"Country Vegetable Mix" - what do I do with it?

[cyanarasamba]

I bought a pack of this from the supermarket imagining a nice thick soup, but now I'm not quite sure how to start. It's a dry mix with lentils, split peas, pearl barley etc. Any ideas?

Put in a pan with boiled water and simmer for about 20/30 mins. Sorry I have never used one of these, but I am thinking that with the pulses, this is what you do.

Actually throw it away and go and eat something without all of that nasty powdered hydrogenated shit.

Unless of coure, you don't have anything else to eat

It should have directions for use on the back of the packet but agree with scattybird

finely chop some onion, and fry gently in oil/butter (I use olive oil, and I add garlic too). then add some other chopped veg - eg carrot, parsnip, cabbage, broccoli stalk - whatever you have, and add a couple of handfuls of the soup mix. cover with stock and boil till cooked. then either serve as is, or whizz until smoothe.

you can't go far wrong really. good chicken stock helps.

I suspect it'll need overnight soaking first - check instructions. Then I'd make a soup base by sauteing chopped onion, plus carrot and celery if you have it. Then add other veg to hand - any root veg would be nice, chopped into chunks. Add soup mix, stock and maybe some tinned or fresh tomatoes, and cook according to pack instructions. I'm not great at cooking split peas, so you may need to cook the mix with the soup base first for a while, and add the fresh veg (and some herbs - bay leaf, thyme) later. Hope you get more coherent advice!

Doesn't seem to have any additives - just pulses etc. I think I need to add veg to it to make soup.

Scattybird - these mixes are just dried pulses, I think - no powdered hydrogenated stuff, as far as I know.

I think cyanarasamba is referring to the sort of country veg mix which consists of dried pulses only. Nothing hydrogenated in sight (though why anyone would hydrogenate a vegetable I'm not sure).

it may say to soak overnight, but you don't actually need to do that. you may need to boil for longer though.

Habbibu, I am assuming that this is a packet soup. Do they really sell packet soups that need soaking overnight? I wouldn't bother. It's far far easier to make your own in about an hour including chopping the veg.

No, it's not a packet soup - if I'm right, it's simply a bag containing dried lentils, split peas, barley etc - kind of a pulsy base for a veg soup. Can see how soup mix sounds like a packet soup, right enough.

no, it's not a packet soup, it's a mix of pulses for adding to fresh soup.

Scatty - the op is not talking about the dry powder soups, she is talking about the bags of mixed lentils and grains from the pulses section! It is called country soup 'mix' but has no additives.

It needs soaking overnight then boiling for 40 mins (you can just put it in with the veg when you cook the soup.)

And don't add salt till it's cooked as that toughens the lentils x

Like this?

www.sainsburys.com/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1205077860294

'Tis this sort of thing.

Thanks for all your tips, will give it a whirl - might be nice after those gales tomorrow i'm thinking.

Goodness, must read more carefully. I was surprised that a powdered soup had pulses in anyway as (like you say) they need soaking.

Sorry about that

The country soup mix has no “hydrogenated shit” as was so eloquently stated. Is a dried mix of pear barley, lentils, split peas and adzuki beans with nothing else added. To make a nice soup. Start by gently simmering the mix in water for 30 mins. Then , Chop and gently fry onions until translucent. Add garlic if you want ( to your taste) and fry for a further minute.
next take 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, chop into centimetre thick slices, dice some swede, some broccoli stems ( not the tops,) cauliflower stems, add all the veg to the pan with the onion and garlic and cook to translucent stage. Then add those veg into the pan, continue simmering for 25 mins. Lid on! Now add broccoli tops, cauliflower florets, tinned or frozen sweetcorn and peas, cover and simmer for five mins. Add salt and black pepper, simmer for two mins. Set aside two slotted spoons of veg, blend the rest to a smooth consistency . Return the reserved veg . Serve with croutons and crusty loaf

It's not powdered shit - it's pulses.

I've never used it, but my guess would be that it doesn't need soaking. Fry some onions, diced carrots, maybe leeks then add stock and the mix and cook, would be my guess. Are there no instructions on the packet?

And I wouldn't blend it - lentils and barley are supposed to give some texture.

It won't need soaking - my Nana was a "plain cook" and she made lovely "broth" with this mix - she cooked chopped onions with any old veg eg carrotts, roots, celery (avoid beetroot as it will turn weird pink and brassicas because it will smell farty) in some fat from the Sunday roast, then added the soup mix, the water she'd cooked the Sunday veg in, a dollop of marmite (which she worshipped, it went in absolutely everything) and pepper. Simmer for quite a while to cook barley. It was lovely.

ZOMBIE THREAD 😀😀NEARLY 16 YEARS OLD.