Help me make soup. :)

TheCactus

My main concern is all that sodium from the broth. I am not sure how unhealthy sodium is, but I feel like i heard bad things about it? My second concern is carbs. I really like noodles in my soup, but i don't think they are and noodles that would work in soup that are carb friendly. Sadly, that also means no potatoes.

But! So far, i was thinking i could just use some chicken, some carrots, celery, onions, ... and thin i couldn't thin of anything else thats moderately healthy. I have seen trader joes chicken broth seems to have lowish sodium, and a fair amount of protein, but would love to hear any pro tips, or suggestions.

trisH_7183

If you only want the chicken meat,a rotisserie chicken from the grocery works.If you want your own broth,simmer a whole chicken or ch parts till meat is done. Pull chicken off the bones.Return bones to broth,along with any onion,celery & carrots you have. Simmer on low....covered....for a long,long time. I use my slo cooker & let it go all night.If too fatty,chill in fridge,toss most of the fat.

Strain broth,then use broth for soup.Add any veg you like. I add the above,plus peeled diced turnips,frozen mixed veggies......whatever. No broccoli as it gets nasty if kept over. Add chicken broth from can ,any seasoning you like.Simmer an hr or so ,taste before adding salt.

one pkg of frozen peas or corn won't hurt,as it will be divided into several servings.

cblue315

Hi, I am a Diet Technician with a 2 year degree and 13 yrs experience in the field working with cardiac, kidney and diabetic patients.
As for the sodium - If do not have high blood pressure watching sodium is purely to prevent water weight gain. However if you drink 3 to 4 quarts of water every day this is not an issue either. So enjoy the broth, enjoy the soup. This is my favorite recipe.

2 - 3 pound chicken thighs with skin and bone.
Put these in a slow cooker or roaster and bake on medium heat for 1 hour. Add at least 1 quart water and cook for another 1/2 hour. Remove skin and bone. Set meat aside. To the liquid in the pan add:
1 large chopped onion
1 pound carrots
1/2 pound celery
4 cups chopped zucchinni
8 oz mushrooms any kind
1 or two peppers any kind your preference for heat
1 box broth
2 to 3 Tablespoons Tandoori seasoning or chili powder or whatever seasoning you like. I really like the tandoori
1 cup rice

Cook all of this together until it smells really good and all the veg is pretty soft. Add more broth or water if necessary. Add the chicken back in about 1/2 hour before you eat. Freezes really well. If you put in small containers in the fridge it will not spoil for about a week.

About 200 calls give or take for 1/10th of the recipe.

lyttlewon

If you are using premade broth you can buy low sodium.

ishiqa36

I make soup all the time. Especially chicken soup. I start with drumsticks because they are cheap and have good flavor. I put a little coconut oil in the pot and slightly brown the chicken legs. I usually pull the skin off first. Then after I remove the chicken and add onions, chili flakes, pepper, and salt and saute till the onions are caramelized. I make sure the all the bits from the chicken left over from browning the chicken are incorporated into the onion and not stuck to the bottom of the pan. Then I add one tomato finely chopped, a couple carrots sliced on the diagonal in 1 inch pieces and cook for a minute or so. Then add back the chicken legs and fill the pot with water. I never use broth. I don't see the need. There is so much flavor as it is.

After the carrots are half way done I add a large zuchinni also cut in 1 inch slices and cook until chicken is done. Then I pull out the chicken, cool a little, de-bone it, and put back into the soup. The last step is optional but those 5 minutes are well worth it later when packing soup to go. Makes it much easier to eat. As for the noodles, you can always premake soup and add noodles separately depending on your carb allowance for the day. If I have a lot of carb left over for the day I sometimes add rice to my soup.

NH_1970

I make crock pot soups a lot in the winter. I usually add some form of meat or bean/lentil/legume whatever I figure out I want in the pot, and then water and seasonings/spices (add any spice that grows underground earlier in the crock (like garlic, ginger, onion - early on in the crock, Spices that grow above ground like basil, oregano etc. add late in cooktime in the crockpot) and I don't add any extra sodium or broths. Meat has natural sodium in it. So it tends to work out. Cook those first (usually they stew in the pot for a few hours on a low heat) and then later add any soft veggies and I love bokchoy that I cut up on top of everything for the last 20 minutes (unless it's a dense root veg they need longer to stew in the pot and can go in, in the beginning) Anything that is higher density in water like celery should be added at the last because otherwise it will be over cooked mush and you lose any flavor...though some times people like over cooked mush.
I sometimes add rice and do that near the beginning too. I have added egg noodles in the past but I am not fond of noodles and if I do add those later on as they cook swiftly.
I know this sounds plain but people who have my crock pot soups usually rave about how good they are how fresh they taste, and not weighted down.

tawnywest

You can buy shirataki noodles from the Asian food section at Walmart. They are very low in calories, made from yam flour. They are very good in soup. Also you could investigate Miso which is soy-based and makes a very good broth. Lots of recipes for Miso soup on the internet.

GlynnisSapsfordHey

To get a great veggie base for soup get a cabbage and cook it in water but don't drown it and it makes a great base for soup. You can use some of the cabbage in the soup. Add carrots, parsnips(great instead of potatoes) turnips, tomatoes and any other veggie you can think of. Parsnips make great mash. Have fun

TheCactus

Say! Are stews similar to soups? or are they more complex?

dopeysmelly

Say! Are stews similar to soups? or are they more complex?

I use stew/soup pretty much interchangeably. The only real difference I can think of is the texture, with soup being thinner more pureed than stew, I guess.

dopeysmelly

I add beans or lentils instead of potato to thicken. I'm just not a fan of potato-thickened soup (except for caldo verde, but the potato is the main constituent), and beans and lentils add protein and fiber as well. You can either add them uncooked (but soaked), or just tip them in from a can (I keep a box of ready to eat cooked beans in the fridge). It works particularly well if you blend/whizz the soup.

I make a ton of soups, but the method is pretty much what everyone else has described, sweat onions and other veggies over low heat until soft-ish, add any meat/beans and seasonings (but not salt, which you can add at the end for taste - it can make any beans tough) etc, then add stock (I use low sodium better than bouillon) then just leave it until it looks done. Blend it if you want.

I find it very soothing and particularly like different tastes. My thing at the moment is Persian-inspired soups..

NH_1970

Say! Are stews similar to soups? or are they more complex?

I think of stews as in stewing in a pot for awhile - like the crockpot but the base/broth doesn't have to be thick in a crockpot, like it is in the canned variety.
Soup is probably considered a quicker cook, doesn't necessarily have a heavy base/broth to it

I also forgot I made beef/barley/carrots/beets/onion cooked for a bit and later added celery/spices/bok choy that was a good one. Was red because of the beets tho. That was a winter stew/soup - whatever you want to call it.

and I'm off to look up what persian soup is!

hermann341

Jicama is good substitute for potatoes. Similar texture and taste to water chestnuts, and a third the carbs of potatoes. Add it early to the mixture if you want the chunks soft.