Growing crops in your garden, while rewarding overall, generally involves spending a lot of the year waiting and then, as each batch of crops becomes available, having to come up with inventive ways of dealing with them or else watch them growing over-large and over-tough.
We had several crops, including beetroot and pak choi, reaching that stage so Jane spent some time earlier this week turning them into soup, along with some vegetables that were getting past their best in the fridge. The initial versions were edible but, despite rich colours, nothing special and not a patch on the butternut squash soup she did last week.
As we discussed what might be missing, onions came to mind. Sure enough, frying up an onion and blending in transformed them from a way of avoiding waste to a dish we’d be very happy to serve up for visiting friends.
Therefore, my tip of the day for homemade soup is don’t forget the onions!