This recipe was actually inspired by Mum's partner. I think it was actually from him that I indirectly learned to make soup without a recipe. Thanks Dave!

This soup is naturally sweet from all the sweet vegetables, which meld beautifully with the warming ginger. There's also some textural fun, the root veggies and cauliflower are soft, the barley is chewy, and the corn still has a pop when you bite into it. It's great to warm you through on on a cold and windy night. Have I mentioned how windy Melbourne is at the moment? It's seriously unpleasant.

Shades of yellow soup

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Pearl Barley

• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons, ginger minced

• 1/4 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets. Don't throw out the stem, cut that up and use it too (about 2 cups)
• Small wedge of pumpkin, cut into 1.5 cm cubes (about 2 cups)
• Half a sweet potato, cut into 1.5cm cubes (about 1 - 1.5 cup)
• 1-2 carrots, cut into rounds at the thin end, and half moons at the thick end (about 1 - 1.5 cups)

• 5 cups vegetable stock

• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

Method

1. If desired, soak the barley in the morning, or whenever you think of it to cut down on cooking time. If you didn't, don't worry, it'll cook fine without soaking.
2. Sauté the onion, over medium heat in a bit of light olive oil.
3. When onion is soft, add the garlic and ginger, and fry until fragrant
4. Raise the heat and add the cauliflower, sweet potato, pumpkin and carrot, and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add the stock and the drained pearl barley.
6. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, depending on whether you pre-soaked the barley, and how soft you like your barley.
7. Throw in the corn kernels, and heat through for about 1 minute.
8. Serve with toast, or on its own.

Thai kick pumpkin soup (vegan)

I love soup, and pumpkin soup is a winter staple. However, sometimes, you want something a little different, or sometimes you just want to use up that jar of red curry paste that's been in your fridge for over a year so there's one less thing to take with you when you move. Sometimes, you want both. Whatever the motivation, this soup is a great twist on the old classic.

Note that you don't need to fuss too much about how you chop everything, as it will all be blended in the end anyway. Check the Thai red curry paste, some contain shrimp paste. Five Tastes brand is safe, and I know others are too.

Thai kick pumpkin soup

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly minced
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste
• 1-2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (cooking for myself, I would use 1.5, cooking for Hunter, I used 1) 
• 1kg pumpkin, diced (about 1.25kg before peeling and de-seeding)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 400mL can coconut milk
• Coriander

Method

1. Saute onions in a bit of oil until translucent
2. Add garlic, ginger and curry paste and fry until fragrant
3. Add pumpkin, then add stock
4. Bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until pumpkin is soft
5. Use a stick mixer to blend the soup. Alternatively, if you don't have a stick mixer, or if you have packed your stick mixer away in anticipation of a move that has been delayed, leaving you grumpy and without a stick mixer, allow the soup to cool and transfer to a blender or food processor and process in batches, then return to saucepan.
6. Stir through coconut milk, and if necessary, turn heat back on to heat through. If you're feeling fancy, reserve a bit of the coconut milk to drizzle onto the soup like you would cream.
7. Garnish with coriander. If you're not trying to impress anyone, the stuff out of a tube works really well, because it's easy to stir through for an even distribution of flavour.

What's your favourite winter soup?