Creamy & Hearty Vegetable Soup

This recipe is very close to my heart. As you must all be aware by now - I don't eat my veggies very easily! if we had a pet dog.. i'd be the one slipping it my share of veggies under the dining table. This soup is one dish however, where I eat my share of veggies without complaining and even go for a second and a third serving. I had this soup for the first time in one of my close friend's house. This friend's mom is a wonderful cook and she used to cook very healthy and delicious meals for us when we were kids. I have learnt quite a few tricks from her which I use till date. Every time I had food at their place, she used to keep pointing out I don't eat enough veggies. So, this one time I had gone to her house, and for lunch she made this soup and a few other things. I was like "wow! This soup is amazing. It tastes like the creamy tomato soups they serve in the restaurants". I asked her for the recipe and she was dodging till I finished eating my meal and she listed all the veggies in the soup - beet root (how did I eat a dish that had beetroot in it!), cauliflower with its thick stem!!, beans, peas e.t.c ( I fainted after the first few vegetables and hence stopped listening ).I must say that this soup is one of the best soups I have had till date!.

This recipe is very simple to execute. Even bachelors without a blender/mixie can make this. And this is a perfect dish to get rid of those leftover vegetables in the fridge, with which you were wondering what to do!

I would like to dedicate this post to my dear friend, Vilasini and her Mom.

Before we go to the recipe I'd like to apologise for the crappy pictures!!. I was hungry so I din't pay too much attention to the pictures or recruit my even hungrier husband for the clicks!!. By the time I got to it, it was too late to click more :P, the soup was over by then!

Recipe source: My friend's mom


Ingredients:
You do not have to chop the vegetables finely or in neat shapes (phew!!!!!). Just roughly chop them.


2-3 Tomatoes
1 Medium Onion
2 Carrots
4-5 Cloves of Garlic (more or less as per taste)
2-3 Green Chillies (more or less as per taste)
Apart from these you can  add any vegetables you like: Beetroot, Cauliflower, Beans, Peas e.t.c. Do not add too fibrous vegetables though! - 1/4th cup of each vegetable.
Corn Starch - 1 tsp 


Salt to taste
Pepper Powder - 1 tsp
Chilly Powder (add as needed) - optional
Few Sprigs Of Fresh Basil Leaves (even the dried leaves work) - Optional
Butter - As generous as you feel  ;) - Optional
Heavy Cream- Highly recommended!!!, But again, an optional addition.

• In a pressure cooker pressure cook the vegetables with water in the container. And enough water in the pressure cooker. You do not want a burnt vegetable soup!. Alternately, you can use a large stock pot with a lid to cook the vegetables if you don't have a pressure cooker.
• Cook for a good 3-4 whistles. Since we have added an assortment of vegetables here we need to ensure that all the vegetables are cooked. No problem if some of them turn extra mushy. 
• Once the steaming is over. open the cooker and set the container aside to cool.
• Once the vegetable medley has cooled down. Process it in a blender / Mixer.( This is optional, though. You can omit this step if you prefer a chunky soup. In that case you can just mash the steamed vegetables with the back of your spatula or a masher). Do use all the water from the steaming as they contain vital nutrients from the veggies.

• Pour this vegetable mixture into a medium- large saucepan. Add salt and chilly powder if you like a mildly spicy soup.
• Add the vegetable stock. Allow this to boil over in medium heat. 
• Add the corn starch dissolved in some water and add to the mixture if you feel the soup is very runny.
• Once it has boiled over. turn of heat and Sprinkle some pepper and garnish with fresh basil leaves. 
• Serve hot with a toast on the side. 
• Add a small piece of butter or a little bit of cream, if you opted for the ingredient. It certainly heightens the flavor.

Notes:

If you want to make just Creamy Tomato Soup, Skip adding the mixed vegetables and increase the number of tomatoes.

My husband suggested that addition of potatoes would give an even more creamy, smooth texture. I had a soup in some restaurant which contained mashed potatoes in it. That soup was quite delicious! I shall update you with the results the next time I make this soup, and hopefully with better pictures too!