A Good Day for Soup

Today the weather has turned cool and crisp and it seems like a good day for soup.

I've been thinking about how certain cuisines usually include soup as a first course - like at the sushi place i go to, you get either miso soup or a green salad with ginger dressing as a first course.  I usually get the soup, even though sometimes I wish it was a little more flavorful.

I'm in the mood for a similar soup but with more onions, with mushrooms, and lots of flavor.

Are you in the mood for soup?  What kind?

I just bought a Jack LaLane MixMaster and loving it.   It's much cheaper than buying the VitaMix and it works just as well.  You can make some great soups with it and you don't even have to cook it.  If you go to the Vita-Mix.com web site and click on "Recipes", you'll find loads of soups.  I discovered this site today, and am going to give it a good shot.  Maybe I can lose some weight in the process.  Good Luck. 

OOO i love love love making soups, and i love eating them for days after as a healthy left over meal.  My favorite is Onion Soup, and that's probably the most calorie friendly soup i make.  I just boil up some beef bouillon cubs, I use 4 for 6 cups of water to lesson my sodium intake, then use sea salt if i really think it needs more.  Other than that, i just put EVOO and a lot of onions!!!  It's easy and i love it!. 

Lentil soup is also another favorite of mine, and pretty easy to make too.  It's hard for me to get all my fiber and it's a great tasty way to get it.  Anyways, I always go to the foodnetwork.com site and search for the recipes for these types of soups, then i just adjust it the way i want it and with time and trying different things, it's a perfect recipe.  Not to mention very cost effective. 

I just made a borscht (beet soup).  I read several recipes before settling on this one, and it was easy and delicious.  I look forward to a few more dinners with a soup-starter. 

I don't do this enough, but I think it's great to start off a meal with some soup.  For so few calories, you get a lot of satiety and (depending on the recipe) a lot of nutrition. 

I have a rotisserie chicken and plan to make a soup using the carcass.  I'll put in ends of carrots, celery, parsley stems, and leeks and some crushed garlic cloves, and cook up a rich broth, then strain it and put in the nicer parts of the carrots, celery and leeks, chopped, and the left over meat picked from the carcass.  Add some fresh minced parsley and you've got a great soup.

I make what I call "refrigerator" soup every 3-4 days when it is cool.  If I have broth from chicken, turkey or a roast, I'll use that.  If not, I buy the organic boxed broths - check the ingredients but most have nothing added.

I throw in whatever veg and/or meat is in the frig that goes together - there is always something.  I will add frozen corn or peas if more veg needed.  I also add quinoa and/or some kind of beans. 

I like a hearty, almost stew-like soup so I load it up with stuff.  Add a bay leaf and spices.

If I want a "creamy" soup, I will put some of the beans, broth and just a little milk in the blender  - red pototates with a little milk work also.  It makes a thick, "creamy-like" base.

I usually end up with enough to eat 4-5 bowls - warmed up in the microwave.  I do usually top with a bit of parmesan and homemade corn tortilla chips (corn tortillas are SO easy! - I bake extra pieces spritzed with olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt).

About a week or so ago I made Split Pea Soup. I like to use ham in it also. It's super simple & I love it.

You take 1 lb dried split peas, about 1/2 lb of ham cut up, 1 or 2 large carrots sliced, and 2 bay leaves. Cover with water & cook it on the stove(about 2 hrs) or put it in a crock pot (at least 8 hrs on low) until there are no peas left whole. You may have to add more water so make sure to keep checking it. Split pea soup is supposed to be nice & thick, some people say "You should be able to stand a spoon upright in a good bowl of pea soup".It's super simple, yummy & great for a cold day.

I put the recipe in "my recipes" & the analysis is a grade A & the Good Points are: low in saturated fat, low in cholesterol, very high in dietary fiber, high in manganese, high in phosphorus, high in thiamin, high in vitamin A.

Enjoy!

All of these sound great. I love soup, too, and I think almost all homemade soup is a good calorie and nutrition bargain.

I like to make bean soup. My favorite is baby lima, but I recently noticed that Navy beans were cheaper, don't quite know why there was such a big difference, but I got them last time. I just put the beans in the crock pot with about 48 oz. of low fat chicken broth, some chopped carrots, celery, onions, a little garlic, parsley, savory, bay leaf, and basil. It takes almost 12 hours if I don't soak the beans first.

Years ago, when I had some really awful habits, I used plain water instead of chicken stock, and added a whole stick of butter. How silly! I use no butter now and it comes out flavorful and filling. It's around 300 calories a bowl.