healthy seasoning for soups: need suggestions

hot and sour: white pepper and vinegar.

I make freezer sofrito and add a chunk at the end along with a splash of vinegar or a squeeze of fresh citrus.

Freezer Sofrito
Onion, garlic, cilantro, culantro, red peppers, cubanella peppers, tomato
buzz/chop in food processor and put in a Ziploc bag, squeeze out all the air so it will lay flat and is less than 1/2 inch thick. Freeze it laying flat. When you want some just whack it on the counter edge to loosen up a chunk.
I make a huge batch when the produce is fresh - no salt, no oil, and all the flavor goes into you meal!

I also like the McCormick's perfect pinch line they have a lot of ethnic/regional spice blends that are salt free. I like them better than the MrsDash blends.

Black bean soup
2 TB. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp. PENZEYS MINCED GARLIC)
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
2-4 15-oz. cans black beans (depending on how beany you like it)
5 Cups water mixed with 3 tsp. CHICKEN OR VEGETABLE SOUP BASE
2 TB. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. CHILI POWDER
1/2 tsp. CAYENNE PEPPER
1/2 tsp. GROUND CUMIN
salt, to taste

Virtuous Vegetable Soup
2 TB. olive oil
1/4 Cup thinly sliced onion (1/2 small)
1/2 Cup thinly sliced celery (1 rib)
1/2 Cup thinly sliced carrot (1 large)
1/2 Cup thinly sliced parsnip (1 medium)
2 garlic cloves, diced (or 1/2 tsp. PENZEYS MINCED GARLIC)
1 leek, washed well and thinly sliced
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt, to taste
1 Cup kale, washed well and chopped*
1 Cup collard greens, washed well and chopped*
1 Cup shredded cabbage*
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1 15-oz. can great northern beans*
1 qt. vegetable broth (or 1 qt. water mixed with 2 tsp. VEGETABLE SOUP BASE)
1 tsp. THYME
1/4-1 tsp. COARSE BLACK PEPPER, to taste
1 WHOLE BAY LEAF

For more ideas check out. you can then look up whats in the spice and find a less expensive alternative or make your own version.
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/results.html

Generic - Bok Choy -- Boiled, Drained, Cooked, 2 cup cooked (170 g) 40 6 0 4 2 116
Green Tea - Lipton, 5 tea bag (1.8g) 0 0 0 0 0 0
Generic - Country Style Boneless Pork Ribs, 30 oz 1,050 0 38 180 0 1,575
Celery - Raw, 2 stalk large (11"-12" long) 17 4 0 1 2 99
Trader Joe's - Wild Rice, 1 cup dry 560 120 2 24 4 0
Peas - Green, frozen, unprepared, 0.5 cup 55 10 0 4 4 81
Huy Fong - Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, 8 tsp. 40 8 0 0 8 800
Spice Islands - Asian Ginger - Powdered, 3 tsp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Produce Oasis - Cilantro Fresh, 1 oz 6 1 0 1 0 13
Lemon juice - Raw, 1 wedge yields 1 1 0 0 0 0
Morton - Iodized Salt, 0.5 tsp (1.5g) 0 0 0 0 0 1,180
Spices - Pepper, black, 1 tsp 5 1 0 0 0 1
Spices - Paprika, 2 tsp 12 2 1 1 0 1

Add Ingredient

Total: 1786 153 41 215 20 3866
Per Serving: 149 13 3 18 2 322

This was my recipe for the Green Tea Beef Soup with Rice and Veggies today. The numbers go in order of: Cals, Carbs, Fats, Protein, Sugar, and Sodium.

My main spices/additions were Cilantro, Ginger, Garlic, Paprika, Sriracha, Basil, Parsley, Lemon Juice, and Pepper. I also cooked the meat raw in the broth for 2 hours before putting everything else in.

I've now went the route of using tea (unsweetened, just water/tea bag) in my broth instead of plain water.....gives it a little something extra.

I make tomato soup (low sodium in a can)
I add red pepper flakes, black pepper, a dash of sea salt and dill. It is sooooo yummy!!!

I also like Italian seasoning in my chicken noodle

lemon grass and lime! Specifically, a Thai inspired chicken lemongrass soup.

Try making your stock from scratch -

Save your veggie odds and ends, bones and timings in the freezer. When you have a batch toss in water to cover with an onion quartered, couple of garlic cloves, stalk of celery,a chunked carrot or two, a medallion or two of fresh ginger. Add bay leaf, fresh Rosemary and thyme and fresh cracked black pepper. Simmer for 30- 60 minutes and then strain out and discard the solids. Then if you want you can simmer the stock to reduce the volume and concentrate the flavor.

Then build your soup - you can vary the flavor depending on what type of bones you have. If you want a good brown stock be sure to roast your bones before you use them in the stock - it really brings out the flavor.

Wow, this sounds great. Thanks for the info!