There is nothing quite like home-made soup. In our household we make a good range of them, from variations of lentil, to thick carrot and tomato soups. Soup and bread is one of my favourite lunches: comforting, easy to make and healthy. Amy’s Kitchen asked me to taste a few of their soups for Organic September. It was a challenge I happily took on.
A selection of Amy’s organic, vegetarian soups.
Super-quick Soup
I haven’t had tinned soup for year, although I occasionally get fresh soups from the super-market. The package from Amy’s arrived with three tins of soup: Organic Cream of Mushroom, Organic Hearty Rustic Italian Vegetable and Organic Hearty Spanish Rice & Red Bean. My favourite was the mushroom soup. It tasted great and had a nice texture with small chunks of mushroom. When I make it, the pieces are too small and the soup ends up spongy. This was creamy and full of mushroom flavour. For once, here’s a soup I think others do better than I can. The Italian and Spanish soups were both thicker, what super-markets would call meal soups, and filling, with beans and rice (Spanish) or chickpeas and rice (Italian). They’d make easy lunches and could easily be dressed up with a cheese crostini.
Amy’s Kitchen’s organic chunky Italian vegetable soup.
Amy’s kitchen does a range of vegetarian meals and pride themselves on putting home-made foods into freezer departments and tins. They use natural ingredients, stay away from additives and make a point of using organic ingredients. Organic September is almost over, but that doesn’t mean we should stop looking for organic foods.
Other Organic Goodies
I was sent a couple of other products too. The Clearspring Tamari Almonds were fabulous. They come in tiny snack-packs, so you can’t over-eat which would else be easy on something this tasty. I eat a lot of nuts and I really enjoyed these with their salty, savoury covering.
Tamari-coated almonds. Oh yes!
A packet of Nairn’s Organic Oatcakes was also welcome. They are C’s very favourite oatcakes so they never last long. Oatcakes are great with cheese, but we also use them for dipping into hummus or soup. (They work well dipped in or crunched on top of mushroom soup – the savoury flavour of oats complements the comforting umami of mushrooms perfectly.)
Organic goodies to celebrate Organic September.
To wash it all down, the Kromland Farm caramel redbush tea was interesting. Redbush is naturally quite sweet and this the adds a hint of caramel without adding a big dose of sweetness. I like it more each time I have it. It’s a really nice afternoon drink, something satisfying and warming after three o’clock (when I stop having caffeine).
Amy’s Kitchen
Amy’s kitchen server vegetarian foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many of their dishes are organic and all are made and packaged with flavour and safety in mind. You’ll find their products in most supermarkets as well as real food stores.
Kromland Farm
Kromland Farm creates a range of organic rooibos teas, plain as well as vanilla, Earl Grey, Chai, raspberry and a number of other flavours. Rooibos is naturally caffeine free and has a full, rounded flavour. You can buy their products online, or from various stockists. (Google for details.)
Clearspring
Clearspring has an impressive range of authentic Japanese and Free From products. I’ve long been a fan of their rice cakes (and am delighted that I can get them in the Free From section of my local supermarket.) They pride themselves on being authentic and using organic and macrobiotic farming methods. You’ll find their products online, in real food shops and other outlets.
