what can I add to my vegetable soup to liven it up?

[bananacarnival]

It's the only way I can eat vegetables. Fry onion, add vegetables and unfortunately I don't like the taste of Swiss Bouillon powder, although that's what I'm using.

Other stock cubes seem to have a lot of additives which defeats the object when I'm trying to be healthy with one meal.

Any suggestions?
I'm not a natural cook, pretty useless in the kitchen!
Thanks

I've just experimented with pearl barley in my veg soup - always see it in shop bought soup but never cooked it myself.

Couldn't be easier. Chuck in a cupful and boil with the soup for an hour. Adds a nice chewiness, and protein

When frying your veg- use oil and butter , not just oil ( and if you have any saved fat from roasted meat/chicken even better) . Bay leaf, fresh herbs , rind from parmesan. And if you want it a bit more filling, small pasta shapes or broken up spaghetti/ butter beans

I've been doing a very flavoursome roasted red pepper, tomato and lentil soup recently. The vegetables give enough flavour without stock (I went off Marigold etc,).

Lightly brown an onion or two, add 2-3 sticks finely chopped celery and 1-2 carrots and sweat to bring out flavour. Meanwhile grill 2-3 red peppers till black and blistered, seal in a placcy bag for a few mins (one of those ziplocks frozen peas come in is ideal) and then remove the skin. chop the peppers, reserve about a third. blend the rest with the other veg and a tin or two of toms. return to pan with ~6oz red lentils and as much water as seems necessary, simmer till they're soft. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, serve with grated parmesan (or other cheese). You could bung in a parmesan rind or some smoked paprika, or garlic with the onions but it doesn't really need it.

oh, just noticed previous post - yy to combination of oil and butter for sweating the veg, I forgot that.

Thanks again all, I don't know which to start with. And Errol, thank you for typing out that lovely recipe. Will try.

I like to add a little mustard and tomato paste and balsamico vinegar and a good portion of herbs (oregano, herbs de provence).

or the easiest one, roast some tomatos, together with a roughly chopped onion and a garlic clove. sprinke with salt a curry powder.
after 20 min tip it al into a blender. yum.

Lea & Perrins (it's not veggie though)
passata
mashed garlic
curry powder makes a nice spicy taste
celery and fennel
add some pulses ?

Spoonful of pesto adds a ton of flavour.

Good slug of dry sherry helps a vegetable soup along no end...

Marigold stock is the best. The purple one.

But only use a small amount, otherwise all you taste is stock (not nice).

I fry my veg till starting to caramalise, add water, sprinkle 1/2 tsp stock powder on top, simmer till cooked. Taste, add herbs, pepper, and a little bit more stock if needed, maybe some salt, bring up to the boil again, then either blend with a stick blender, or for a coarser texture I mash with a potato masher.

Ooh I can add one.

Broccoli & Stilton. I use frozen broccoli florets, so minimum prep. And I chuck in the rind of stilton that's leftover, chopped up into little cubes. YUM!

Add the rind from Parmesan cheese. I keep the left over rinds from Parmesan in the freezer. chuck one into almost any soup and fish out before you serve. Just adds a bit more depth of flavour.

I second what pp said about using less stock than you need. The instructions on the side of the packet make Marigold very strong-tasting. I use a couple of teaspoons-ful for a litre of water or more. It still adds flavour, but is not over-powering.

I have a jar of black bean sauce, just add a teaspoon.