Making basic healthy Soup

logic

Not on a diet or anything but am trying to eat more healthily. Anyhow, I have no idea how to make soup. What I'm thinking of is,

boil some veg,
throw in blender,
add some water,
blend.

alternitively, if I use a stock cube, can I just throw that in the boiling veg water while the veg is cooking?

Now I'm not sure what to attempt with chicken soup. Can I just throw a stock cube in some water and boil? Then I presume I can dice some cooked chicken and throw that in along with some veg?

EileenG

Soup has infinite varieties. The classic soup is something like: brown onions in butter or oil, add other vegetables, add stock (or hot water with a stock cube) and boil, blend.

Personally, I tend to keep the water I cook vegetables in, and then add the leftovers from dinner (let's say beef and broccoli). Bring back to the boil, then blend. Or I use the veggie water, add some other vegetables (brussels spourts makes great soup), possibly a stock cube or some meat or chicken, cook and blend.

Most people put potato in soup. I don't so I need to use extra vegetables. Potato tends to thicken it.

Macha

I always start with an onion & some garlic to get some good flavour, then throw in some veg (or roast it) and some stock, leave the lid on until veg is soft. I usually then use a hand-blender to just give it a bit of a whizz. I like it chunky.

Herbs & spices, tomato puree, cans of chopped tomatoes, low-fat coconut milk. These can all be used to add taste.

So for example, you could fry up an onion and garlic, then some garlic and cumin, coriander & turmeric. Chop up a butternut squash & add that. Throw in some stock, can of chopped toms or can of low-fat coconut milk. Voila!

Avoca has a nice little soups book but I'm not sure how healthy the recipes are -although you can tweak recipes of course.

mags16

I start by gently frying onion, carrot, celery and leek in a bit of olive oil for approx 10 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent. I might then add 100g red split lentels ( good for protein) and 1 litre of stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. I usually blend it to make a thick hearty soup.

laughingtoaster

marigold swiss vegetable bouillon is great for stock. its a powder/granules you get in tubs in healthfood shops & some supermarkets