1.   Lunch consisted of a thick vegetable soup.

2.   The vegetable soup was rather bland.

3.   And it seldom works as well as it does with creamy vegetable soups.

4.   At Eleven Madison Park, Kerry Heffernan serves garbure, a French vegetable soup, with big, lusciously caramelized slabs of bacon parked right on top.

5.   At home, remove the stems and add a heaping handful of spinach to vegetable soup.

6.   At Daniel, Daniel Boulud uses bacon fat to flavor vegetable soup.

7.   -- Add instant couscous to a canned vegetable soup.

8.   A better-than-acceptable shortcut, like a mixed vegetable soup, with no off flavors.

9.   A can of vegetarian vegetable soup.

10.   All would be good with chowders and vegetable soups.