How To Prepare Healthier Soups
Soups are ideal. Imagine that you come home after a cold and exhausting day… The first thing you want to do is take a hot bath. The second, to drink something warm and heating … A soup? Great idea!
Besides being a comfort food, it’s also nutritious and sure to remind you of your childhood. In fact, the Spanish Heart Foundation encourages us in this report to include it in our menus.
In the following article we will tell you what are the benefits of having soup and how to prepare it in a healthier way. Get ready for winter!
Why is the soup good?
When we are sick, when we want to raise our body temperature, even when we want to unite the family around the table … There are many advantages of having soup! Here we give you just a few:
It is a tradition
Generation after generation, the soup continues to be among the most consumed dishes in the world. Did you know that the first reference to this food dates from the Paleolithic? In engravings from the French caves of Les Eyzies de Tayac a group of people is depicted cooking soup.
But we don’t have to go so far or go so far back in time. In your childhood memories there are surely images where grandmothers, aunts or mother were preparing a soup.
It is suitable for everyone
Babies, children, adolescents, adults and the elderly… Everyone can take advantage of the benefits of a rich vegetable soup! It’s a very comforting dish and a great starter when it’s cold.
That is why it is the first family contact at the table during dinner. It could be said that a soup acts as a union between parents, children, siblings, etc.
It is nutritious
From a nutritional point of view, the soup provides us with a large amount of vitamins and proteins. It is made with vegetables, but it can also have meat, chicken, fish, pasta or rice. It’s a great way to bring all the food groups together in one meal.
It is moisturizing
When we are sick, with a fever, for example, they recommend us to drink soup. As it has a high content of water and minerals, it helps the body maintain its water balance.
It is low in calories
To comply with this maxim, it must be prepared only with vegetables and water. That is, without foods rich in fat or carbohydrates like pasta. The soup provides few calories in relation to its volume.
It is compatible with any hypocaloric diet because, in addition, it is satiating and prevents us from eating between meals.
It is easy to digest
Because many of the foods are processed or ground, it is easily chewed and digested. That is why it is consumed by babies or the elderly without problems.
It’s medicinal
A rich soup helps prevent colds or flu in winter. The traditional chicken soup is a spectacular home remedy for this type of viral disease, according to this study from the University of Nebraska.
Is affordable
Finally, the soup is easy to prepare and its elements can be found in any house. Many times vegetables that we have in the fridge are combined with some other ingredient in the pantry, a little water and that’s it. To the table!
What should a perfect soup contain?
There are thousands of recipes to prepare soups and each of them has a tradition or was created by a grandmother decades ago. We are going to give you the “basic” recipe (to call it somehow).
Ingredients
- Onion
- Red or green pepper
- Carrot
- Celery
- Leek
- Garlic
- Parsley
Then we can add whatever we want:
- Tomato
- Potato
- Zucchini
- Fennel
- Chard
- Spinach
Don’t forget the seasonings:
- Salt
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Laurel
- Olive oil
And neither are the additional ones:
- Rice
- Pasta
- Meat
- Chicken
- Fish
- Mushrooms
There are different techniques to prepare a soup:
Juliana
The name derives from the way we cut the vegetables in the recipe. It is an undoubtedly colorful preparation, full of vitamins, fibers and calcium.
The vegetables are cooked with the seasoned water until everything is tender. You can add rice or pasta.
Creamy
Creamy soup or cream takes a process prior to boiling. The vegetables are passed through the blender. It can be mixed with milk, for example. Some make it with semolina.
Sauteed
It is a combination with the first option since, once the vegetables are cut into julienne strips, they are sautéed with a little olive oil. Then the water or broth is added until everything is cooked.
Single ingredient
It can be creamy, julienned or with larger pieces but with a single component. For example tomato, fish or pumpkin.
Huertana
A few pieces of ham are added and it also has meat broth. It is served piping hot and eaten with bread. It is a little fat and is not recommended for dieters.
Cold soup
It is perfect for summer and a solution for soup lovers because they should not wait for winter to enjoy this dish. It can be done for example with blended beetroot and cucumber and add broth as usual. Let it cool and that’s it.
And the bouillon cube?
There are different opinions regarding the advantages or disadvantages that the typical bouillon cube that is added to soups can have.
That it has a large amount of sodium no one can deny it. However, it is also true that it adds a different flavor to foods (not only to the broth).
Some choose not to add cubes to their dishes and others are looking for ways to substitute processed or even dehydrated vegetables. You can ask your doctor what he recommends in case you suffer from hypertension or kidney problems.
