| Soup, properly made, is one of the healthiest and most | | | | the soup a solid quality. If you like thinner soups, this is |
| enjoyable styles of cooking. While most canned soups | | | | where to do the thinning. |
| are way too high in fats and salt, when you make it | | | | Meat: 1 pound of meat is usually plenty for this size |
| yourself, you can get the nutrition without much of the | | | | soup. cut in 1/4" by 2" strips. Some meats can be |
| bad stuff. You can create hundreds of tasty and | | | | cooked ahead and shredded using 2 forks, for a |
| healthy meals using this outline of the basic steps for | | | | different texture. Raw meat should be added to the |
| making healthy soups. Learn the basics and enjoy the | | | | soup to cook about 45 minutes. |
| rewards for life. | | | | Vegetables: Make sure to include 8-10 cups of raw |
| The Base: We're going for simple and easy, here, so, | | | | vegetables. My main 3 vegetables are carrots, celery |
| instead of figuring out all the perfect soup base | | | | and onions. Any vegetable will work, so be creative. |
| ingredients, let's just use bouillon cubes. They're cheap | | | | Always press and chop 3-6 buttons of fresh garlic to |
| and easy to use. Just add 3 cubes to a gallon of | | | | add. It's a great flavor and aroma enhancer and it is |
| water in a 6 quart Dutch oven or large pot. Use | | | | very good for you. Fresh vegetables should be added |
| Chicken cubes for poultry soups and beef cubes for | | | | to cook the last 30 minutes, except green beans (45 |
| beef, lamb or pork. Get the water to start boiling | | | | min) and leafy vegetables (10 min). |
| before adding anything but the cubes. Your ingredients | | | | Spices: Most people add spices way too early, cooking |
| determine when to start the base. For example, a | | | | off all their flavor. Spices should be added the last |
| meat and vegetable soup can cook for 1 hour, but if | | | | 15-30 minutes if you want to notice their contribution to |
| bony meats and dried beans are included, it could take | | | | the flavor of the soup. I use a lot of dried basil, fennel |
| 2.5 hours. Actual prep time is about 30-60 minutes...the | | | | seeds, parsley flakes and fresh ground black pepper. |
| rest is simmering time. | | | | This is an area of personal taste, though, so, follow my |
| The Bones: For bones (like left-over turkey, ox tails, | | | | Mom's advice. "It's easier to put it in than to take it out." |
| etc.), start the base 1/2 hour early and boil the bones, | | | | Because the Bouillon cubes have enough salt, you |
| then cool and remove edible parts to return to soup. | | | | should not add more. |
| Bones and shells are O.K. in soup if you warn people | | | | If you follow this basic recipe, you can make an |
| when serving. | | | | unlimited variety of soups. I've used this system for |
| Dried Beans, Rice, Noodles, etc: The dried stuff | | | | about 10-15 batches of soup per year for over 15 |
| determines how long your soup will take to cook. Over | | | | years. Using whatever we had at the time, none of the |
| 2 hours for dried beans, one hour for lentils, dried peas | | | | soups were the same, but all were enjoyed. Soup is |
| or rice, 45 minutes for noodles. I keep a variety of all | | | | one of the easiest ways to stretch the food dollar. |
| that stuff in the pantry because I never know what I | | | | The ingredients I listed cost about $ 0.50 per serving. |
| want to add until I'm cooking...it's usually 3-4 different | | | | Wow, health, creativity and economy all poured into |
| things. A total of one cup of dried stuff usually gives | | | | one bowl. Enjoy! |