Fall Is Soup Time - Warm Up With These Tasty & Unusual Chill Chasers

The start of the fall season is usually marked by that first hint of chill in the air.  That chill outside can often translate into a chill inside. This makes fall the perfect time to curl up with a steaming bowl of soup.  But, do you want to have yet another bowl of plain chicken noodle soup?  Why not warm up your body and soul at the same time with some unusual soups?  Here are a few soups that you can try this fall to warm up yourself and your family.

 (Photo credit: 46137)

Harvest Soup With a Basil Bump

If you want a great soup that you can throw together with one trip to the farmers market, this is the soup for you. Get your big pot going with fresh diced tomatoes, zucchini, onion, bell pepper, celery, and carrots. When all those wonderful ingredients have simmered together and gotten all softened, it's time for the surprise ingredient - basil pesto.  Make a classic basil pesto from fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil, blended smooth in a food processor.  Stir the basil pesto into the finished soup, reheat and serve hot. This is great before the basil, but after the basil pesto is added, this soup goes from great to unbelievable!  No more chill.  No more dry scratchy throat after you've settled in with this spicy, satisfying soup.

Pozole Chases the Blues Away

Known as a special occasion dish in Mexico, this is a soup that is often served at large parties where the wine, beer, and other adult beverages flow freely.  As such, this soup is a well-known cure for hangovers and is often eaten in the wee hours of the morning.  Typically, this soup is a combination of pork, beans, and hominy grits in a hearty stock.  But, its curative properties come from an abundance of several other ingredients like garlic, cumin, onion, fresh oregano, and lots and lots of red chiles. Whether you want to sweat out a headache or ward off a chill, having a pozole recipe to turn to is a very good idea.

Wonton noodle soup (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Turkey Wonton Warms You Up

We love our leftover turkey, don't we.  We especially love it when we're looking around for some inspiration to make a warming soup.  This soup starts simply enough with some stock, turkey, noodles,  pork dumplings, and greens.  Use baby bok choy for authenticity, or choose a more bitter or peppery green if you want to impart more of a warming feel to your soup.  Most recipes for wonton soup will have added sesame oil which is tasty and also helps to soothe the throat.  For whatever reason, the more intense the flavor, the more warming a soup seems to be.  Of course, adding red pepper flakes bumps the warming factor up a notch or two, so be sure to spice this soup up to send the chills packing.

Apple Pumpkin Soup Strategies

If there are two ingredients to put in your soup that scream Autumn farmers market, they would be apples and pumpkins. There are quite a few variations on soup recipes using these two fall favorites.  You may be looking for a soup that closely resembles pumpkin pie.  Or, maybe, you want the tart apple flavor to come through first.  You can make a country style soup with big chunks of pumpkin and apple swimming in a sweet and sour broth to warm you inside and out.  You can make a smooth pureed soup with a surprising kick of curry to help clear a stuffy head and chase away the chills.  This is a combination of two powerhouse ingredients that can go from one end of the flavor wheel to the other with no problem at all.  Pick your favorite flavors and create a soup that fits your needs.

When it comes to chasing chills away, nothing beats a big steamy bowl of soup.  But, choose the right ingredients and you can do more than make a warming bowl of soup – you can create a big soup hug!

Be sure to check back later this week for some hot and tasty soup recipes.

Healthy Homemade Soups on the Go

In this day and age it can be hard to eat healthy. With your busy schedule, especially if you have children, many people find it easier to grab whatever is available and the quickest and deal with the health consequences later. With the following tips for soups on the go you’ll learn how to make sure that the food you grab is of the healthy variety.

The problem with dealing with the consequences of unhealthy eating habits is that later is actually closer than you might think. Later is right now. Sadly, we are a nation of obese adults and just as many, if not more, obese children. Our unhealthy eating choices have caught up with us. You might be asking yourself, “How can I eat healthy when I’m crunched for time already?”

Image via WikipediaOne way is to make foods that can be taken with you on the go. One of those foods is soup. Soup is tasty, filling, and good for you anytime, but especially on a cold fall or winter day. There are hot soups and believe it or not even cold soups. Many of the warm soups are even good eaten cold or lukewarm.

First, choose your favorite soup. A popular choice of many is the infamous chicken noodle soup. There’s nothing better when you are under the weather than the warm chicken broth soothing your throat. Campbell’s has a wonderful soup in a microwave container perfect for eating on the go, but we are going to make our own soup for an even healthier choice.

The one thing that is best about homemade food is that you know what is and is not in it. Since we are concerned with health, preparing your own soup creations at home is the best way to go. No matter which type of soup you choose to make, be sure to use fresh ingredients. The other items you’ll need are plenty of cups with lids and a blender.

Image via Wikipedia
 Now it’s time to actually create your time saving soup. A good soup always starts with the stock. For chicken soup, make the broth by boiling the remains of the chicken you had for dinner. Add the herbs and seasonings of your choice and boil until the chicken bones come out clean. Any remaining meat will be included in the broth. Once the broth cools completely, ladle it into air-tight jars or containers for storing.

If you’re more of a beef and vegetable soup lover, you can use commercial canned broths or bouillon cubes for the base of your soup (but keep an eye on the sodium if this is an issue for you). Season the stock really well and boil before adding any other ingredients. Once the stock is ready, all that is left to do is toss in your favorite veggies. Again, wait until the soup is completely cooled before pouring into storage or serving containers.

Now, what about that blender? It’s a bit difficult to eat soup the traditional way while driving and if you are serving to your kids, the combination of a car and soup in a bowl is a disaster waiting to happen. Here’s where the blender comes into the picture.

Pour some of the soup into the blender and blend until the pieces are small enough for you to swallow easily. You can even puree the soup completely if you’d prefer. For a thicker texture, add a bit of cream soup.

Now your soup is ready for distributing in your to-go cups. The ideal cup would be a coffee mug with a lid. These types of cups have a wide opening perfect for drinking soups from. Be sure to prepare enough soup for the entire week. You can take the soup with you while you’re out shopping, working in the garden or to work. A cup of soup is packed with healthy nutrients and it won’t mess up the car or cramp your busy lifestyle. The next time you don’t have time to eat, reach for a cup of healthy homemade soup instead of pulling into that fast food drive thru.

And check back soon for some yummy fall and winter soup recipes - we'll be posting some here later this month!

 

Related articles on Soups:

• Vegetarian Bean Soup and Butternut Soup with Cream (suite101.com)
• Use homemade broth for pilaf, chicken soup, chicken and noodles: Cleveland Cooks (video) (cleveland.com)
• Laksa to Locro: Spicy Soups from Around the World (thekitchn.com)