Rapid Fat Loss Diets

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Soups for an Easy Meal

By Kristen Thorpe

Is there anything better that enjoying a warm bowl of rich soup on a cold day? The tastes, the textures, the endless varieties, and let's not forget the comfort food factor. While soups are often thought of as a wintertime food, there's no reason they can't be a year-round favorite. Many of the heartier soups can be a complete meal. And for the hottest days, you can always switch to chilled soup if you prefer. Below are some of are some of the basics about the types of soups you can make.

You can actually break down the types of soups in a few simple ways, most frequently by soups made with a stock base and those that can be made without stock. Additionally there is the option of fruit soups. Soups made with stock include broth, bouillon, and consomm. Soups that may be made without stock can include puree, cream, bisque, and chowders.

When creating your own meat-based soup stock, any of your favorite meats would be a good starter. Anything including beef, turkey, lamb, chicken, veal, fish, etc. would work fine. Using dark-colored meats will produce brown stock while white soup stock is made from light-colored meats. Vegetables commonly added to soup stock include onion, celery, and carrots. Soups in this category include beef vegetable, chicken soups, tomato soups, cabbage soups, and broth's.

Being much thicker and richer, and generally quite nutritional, a puree or a cream soup can often be served as a main course, especially for a luncheon or a light dinner. These soups include varieties such as split pea, bean or potato puree, cream soups such as corn, broccoli or mushroom, bisque of oyster or lobster, and clam chowder.

Then there are the fruit soups - these are delicious chilled soups that are perfect on a hot summer day. Refreshing varieties include cherry, honeydew melon, strawberry, peach, and cantaloupe. Some cold soup recipes will list fruit juices as a mixer while others use a vegetable-based soup stock in the recipe.

Whatever soup you choose to make, there's nothing quite like coming home and savoring a well-made soup. Finish your cream soup off with a small garnish and serve in a large, flat bowl. Covered soup bowls are ideal for bean and onion soups. And don't forget to make enough for second helpings. - 17273

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