Soup Tips

Raid the refrigerator for bits and pieces of cooked and uncooked vegetables; almost any combination makes a great soup base. Saute some chopped onion (and garlic, if you like) in a little oil until fragrant; this always helps deepen the flavor of any mix. Add chopped vegetables and enough liquid to cover them (equal parts water and chicken broth give the soup character without too much salt or chicken flavor). Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender. After pureeing the solids, you can add yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk or cream to taste. Fresh herbs always spark up a soup. Chill well. Always adjust the seasonings before serving.

* Mincing, chopping and thin-slicing the vegetables makes the cooking of soups quicker. The food processor does all of these chores easily.

* To puree cooked vegetables into the smoothest consistency, strain the vegetables from the liquid, reserving both. Puree the solids in a food processor until very smooth (this may take up to two minutes), then add a little of the cooking liquid through the feed tube with the processor running to make the mixture even smoother. Transfer this mixture with the remaining cooking liquid back into the pot; this avoids any leakage if the quantity of liquid is too large for the processor container.

* To puree any uncooked fruits, make sure they are tender, ripe and cut into one-inch chunks. Puree in two-cup batches in a standard-size processor.

* For soups that do not require cooking, one obvious shortcut is to start with chilled ingredients so that the soup is ready for enjoying right out of the processor.