SOUP Du JOUR

I am obsessed with soup. Love it. Can't get enough of it. Hopefully by the end of this entry you will be too. One of the sure ways to eat healthy is to cook for yourself. Duh, right? There is always a counter argument that usually sounds something like, "I suck at cooking," or "there isn't enough time to really cook a decent meal." Soup is the answer to all your troubled problems. IT's REALLY HARD to screw up soup and it doesn't take much time to make. And don't even THINK about reaching for that nasty canned crap. (WAY too much salt people...plus, unless it's Armageddon, it's just too gross to ingest.)

I'll let you in on what I do and have found it to work not only for me, but my husband digs it too. Here's the run-down:

1. Cook one vat of soupy goodness each week. Pick whatever day of the week you want and for consistency, make it soup day.
2. Cook enough for SEVERAL servings.
3. Eat your vat of soup the day you cook it and then put it in the fridge for later. It's always better day two anyway.
4. Use your soupy leftovers as a great and healthy snack. Whenever I am hungry and want to eat something crappy, I grab the yummy soup and it will fill me up long enough that I won't gorge on said crap.
5. What you don't eat on day 1 and 2, pour in a Ziploc freezer bag and save for later. It’s really easy to take the ice block of soup and thaw it out in a saucepan when you are exhausted or over cooking for the day. Just remember to add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water so that the soup doesn't reduce to a sauce.

Will this “health tip” work if your soup is clam chowder made with cream or broccoli cheese soup? Probably not. Remember, clam chowder was originally made to stick to the ribs of fisherman out at sea in cold weather. Most of us aren't putting in that kind of hard labor so shouldn't be having 3 servings a day of the stuff.

So does that just leave me with broth and floating veggies? Not necessarily. There are PLENTY of options to make starchy soups without adding cream, milk, cream cheese, cream of mushroom, etc etc. The answer is puree. If you are jonesing for a thick and creamy soup, cook up a vat of onions, garlic, new potatoes and puree the mixture in a blender. You can do this with sweet potatoes, yams, butternut squash and other starchy veggies. Then add your carrots, celery, and greens. I am still a fan of a chunky vegetable stew. The KEY to making a great soup is to NOT OVER COOK the vegetables. Mushy veggies are nasty, plus you want to avoid cooking all the nutrients out of the soup.

Here is one of my original recipes:


Turkey Kielbasa Vegetable Soup:

1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 celery stalks
1 leek
2 ears of corn (cut from the cob)
1 sweet potato
1 new potato
3 carrots
1 turkey kielbasa sausage (If you are a vegetarian you can substitute the turkey sausage for tofurky sausages to get a similar taste)
1 head of broccoli
2 tbsp olive or grape seed oil
2 tbsp of dry parsley
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp sea salt
Pepper to taste.
1 tbsp of Bragg 24 season sprinkle
1 Bay leaf
4 cups (32 oz) of chicken stock or vegetable stock
4 cups of water
In a large stock pot (I prefer the way cast iron cooks) sauté onions, garlic, and celery on medium heat for 3 mins. Add the Turkey Kielbasa (cut into small chucks) and brown. Add chopped sweet potato, new potato, and carrots with the chicken stock and water. Add seasonings. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down to Low heat and cook for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, leeks and corn. Cook 5 mins longer. Remove from heat and let sit for 1-2 hours so seasonings can really absorb into the veggies.
Reheat and serve with a little balsamic vinegar if you like. Season to taste.
Hope you enjoy this.

Goals:
Challenge yourself to cook one healthy vat of soup this week.
Walk or run for 30 mins 3 days this week, or dance for an hour in class or at home to music. Also fit in one toning yoga or Pilate’s class or video. 
Best of luck! I did all the walking but didn’t quite get to the video. Baby came down with a flu bug of some kind. Here’s to this week. 