BBC Food - Recipes - Good vegetable soup

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil , or 30g/1oz butter
• 1 onion , peeled and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• 1 bouquet garni
• and/or 1-2 fresh red chillies, de-seeded and chopped
• or 1 tsp or more curry paste or curry powder or spices, e.g. cumin, fennel seeds, cinnamon, etc
• 1 potato , or other thickener if needed, peeled and cut into chunks
• 500g/18oz vegetables , prepared as appropriate and roughly chopped
• 1-1.5 litres/1¾-2¾ pints) vegetable or chicken stock , or vegetable cooking water, or a mixture of water and milk
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper