For me, creating in the kitchen is a form of meditation. In my real world, the world of work, stress can sometimes take over. Along with regular sessions in the gym, I often need something else to take my mind off of pressures of finances, red tape, staff and other issues associated with education.

Cooking provides that extra relief for me. Often, you will hear me, shushing the dogs out of the way as I clatter around the muddy floor kitchen, sometimes creating something new, “giving something a try”, or sometimes falling back on an old recipe.

Today I created an old favourite. Vegetable soup. It’s so simple, it takes no time at all, but it never fails to relax and calm me. It’s like opening the door to a old friend, welcoming them into the kitchen & being comfortable in their presence.

My soup is simple. Grab a stew pack bag of vegetables from the supermarket, or if you are buying local from your grocer, you need about 6 carrots, medium sized swede, 2 onions, 2 parsnips and a potato.

The only veg I peel are the onions. The rest I just scrub clean and chop I to equal sized pieces. Place into a large pan add enough water to cover the veg mix.

Bring to the boil. Then simmer for about just so (about 15 minutes).

If you have a blender, ladle the veg and water into it, and whizz until smooth. I then pass the soup through a sieve to make it extra smooth. If you have a hand blender, just whizz up the soup in the pan.

Transfer the soup back to the pan, warm through before serving in warmed soup bowls and enjoy with rustic crusty bread and butter.

Each time I make this soup, I relax, it warms my heart, it warms my soul.

Thanks for reading, please remember you can follow me on twitter for images from the kitchen and my tweet thoughts on food and adventures. @muddykitchen