Soup

In recent years soup was always one of those foods I banished from my immediate culinary sphere. It's not that I don't like it, I just always viewed it as a non-meal. As the boyfriend puts it- it's really more a drink.



And yet, after 20-odd years of being soup free (except when you're ill, and obviously Heinz tomato soup is the only possible remedy) I have suddenly embraced my inner pensioner and become soup's biggest fan.




It started in the canteen at work. Doris (wonderful if brisk no-nonsense dinner lady at work. A legend) makes lovely soup. Nothing too fancy - tomato, pea and ham, chicken, the usual, but they come in little pots with the (vital) component of a lid. To prevent spillages. So they are allowed in the studio. And at £1.20 it is a real bargain.



And then my soupping went to a new level. It was one lunchtime, and I was tired (had started work at 4am) and as I was walking home to the tube, I passed a Pret. And their soup of the day was mushroom risotto. And it was also seriously low-calorie (another significant plus for soup). And I went in, and had a cup and OH MY GOD was it delicious.



And then I discovered their other soups, and soon I was branching out to other eateries (EAT being the main one - they do a WONDERFUL tom yum prawn soup with noodles. It is GOOOOOOD) and at home I've been having covent garden soups, and chunky soups and broths, and all sorts, and suddenly I am a fully fledged member of the soup brigade. No longer do I view it as the meal of the toothless, the babies and the pensioners.




No, in this current climate (i.e. freezing) soup is officially the only way forward.