
sour cream
Cheddar cheese, grated
Tortilla chips

Pre-heat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

1. Place chicken breasts, skin side up on a baking sheet. Rub with olive oil, sprinkles with salt and pepper and roast for 35-40 mins until cooked. When the chicken is cool enough to be handled, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.

Chicken breasts - mine didn't have bones

2. Heat 3 tbsps of olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until the onions start to brown.

Husband chopping onions to prevent weeping (note bowl of bribary peanuts)

3. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

4. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tsp pepper. Cut the tortilla's in half then cut them cross-ways into 1/2 inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to the boil. then lower the heat and simmer for 25 mins.

Tortilla strips

5. Add the shredded chicken and season to taste.

Shredding chicken into soup

6. Serve the soup hot, topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated cheddar and some tortilla chips.

Ready to eat

Good Girls Chicken Laksa

This is one of my favourite recipes when I want to be healthy but need a little excitement. You can substitute all the good things for bad things if you want. I even use low fat cooking spray but I know some of you will just draw the line at that. It is also great if you are having a girlfriend round who is dieting or a bit of an annoying eater - it looks great but is very non-dangerous on the calorie and fuss front and for this reason I've found it very useful every time wedding season approaches.

CHICKEN LAKSA
Serves 2

Low fat cooking spray (if I were being naughty I'd use stir-fry oil)
2 chicken breasts without the skin

1/2 Onion sliced finely

1/2 red pepper

1tbsp tom yum paste

200ml light coconut milk

225ml chicken stock

60g sugar snap peas

150g rice noodles, I use the straight-to-wok kind because I'm lazy

110g bamboo shoots

Handful of coriander to sprinkle on top

Lime wedges, to go on the side



Now this is a really adaptable recipe as you can use any vegetables you like but I think the red pepper and green beans look great in this.

Red pepper, green beans and onion



1. I brown the chicken pieces first just for five mins in the wok with a spray or two of the low fat cooking oil and then put them to one side.

2. Then I re-spray the wok and add the onions and peppers and cook for 3ish minutes until they are softened.

3. Add the tom yum paste and cook for 2 minutes - I stir a lot at this point to make sure the onions and peppers get a good coating. 

4. Return the chicken pieces add the stock and coconut milk, bring to the boil then put a lid on turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 15-20 mins.

Pre-simmer

5. Add the bamboo shoots, sugar snap peas and noodles and cook for another 4 or so minutes stirring every now and again to break the noodles up (straight to wok noodles break up pretty much by themselves after a couple of minutes of cooking - don't plonk them in and then try to force them apart as you'll break them).

Dish up, sprinkle with coriander and serve. Ta da!