Spring Vegetable and Herb Broth Recipe

By James Maddock

Updated 09/05/2011

I'm a huge fan of soups. They are easy to make, relatively healthy and the varieties you can make are virtually endless. This recipe for spring vegetable broth was literally made from ingredients I had left over from the weekend. I've also had some success with growing flatleaf parsley in the garden so thought it would make an ideal addition to this soup. If you want to change the type of vegetables used in this recipe then go for it but this particular combination does seem to work well. Cut out the butter if you want to reduce the calories or fat - just use a spray oil.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 8oz courgettes
• 8oz carrots
• 8oz green beans
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1 and 1/2 pints chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Peel and chop the onion finely and in a saucepan melt the butter on a low heat.
2. Peel and cut the carrots into sticks and chop the green beans and courgettes into bitesize pieces.
3. When the butter has melted add the onion and cook gently until the onion has softened (see picture 1).
4. Next add the green beans and carrot sticks (see picture 2), stir well and cover the saucepan with its lid.
5. Leave the lid on for five minutes and continue cooking gently allowing the vegetables to become soft.
6. After five minutes, remove the lid and add the courgettes and parsley(see picture 3).
7. Add the stock (see picture 4), stir well and bring to the boil.
8. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to get maximum flavour.
9. Remove the soup from the heat, add salt and pepper to season and it is ready to serve. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 2-4 portions