Veggie soup....what can I add?

[Gwylan]

A fall back is Falafel spices. Mixture that varies from shop to shop.
My favourite come from the Bristol Sweet Mart.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

The joys of ginger:

Veggie soups are great and, for us, can be the result of looking in the veggie storage and realizing that half of it will be past using by the end of next week. So it all goes in the pot to make soup and the result is a matter of chance depending on the veggies one is using. The outcome is always good soup but the problem is that many vegetable combinations are fairly tasteless, especially if, like us, you have a 'no salt' rule. The saviour of the situation is ginger. At the end of cooking, taste the soup and, if insipid, grate in some fresh root ginger. Stir in and simmer for a few minutes and taste again. Repeat to taste. As well as adding its own flavour, it seems to bring out the other vegetable flavours as well — so long as one does not put in too much at a time and overwhelm the brew. Once the gingered-up soup is ready, one can add other flavours such as Cayenne pepper, Tabasco, curry and anything else you are keen on: but straight veg plus a dose of ginger is the base for us.

 

[Gwylan]

The joys of ginger:
View attachment 680847
Veggie soups are great and, for us, can be the result of looking in the veggie storage and realizing that half of it will be past using by the end of next week. So it all goes in the pot to make soup and the result is a matter of chance depending on the veggies one is using. The outcome is always good soup but the problem is that many vegetable combinations are fairly tasteless, especially if, like us, you have a 'no salt' rule. The saviour of the situation is ginger. At the end of cooking, taste the soup and, if insipid, grate in some fresh root ginger. Stir in and simmer for a few minutes and taste again. Repeat to taste. As well as adding its own flavour, it seems to bring out the other vegetable flavours as well — so long as one does not put in too much at a time and overwhelm the brew. Once the gingered-up soup is ready, one can add other flavours such as Cayenne pepper, Tabasco, curry and anything else you are keen on: but straight veg plus a dose of ginger is the base for us.

A great hint.

If you are near a Morrison's they have prepared ginger in the freezer section. Cubes of crushed ginger, very handy. Fresh and no faffing about chopping and so on.
Can't remember the English word for rapé.

In the same brand they have garlic and green chillies too.

Oh, grated

 

[wiggydiggy]

Pepper
Garlic
Vegetable stock cubes

Paprika too.

Some pasta can thicken it up for you also.

 

[Reynard]

Thai curry paste and a can of coconut milk if you like soup with a good bit of "oomph"

A can of tomatoes and a good dose of garlic if you fancy something with a mediterranean leaning.

Chilli flakes, a can of tomatoes, a can of kidney or black beans and some rice if you want to go tex-mex

Otherways, diced potato is always a good bet, as is pearl barley or broken up bits of spaghetti. I like to put soured cream in soup, or top with croutons covered in grated cheese. Here soup tends to largely be a "let's see what needs using up" kind of thing.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Kidney beans in chilli sauce, love those. Another idea instead of soup is a lentil Dahl and add your choice of veg

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Worcester Sauce

Not veggie - contains anchovies.

Miso paste.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Another alternative: take any combination of whole curry spices you like (cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, black pepper etc), toast in a dry drying pan until popping then mill and add. Yum.

 

[slowmotion]

Slip in some chopped-up fried bacon when the veggie police have their backs turned.

 

[Gwylan]

Not veggie - contains anchovies.

Miso paste.

Like Miso.

Used to have Miso soup on the boat for night passages.

Use it quite a lot. Have to scour odd shops to find reasonably priced versions around here.

 

[KnittyNorah]

The joys of ginger:
View attachment 680847
Veggie soups are great and, for us, can be the result of looking in the veggie storage and realizing that half of it will be past using by the end of next week. So it all goes in the pot to make soup and the result is a matter of chance depending on the veggies one is using. The outcome is always good soup but the problem is that many vegetable combinations are fairly tasteless, especially if, like us, you have a 'no salt' rule. The saviour of the situation is ginger. At the end of cooking, taste the soup and, if insipid, grate in some fresh root ginger. Stir in and simmer for a few minutes and taste again. Repeat to taste. As well as adding its own flavour, it seems to bring out the other vegetable flavours as well — so long as one does not put in too much at a time and overwhelm the brew. Once the gingered-up soup is ready, one can add other flavours such as Cayenne pepper, Tabasco, curry and anything else you are keen on: but straight veg plus a dose of ginger is the base for us.

Agree that ginger's good for no or low salt cooking; so is lemon juice - esp if you don't want the warmth of ginger. The two together, with a light hand, can do wonders without overwhelming even quite delicate flavours.

 

[pawl]

Slosh a good measure of red wine

 

[BrumJim]

Herbs. Would start with thyme. Can't think of anything that won't be improved by fresh coriander leaves, but thyme would give the biggest hit in the flavour department.

 

[vickster]

Herbs. Would start with thyme. Can't think of anything that won't be improved by fresh coriander leaves, but thyme would give the biggest hit in the flavour department.

Bleurgh fresh coriander!!

 

[MichaelW2]

Bleurgh fresh coriander!!

The marmite of herbs. There is a very strong genetic component to coriander response.