Soup for the Holidays by Nancy Berkoff, RD, Edd, CCE
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Soup for the Holidays by Nancy Berkoff, RD, EdD, CCE Make it Hot ! M ake it Fast ! As the days get short er and the holiday season gets m ore hectic, com fort food is in higher dem and. And t here is nothing m ore com forting than a bowl of hot soup. Soup, paired with a side dish or two, can be a heart ening, nurturing m eal in itself. No Tim e! Need to Eat ! Who has tim e to cook? Who even has tim e to wait? Never fear, there are ways to produce warm , wonderful soups that are m eals in them selves. Most of the suggestions we m ake in this article take less than fifteen m inutes to prepare and less than thirty m inutes to cook. Make sure you've got a good supply of canned and frozen vegetables and beans, som e prepared chicken or vegetable broth, different t ypes of pasta, a selection of canned or frozen soups and a variety of herbs and spices. Use a Fork Chili or bean st ews com e to m ind when thinking about working with alm ost-ready ingredients. Creat e a m ild vegetarian chili by com bining canned white and kidney beans with chopped, canned tom atoes (use the juice) and som e t om ato puree, chopped fresh onions and celery. Season it according to your ability to handle "heat" with chopped bell peppers, chopped canned or fresh chilies, chili power, red pepper flakes or hot sauce. Spices can include cum in, black or white pepper, onion powder and garlic. Add sautéed soy crum bles (or soy sausage) to keep it vegetarian or add cooked, shredded chicken or turkey or ground beef. Top with shredded cheese and serve with hot corn bread and a green salad for a full m eal. Raid the freezer Frozen m eatballs or veggie burgers change soup into a full m eal. Add m eatballs or chopped veggie burgers (you can cook them separately or allow them to cook in the soup; either way, be sure they are t horoughly cooked) to canned or frozen chicken, beef or vegetable soup, bean soups or cream of potato soup for a fast m eat ball stew. Serve with steam ed or grilled vegetable blends and garlic bread. You can purchase ready-t o-use m eatballs or vegetarian versions m ade from soy or vegetables. I f you are cooking a batch of m eatballs, set som e aside for freezing. Frozen pasta is a great add-in to soups. Purchase frozen tortellini, m ini-ravioli or gnocchi and add to tom ato soup or vegetable soups t o create pasta "stew" that is a m eal in itself. I f you really want to "soup" it up, add both frozen pasta and frozen m eatballs. Lentil or bean ravioli soup, cream of broccoli with tortellini, vegetable-ravioli soup and cream of potato with gnocchi com e to m ind. Soy Be I t Low fat tofu has the health benefits of soy and is a vegetarian source of protein. Silken or soft tofu can be used to replace som e or all of the m ilk added to condensed soups, such as t om at o or cream of m ushroom . Sim ply stir and m ix tofu into soup or puree (in a blender or food processor) tofu with a sm all am ount of soup, adding it to the total am ount of soup after pureeing. Tofu can also be used as a base for cream -less cream soups. We like to blend tofu, tom ato puree, chopped canned tom at oes, diced cooked potat oes, and cut corn in a soup pot and allow it to sim m er until a cream y tom ato-potat o chowder is borne. I f the m ixture is too thick, it can be thinned with water, tom ato juice, vegetable juice cocktail or soym ilk. For a fast "cream of" soup, puree som e left over broccoli and com bine with canned cream of broccoli (or cream of celery) soup and tofu. With a little stirring, you'll have a thick, "cream y" soup that won't separate and can be used for low cholest erol, high fiber and texture m odifications. Sem i- hom em ade soup ideas 1. Split pea and lentil: add cooked lentils to canned split pea soup and dilute according to package directions. Add chopped onions and shredded ham , chopped hot dogs or sm oked turkey during cooking for m ore flavor. 2. Fast fish chowder: thaw and chop frozen fish filets. Boil with a sm all am ount of stock and chopped carrots, celery and onions. Add t o frozen or canned cream of potato or cream of celery soup and cook according to package directions. 3. Puree m ongol: a classic soup of t om atoes and split peas. Com bine canned tom at o soup and canned split pea soup and prepare according to package directions. Drained and chopped canned tom atoes can be added for m ore texture. 4. Five bean soup: add five types of cooked beans of your choice to canned or frozen vegetable or m inestrone soup and cook until flavors are blended. 5. Meatball soup: add frozen m eatballs to frozen or canned vegetable soup until m eatballs are thoroughly cooked. Add cooked pasta or rice for extra body. 6. Black bean soup: com bine canned black beans with canned or frozen chicken vegetable soup. Cook thoroughly. Puree som e or all of the soup for a sm oother texture. 7. Hot gazpacho: com bine canned tom at o soup with prepared salsa. Dilute with tom ato juice or vegetable cockt ail juice. While heating, add lem on or lim e juice, a sm all am ount of vinegar, and onion and garlic powder for flavor. 8. Cream of spinach: Com bine canned or frozen cream of potato soup with frozen cream ed spinach. Allow to cook until thoroughly heated. 9. Tom ato- corn chowder: Com bine canned t om at o soup with canned or frozen corn chowder and dilute with m ilk or a com bination of plain yogurt and water. Add drained, chopped tom at oes and frozen or canned, drained cut corn for extra t exture. 10. Cabbage-vegetable soup: purchase ready- cut cole slaw m ixes (a m ixture of raw shredded cabbage and carrots). St eam or sauté with a sm all am ount of chicken or vegetable stock until tender. Add to canned or frozen vegetable or chicken vegetable soup and allow to cook until thoroughly heated. 11. Broccoli or cauliflower cheddar soup: Add cooked, chopped broccoli or cauliflower to cream of broccoli soup, dilute with low fat m ilk or a com bination of plain yogurt and water, and stir in shredded cheddar soup as it cooks. Another m ethod is toadd cooked broccoli or cauliflower and a sm all am ount of pureed broccoli or cauliflower t o cheddar cheese soup, diluting with water or low fat m ilk. .