Vegetable Soups and dumplings
The Gardener|July/August 2024
Vegetables make the most delicious soups and classic combinations are always a winner.
Wendy Moulton
Vegetable Soups and dumplings

A fresh mushroom soup with freshly picked herbs and a dollop of cream or a packed anything-goes soup with great flavour, harvested from the garden, will keep you warm during those chilly winter nights. Add dumplings and you have the proverbial icing on the cake so to speak.

What makes a good vegetable soup?

Layering flavours Start with the basics like onions, celery and carrots - the famous mirepoix of cookery school, and then build onto that with other vegetables, herbs and spices. Or start with one ingredient like potatoes for a potato soup and add onion and garlic, a little bacon (always a winner), chicken stock, cream, sour cream or yoghurt, salt and pepper and finish with some cheese, chives and Cajun seasoning.

Herbs and spices

Don't forget herbs and spices in a soup. They just add to the flavour and enhance the result. Try herbs like thyme, parsley, oregano, basil, and coriander and more unusual herbs like lovage and marjoram. Spices can include ground versions of cumin, chillies, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, coriander and more. Just be aware of using too many spices together or too much as they have a strong flavour.

Final touches

Take an ordinary soup to extraordinary levels by adding some final touches.

Try a squeeze of lemon juice, a dollop of cream or yoghurt, a layer of grated cheese, or a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

Even things like a little flaked salt or good olive oil can lift a soup and adding croutons or dumplings makes it all come together

Italian Minestrone Soup with Parmesan and Gnocchi Dumplings

This story is from the July/August 2024 edition of The Gardener.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July/August 2024 edition of The Gardener.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE GARDENERView All
FIRE AND Feathers!
The Gardener

FIRE AND Feathers!

On a dreary winter's day, a screen of fiery and feathery leaves puts up a fight against dullness!

time-read
2 mins  |
July/August 2024
GET THE ladies in!
The Gardener

GET THE ladies in!

At this time of year, early-flowering shrubs vie with each other to get the most attention. We say: Trust those with female names for frills and butterflies. They go the extra mile to flower their hearts out.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Vegetable Soups and dumplings
The Gardener

Vegetable Soups and dumplings

Vegetables make the most delicious soups and classic combinations are always a winner.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024
Yummy sweet potatoes for your good health
The Gardener

Yummy sweet potatoes for your good health

Boiled, baked or braaied, sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are a delicious and healthy winter comfort food. Just a dollop of butter, a little seasoning and you are good to go.

time-read
3 mins  |
July/August 2024
Pretty and functional
The Gardener

Pretty and functional

If cooking is your main thing, you would probably be more interested in the culinary value of the three herbs and some of their varieties we are describing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July/August 2024
Dried Seedheads & Pods
The Gardener

Dried Seedheads & Pods

Autumn and winter are the best times to see what flowers produce the best seedheads that can be left on the plants to feed the birds and bugs and for harvesting for dried arrangements.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024
SO MANY FACES and so many choices...
The Gardener

SO MANY FACES and so many choices...

Whoever associated a Cotyledon orbiculata (pig's ear) with the ear of a pig obviously did not know about all the varieties and cultivars this species in the genus Cotyledon has.

time-read
3 mins  |
July/August 2024
COLOURFUL Cold Weather WINNERS!
The Gardener

COLOURFUL Cold Weather WINNERS!

If it comes to a vote, these dependable shrubs will be the top candidates for prime performance in winter and in other seasons...

time-read
5 mins  |
July/August 2024
What makes a garden sustainable?
The Gardener

What makes a garden sustainable?

It is interesting to note that the United Nations defines sustainable development as: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024
Nurturing NATURE-The Story of Kraal Garden's Transformation
The Gardener

Nurturing NATURE-The Story of Kraal Garden's Transformation

Nestled within Prince Albert's rustic embrace lies a gem that is a testament to the transformative power of human vision and nature's bounty.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024