Читать книгу Home Made: Good, honest food made easy - Tana Ramsay - Страница 7

Where would we be without soups? I love them for their sheer all-roundness; they’re possibly the ultimate comfort food – winter or summer. A hearty warming bowl of soup is always gratefully received after a cold wet couple of hours running around a sports pitch (or, for us, standing on the sidelines!), or after an energetic swimming lesson that leaves the children starving and in need of heat and sustenance. Equally, a refreshing, chilled gazpacho on a hot summer’s day can perfectly bridge the gap between the food and fluids you need to keep going – satisfying a light appetite and quenching your thirst.

My kids have eaten soup from an early age because it was always something they could tackle by themselves – which meant one less battle with toddlers trying to exert their independence! Even now soup is one of their favourite meals for supper or lunch, especially eaten from a mug, which they love to wrap their fingers around on a cold day, with warm good bread to dunk in the soup as they eat. Even the heartiest soup makes a great light supper late at night when you don’t want anything too heavy before you go to sleep.

Some of these recipes need an hour or so to cook through, which makes them ideal evening meals that can be part- or fully-prepared earlier in the day. If I’m at home and not rushing out somewhere, I’ll often prepare food in the morning so that when everyone returns home dinner is either bubbling away on the stove, or can be reheated quickly to feed them instantly. Most of these soups, especially the gazpacho, can also even benefit from being prepared the night before – either while the children are eating their dinner or made, with a glass of wine in your hand, once they’ve gone to bed …