Seeking an impressive (but easy) soup for vegetarian-ish dinner party

[expatkat]

The rest of the meal will have a Spanish-Moorish feel to it, i.e. tapas-y things, but also middle-eastern things: roast pepper & aubergine salad; beet salad with yogurt; chicpea dish; things of that sort.

I'd like to start with a soup. My specialty (thanks to Whymummy) is gaspacho, but I don't think a summer soup is quite right for the end of September, or for the feel of this meal. Other soups I thought of (artichoke, etc) are rather sludgy and unattractive.

What I need is a beautiful looking soup, easy-ish to prepare, vegetarian & not completely at odds with the rest of the meal. I'm desperate for suggestions!

Haven't made this but what about this one from Nigella.com? (which I've only just discovered!)

Or you could try recipezaar

I've made that one www--it is delicious. I thought it fell under the category of "ugly" but seeing that picture, with it's pretty cream swirl and bits of chopped herbs, makes me reconsider. . .

What about Succatash - dead easy, tastes fab.

12oz tinned sweetcorn
1oz butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
2 celery sticks, sliced
4 oz tinned butter beans
half teaspoon dried thyme
half teaspoon dried basil
(or vary the herbs to suit your menu)
half pint milk
half pint vegetable stock
S & P to taste

Gently fry the garlic, onion, celery until softened
Add the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

It's gorgeous.

chick pea soup with cannellini beans and spinach?or would that be too many chik peas?
it's very easy to make
you'll need
tin of chick peas
tin of cannellini beans
spinach (fresh or frozen)
eggs
flour
tomato(the best is tomato frito from heinz)
veg. stock
paprika or pimenton
half onion
garlic
potatoes
olive oil
put the olive oil in a pan,fry the onion and garlic,add a spoonful of flour,spoonful of paprika/pimenton,the tomato sauce,half a litre of water,add some chopped potatoes,when the potatoes are nearly done,add the beans and chick peas,two cubes of veg stock and the spinach.
boil two eggs and then slice them over the soup
this will be enough for about 4 people

How about squash soup. Dead easy to make!!

Fry an onion in butter then some stir around some crushed coriander seeds and some garlic. Peel and cube 2-3 butternut squashes then fry in the butter for a couple of minutes. Add 2 pints or so of good chicken stock. Towards the end of cooking add about a teaspoon of ground mace.

Blitz to a smooth soup then serve with a sprig of fresh coriander leaves!

Oops that would be veggie stock for a vegetarian meal wouldn't it

oooooh
i have a gorgeous one....which is something like chickpea and coconut....
don't have the recipe to hand but will hunt it out.
when do you need it for?

Ooh Popsycal - I'd love that recipie it sounds lovely!

I've posted about this one before but I have a knockout cauliflower soup - seriously its delicious, it has a really unusual flavour and looks beautiful. Soften some onion then add a whole cauliflower cut into small florettes/chunks and some milk. Simmer it until the cauliflower is soft and then blitz quickly in a blender. Then add stock till the desired consistency - I use marigold bouillion. I like to use white rather than black pepper to keep the soup looking compltely white. Thin some pesto down with some olive oil and serve the soup with a lovely bright green swirl of this pesto oil. Real minimum effort maximum impact stuff.

Lentil and coconut soup (4-6 people)

2 tbsp oil
2 finely chopped onions
300g washed red lentils
1 litre water
1 block of creamed coconut
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 small red pepper finely chopped
1 tbsp cumin seeds roast then finely ground
3 teaspoon chopped fresh coriander or parsley
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper

1, fry onion until soft
2. add washed lentils and water
3. cook for 10-15 mins until lentils tender
4. add coconut, chilli, cumin and red pepper then cook for 5 mins
5. stir in chopped herbs and lemon juice
6. season to taste

lentils not chickpeas - but this is soooooo yummy.
we used to go to a little vegetarian cafe when were were 'courting' () which has now sadly closed and we bought their cook book
it is fab - and this is one of my faves

veyr warming but not too heavy

think i might have to make this soup myself this week
it is very yum,my indedd

oh, dear, these all look FANTASTIC. Obviously I can't use them ALL for the dinner party, but I will be making them all for consumption by me & the family. I shall get busy testing them out. . .

but we will all be waiting to know which one makes the dinner party...

You all know I could choose only one soup, so no hard feelings, you runners-up . I went with Whymummy's because it fit in best with the Spanish theme and because she gives spot-on authentic recipes that I have come to trust blindly.

HOWEVER, I will use all these other fantastic soups for future occasions with non-Spanish themes. I didn't have time to try them all out as I'd hoped (only whymummy's) but I look forward to weeks and weeks of enjoying lovely soups thanks to your recipes! (Soups are a standard in our house.)

thank you expatkat,i hope everyone enjoys it
let us know how the dinner went

whymummy, the dinner was thurs & it went v. well. All the food seemed to be a big success. So much work, though, cooking for 12! I surely won't do that again for a LOOONG time. The soup was popular, so thanks for that.

great!
don't blame you for not wanting to do it again,cooking for 12 people!!!i struggled today doing english breakfast for 7,lol
glad it went well

oooh this thread has just reminded me to buy ingredients for soup!

glad it went well expatkat

Popsy, I made your soup today. Heavenly!

Was I meant to puree it? I did, just because I prefer a smooth texture. Your recipe didn't specify, though.