Soup for the Soul, Celebrating National Soup Month

Nothing hits the spot quite like a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day. Soup has been consumed for thousands of years because not only is it tasty, but it can be easy to make and convenient. For these reasons and many others, January has been designated as National Soup Month.

When preparing soup, it’s all about the base. What you decide to use as the base of your soup sets the flavor for the whole dish. You can use store-bought stock, or you can try making your own at home!

Once you have your stock ready, you are probably wondering what exactly you can do with it. There are traditionally two categories of soups, clear and thick. Within those two categories are hundreds, if not thousands, of delicious recipes! If only you had time to try them all.

All About That Base

Depending on the recipe, you can have many different options for the base of the soup. Stores have dozens of premade options, from boxed stock to bouillon cubes, however, these are often high in sodium. A better, heart-healthy, alternative would be to make a base at home! Here are just a few of my favorites:

Vegetable Stock: After you finish chopping up your vegetables, you will likely have a few bits leftover, the peels of a potato or the skin of an onion. Take those pieces and put them in a storage bag in the freezer. Once the bag is full you are ready to make your vegetable stock. Add your leftover veggies to a pot of water, add a splash of oil, and various seasonings of your liking, and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for about an hour, cool, and then strain.

Chicken Stock: Similar to making vegetable stock where you keep the unused parts of the vegetables to make a stock, keep the bones from a previous chicken dinner. Store these leftover pieces in the freezer until you are ready to make your stock. Combine all your leftovers in a large pot with water and seasoning and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least four hours, making sure to skim any foam that accumulates at the top. Allow to cool and then strain.

Beef Stock: Before storing your leftover beef bones, roast them with leftover vegetables to enhance the flavor. You can then store these ingredients in the freezer until ready to cook. Just like making chicken stock, combine all ingredients in a pot with water and seasoning and bring to a boil. Do not mix during this process as it can separate the fat. Simmer for at least three hours, making sure to skim any foam that accumulates at the top. Allow to cool and then strain.

Homemade Bouillon Cube: For this recipe, you will need seasoning, oil, vegetables, and salt. Chop your vegetables and roast in a pan with a little oil. Add a dash of salt and cook a little longer, uncovered. Then add a hefty amount of salt, for preservation, and then use an immersion blender to puree. Freeze until hardened on a baking tray, then cut into cubes, and store in the freezer for later use. (Do not use this recipe if you are on a sodium restricted diet).

So Much Soup!

Now that you have your base ready, you are probably wondering what to use it for. There are no bad soup recipes, however, some do taste better than others. Here are a few of my favorites:

Chicken Noodle Soup: There is nothing better when you’re sick than a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Italian Wedding Soup: While you can always buy this from your local Italian restaurant, it tastes so much better when you make it yourself.

Vegetable Curry Soup: If you are looking for an aroma of delicious flavors, this is the soup for you.

Black Bean Soup: You don’t have to be a vegetarian to eat this soup packed with a non-meat protein.

Seafood Bisque: A great soup in the warmer months when you want to warm up in air conditioned rooms!

There are many wonderful resources available to assist you in finding the perfect soup recipe, such as my most recent cookbook, Enjoying Food Peace: Recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom to Nourish Your Body and Mind, which you can purchase here if you haven’t already.

Your Turn to Action: What is your favorite type of soup to make? Let me know in the comments below.