Soup fan

I am a huge fun of soups! They are absolutely ingenious invention. You don’t need fancy ingredients or hours of prep time to come up with sth delicious, healthy and very satisfying – especially on chilly autumn evenings.

I have to be honest: when it comes to soups, I never use any recipes. Sure, sometimes I look for some fresh ideas here and there, but mostly I just improvise. I usually pick the main ingredient and then poke around the fridge for stuff to go with it. Since I usually make small quantities, 2-4 portions max, I use bouillon cubes instead of any homemade soup base. Quite frankly, I just don’t have patients for it.

SO here it goes: few of my “go to” soups.

Beetroot soup

1 large beetroot*

2 tomatoes,

½ red bell pepper

2 small carrots

1 tsp of Parmesan or onion flakes

1 tsp Salt, pinch of pepper, ½ tsp honey, bouillon cube, 1tsp thyme, 1 tsp parsley, flakes

Cut all the veggies in cubes and boil in 5-6 cups of water with bouillon cube, thyme and salt till just soft. Add pepper, honey and more salt if needed. Blend until creamy, sprinkle with parmesan or onion flakes and parsley and serve.

*I often use beetroot and carrot leftovers from jouncing.

Broccoli soup

1 medium broccoli

Handful of green peas (fresh or frozen)

3-4 cloves of garlic

5 tblsp of greek yoghurt

½ spoon brown sugar

1 tsp olive oil

Bouillon cube (optional)

Salt, pepper and basil to taste

Divide broccoli rosettes. Boil broccoli and green peas in 5 - 6 cups of water with sugar until soft. Smash the garlic and toss it on hot olive oil for just a second. Add garlic and yoghurt to the soup and blend until creamy. Add salt, pepper and basil to taste and serve.

Leek noodles soup

1 large leek

1/2 red bell pepper

3 tomatoes

Bouillon cube

1 tsp olive oil

Noodles

Salt, and pepper to taste

Slice the leek and cut pepper and tomatoes in small cubes. Boil pepper and tomatoes in 5-6 cups of water with a bouillon cube. Toss the leek onto hot olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cook until slightly golden and add to the soup. Add noodles and cook until soft.

Lentil & leek soup

Handful of lentils

1 leek

1 carrot

1 small slice of pumpkin

Bouillon cube

1 tsp of olive oil

Salt, ½ tsp Honey, chili pepper

Soak lentils for 15-30 minutes and rinse. Slice all the vegetables. Boil lentils and carrots with bouillon cube in 4-5 cups of water until soft. Bake pumpkin in the oven for 10-15 minutes until soft and slightly toasted, then smash slightly with the fork. Toss leeks onto hot olive oil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add pumpkin and the leeks to the lentils. Add honey and salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Lentil & vegetable soup

Handful of lentils

2 small onions

2 cloves of garlic

4 baby carrots

Slice of green and yellow zucchini

 3 small tomatoes

1 tsp olive oil

greek yoghurt

Salt, chili pepper, curry, 1 tsp brown sugar

Soak lentils in water for 15-30 minutes, rinse. Cook in 4-5 cups of water with pinch of salt and curry until soft. Slice all the vegetables. Toss garlic and onions onto hot olive oil, add baby carrots and sprinkle it with brown sugar. Add zucchini and tomatoes and cook for few minutes, stirring. Add vegetables to lentils, add pepper and more salt, if needed, cook until everything is very soft. I usually smash it a little with a fork and serve with splash of greek yoghurt.

Zucchini lentil 

Handful of lentils

1 green zucchini

2 onions

Bouillon cube

2tblsp olive oil

Salt, pepper, oregano to taste

Soak the lentils for 15-30 minutes and rinse. Boil with bouillon cube until soft. Slice onion and zucchini and toss onto hot olive oil. Cook wits oregano and dash of salt until soft. Add to the lentils and cook together for 3-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Pumpkin & dill soup

Slice of pumpkin

2 onions

2-3 spoons of greek yoghurt

Bunch of dill

Bouillon cube

1 tsp of olive oil

Salt, pepper, brown sugar

Slice pumpkin and onions and toss onto hot olive oil. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cook until onion turns golden. Add 5-6 cups of water and bouillon cube and bring to boil. Add ¾ bunch of dill and blend. Add yoghurt and salt and pepper to taste. Serve sprinkled with dill.

Pumpkin soup

Slice of pumpkin

1 carrot

3 cloves of garlic

Ginger

1 tblsp honey

1 tsp olive oil

Bouillon cube

Salt, chili pepper, dill

Cut pumpkin and carrot into cubes and boil with bouillon cube in 5-6 cups of water. Grate ginger and garlic and toss onto hot olive oil. Add hone and let it cook for a minute or two, stirring. Add garlic mixture to the soup and blend. Add salt and chili pepper to taste, sprinkle with dill and serve.

Nautical shelve

 Changing houses can be a nuisance but it has its advantages as well. If I had to name one, it would be how free I can be with home décor. Setting up more permanent house can be a bit paralyzing at times. At least I know it is for me. What if I don’t like the wall color? What if the table I picked out is completely wrong for the space? What if I drill a hole in perfectly painted wall just to decide I don’t want to hand anything there after all?
…but in temporary houses I don’t have to play safe. It doesn’t really matter if I don’t like how sth turned out or if I get tired of it – I won’t be around for long anyway.

It gives me a lot of freedom to experiment, try things out and, ultimately, figure out the style I’m really happy and comfortable with.

I know, I like eclectic interiors – always have and probably always will, but the way I interpret it changed over the years. I used to love all the boho – ethnic – hippie rooms which, I now realize, look great in the pictures, but are rather messy and cluttered. I still enjoy an accent here and there, but I’m definitely moving towards simplification.

Knowing how my taste is changing, I really want to try as many styles and projects, as I can, before we start setting up OUR flat. Instead of endlessly drooling over perfectly edited pictures, I am now able to see how things work in real space, and, if need be, get certain ideas out of my system. And that’s, in a nutshell, the story of the latest addition to our bathroom.