Soup’s On!

With fall finally here, there are many things that are welcomed with the season. Pulling out your favorite warm sweater or flannel PJ’s, making hot apple cider, and warm meals for cool evenings. One of my favorite warm meals for the season is soup. Soup is an easy, inexpensive way to serve a nutritious meal to your family. One great thing about soup is that you can’t add too many veggies!

Types of Soup
There are many different types of soup: broth-based or clear soup, cream-based, thick soup, and bisque. Clear or broth-based soups are a great choice for light meals or even a good option or when you are feeling under the weather. Some of the most popular types of clear soups are chicken noodle soup, chicken tortilla, vegetable and beef and minestrone. Popular thick soups are cream of asparagus, broccoli and cheese and butternut squash. And some great bisques are puréed shellfish and cream-based soups, like crab or salmon.

Nutrition
Soups are nutritious for many reasons. They help you meet your water requirements for the day. They can be made with lean meats (chicken, turkey or lean beef), whole grains (like brown rice), pasta, beans and lentils for a meatless option (great fiber and protein), and of course most vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, celery and onions that add excellent flavor, color and nutrients! In addition, clear soups are usually low in calories.

Tips
Soups can use fresh, frozen or canned vegetables. Try using Miso, a fermented soybean paste. It will give a meat-like flavor to vegetarian or other broth soups. Also, if your recipe calls for a heavy cream, use puréed cooked potatoes instead. Stir the purée back into the soup to thicken it.

Quick & Easy
Soups can be quick, easy and fool proof! Using ingredients you have on hand can make great soups. They can be made on the stove top or in the crockpot. Start with a liquid (broth) and add a variety of vegetables, beans, rice or pasta, and spices and you will have a quick and nutritious meal. Even if you follow a recipe for a soup, you can alter some of the ingredients to satisfy even the pickiest eaters!