By Patrice Powers-Barker, OSU Extension, Lucas County
The Truth Contributor
As the days turn shorter and cooler, it’s a great time to add some healthy, hearty meals based on a bowl of hot soup. Soups can be created using foods from all five food groups – vegetables, fruits, protein foods, dairy and grains. Although cold soups made with a fruit base are less common than vegetable soups, they are more popular in the summer when berries, melon and fresh herbs like mint are growing in the garden.
Common soups in the wintertime can include grains like rice, pasta and barley. Creamed soups include milk as an ingredient, but they often have a lot of added fat as well. If you enjoy a smooth creamed soup, try a low-fat recipe. Make creamy, rich soups without adding a lot of fat, by using mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, vegetable purees, refried beans or low-fat milk instead of cream. Protein foods like meat and beans are also popular ingredients in soups. Meat can add flavor, such as ham in split pea soup. Beans are an excellent low-cost addition to almost any soup. Think of minestrone, chili, and vegetable soup.
While there is nothing wrong with opening and heating a can of soup or using canned ingredients to create your own recipe, be smart about sodium. Canned food, unless it’s low in salt, usually adds a good deal of sodium to the daily recommended allowances. Here are some ways to keep the sodium low in your soup recipes:
- Choose low-sodium ingredients. That’s easy if you are using fresh or plain frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables in a sauce are often more expensive and have added sodium as well as fat.
- Do not add extra salt to the soup pot. Serve the soup, taste it, and then add salt, if needed.
- Broths and bouillon cubes often have a lot of salt. Reduced-sodium tomato juice makes a nice soup base or make your own broth without added salt.
It’s easy to make your own broth. It’s also a great way to stretch the food dollar. Make a soup broth from all kinds of vegetables, beef, pork, ham, chicken or turkey bones. Place bones, meat pieces and vegetables in a large pot covered with water. For meat broth add a few fresh vegetables like large pieces of onion and celery or whatever you have on hand. Bring to a boil and then simmer for three hours. Throw bones and vegetable pieces away and refrigerate broth. When broth is cold, skim the fat off the top and throw away the fat. Use in any recipe that calls for broth. When planning a meal like chicken or ham or even ground beef, plan your second meal to be a pot of soup. Make chicken noodle soup, bean soup with ham or chili! It’s easy to make the broth or soup once the meat is cooked.
There are many convenience items you can add to your favorite soup recipe to increase the taste as well as the nutrition. Add some frozen vegetables like green beans, frozen chopped spinach or frozen butternut squash. Although canned beans have more sodium than dry beans, rinse them off and add them to soup if you are short on time. Try some frozen tortellini. Also, on the day you make the soup, double the recipe for an additional meal. Most soups freeze well and it is easy and tasty to thaw and heat up later in the month!
This Beef Vegetable Soup from Celebrate Your Plate has four ingredients, and if you’d like to make it vegetarian, just substitute beans for the beef. This can be made in the slow-cooker or on the stovetop.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound protein: 85% lean ground (beef or turkey) meat OR 1 15 ounce can no salt added kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 64 ounce bottle low-sodium vegetable juice
- 1 32 ounce package frozen vegetable mix
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Before you begin, wash your hands, surfaces, and utensils.
- If using ground beef or turkey, cook in a medium frying pan until no pink remains, about 6 minutes. Drain fat into a paper-towel lined bowl and throw away.
- Combine your protein of choice (either cooked ground beef, turkey, or beans), vegetable juice, frozen vegetables, and Italian seasoning in a slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours. If using a stovetop, combine ingredients in a large pot and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
For a simple, well-balanced meal, take your bowl of soup; add some crackers or whole grain bread, a side of fruit and a glass of milk and you will have a selection of foods from all five food groups.