Sometimes only soup will do...

The inspiration for the soup I made today came initially from a recipe I saw in Binah magazine for caramelised onion soup - I'd mentally filed it away as an idea for a later date. But then my friend Tanya told me about the ginormous flask she'd bought to take BNS soup to a chol hamoed outing and I thought - brilliant idea! It hadn't even occurred to me - as the granddaughter of Hungarian Jews when you say thermos to me, I think coffee (and a nice slice of kokosh cake....)

But today we took our two youngest daughters cycling to Grafham Water - a ten-mile round cycle - and soup was the perfect way to warm ourselves up when we took a break. I don't have a cool new thermos - mine is more of the retro variety - and  I didn't have all the ingredients I'd need for the exact Binah soup, so I took it as a starting point and this is what I came up with!

INGREDIENTS

3 large onions, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 leek, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Half a packet of frozen cauliflower
3 cubes of frozen cilantro
A few mushrooms
3 stick of celery, sliced
1 tablespoon parev chicken soup powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
Good shake of white pepper

Put a kettle of water on to boil and meanwhile brown the onions in some frylight. As they begin to soften, add the rest of the vegetables and top up the pan with boiling water so they are well covered. Then add the cilantro, soup powder and other herbs and spices. Bring back to the boil and leave to simmer for at least an hour. Blitz and serve - or reheat and store in a nice big thermos flask! (By the way, this soup is 0pp - the best kind! I drank 4 cups...!)