Easy, Nourishing Soup Recipes Warm Winter

From Light Lunch or First Course to Hearty Main Meals, Choose Soup

Oct 16, 2009 Corinne Shibley

The world loves soup. Vietnamese Pho, French Onion, Russian Borscht, Spanish Gazpacho, Korean chicken soup with an entire tiny chicken, are a very few of the world's great soups. The only common ingredient in every soup is broth. Broth can be made from a variety of ingredients, it can be left clear or made creamy. Clear broth is any liquid made from meat, vegetables, poultry or seafood with all solids strained out. Creamy broth has pureed vegetables, thickeners, or milk to thicken the liquid.

Potato Soup Crockpot Recipe

This will feed 5 to 6 people as a main course and fill a 6 quart crockpot. This easily becomes clam chowder by adding 3 6.5 oz cans of chopped clams with juice about 10 minutes before serving. The jalapeno pepper adds great flavor without heat.

• olive oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 3-4 carrots, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, very finely chopped
• 4 jumbo baking potatoes, or 6 large
• 1 qt box Pacific organic chicken broth
• 1/2 cup flour
• salt and pepper
• milk

1. Generously sprinkle olive oil in a pot. Saute the onion, carrots,celery and jalapeno until softened.
2. While the vegetables soften, peel and cube the potatoes.
3. Stir the flour into the softened vegetables, stirring until fully incorporated into the oil.
4. Add the chicken broth, stirring until smooth.
5. Transfer to a 6 qt. crockpot and add the potatoes. Set the crockpot to low and cook 2-3 hours until the potatoes are cooked through. As it cooks, add milk a little at a time to prevent cooling the soup, until the desired ratio of liquid to solids is reached. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Homemade Vegetable Soup

The beef adds a nice flavor to a mostly vegetable soup, but is optional. This soup is even better as a leftover.

• 1/2 lb. stew beef, cut into small cubes
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 large cans diced tomatoes
• 1 pkg. frozen lima or other beans
• 1/2 small head cabbage, chopped
• 1 can corn, drained, or 1 pkg frozen corn

1. In a heavy bottomed stock pot, heat the olive oil and brown the beef until very nicely browned.
2. Add more oil, if needed, and add the onion, celery and carrots. Stir and cook until the onion starts to become clear.
3. Add the tomatoes and frozen limas.
4. Cover and cook for 2-3 hours, or longer.
5. Add the cabbage and corn and cook another 30 minutes to an hour.

Serve homemade soup with biscuits, muffins, or good crusty bread. Chinese soups are very popular and easy to make. Check out the soup recipes in a wide variety of cookbooks. There are even entire cookbooks devoted to just soup. "Just" soup sounds ho hum. It's anything but. From economical to extravagant, soup will warm and satisfy even the coldest winter.