January is national soup month! Soup has evolved tremendously as ingredients and tastes have changed over the years. Soups can include meat, poultry, fish, legumes, or vegetables, combined with water, stock, milk, or another type of liquid medium. Soup is nutritious, filling, easily digested, and is a great meal for on the go. Soup is special because you can customize any recipe, there are no boundaries!! Whether you prefer thick soup, clear soup, vegetable soup, or a protein-packed soup, there is a soup for you.
Tips for making soups:
- For lower sodium soups try adding sautéed onion, carrots, celery, or garlic, season with dried herbs, and use unsalted broth or homemade stock
- For spice add red pepper flakes, paprika, or chili powder
- For extra flavor add a splash of vinegar or a squeeze of citrus
Fun facts about soups:
- The most popular soup in the U.S is Chicken noodle soup
- When the soup is canned the nutrients are locked in, so the number of vitamins and nutrients in the soup is the same on the day it was canned as it is a year from the canning date
- Soup can be hot or cold, thick or clear, sweet or savory
- Soup became portable as science advanced it was called “pocket soup”
- Soups usually have more liquid (broth) than stews
- Soup is considered a liquid, yet we do not drink soup, we eat it
Check out Cuisine for Healing’s new soups on our website!! Below is the recipe for our White Bean and Green Soup that is gluten-free and dairy-free!
Cuisine for Healing White Bean & Green Soup
Ingredients:
Onion Broth
1/2 lb Organic Yellow onion, sliced into quarters (skins intact)
1/2 gal water
1/2 tsp salt
White bean soup
3 cans white beans, cooked
1/4 cup Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups Organic Red onion, thinly sliced
2 large bunches Tuscan kale
Directions:
Onion Broth:
- Slice the yellow onion into quarters, skins intact
- Place onions into the pot and cover them with 1/2 gallon of water and a 1/2 tsp salt.
- Simmer overnight
White Bean Vegetarian Soup:
- Crush garlic and set aside for 10 minutes.
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Sauté sliced shallots until translucent. Add crushed garlic and sauté for just 2 minutes longer. Rinse the canned beans then add them to the onion broth and bring to a simmer until beans are perfectly tender. Season to taste. Finally, wash and de-stem the kale. Slice into thin ribbons and set aside.
- Add both bunches of kale into the soup and simmer until wilted.
