Healthy Soup Ideas?

I made Roasted Beet & Potato Soup last night for the first time & my husband and I both loved it! It takes a while to make but is very simple, just lots of cooking time. The flavor was fabulous, my husband thought it tasted like something you'd get in a fancy restaurant!

My only change to the recipe was that I used a little less olive oil (2 tbsp total instead of 3) and I only used 1 cup of milk instead of a cup and a half. Pic of the soup is actually my profile pic right now, it's a beautiful color & a great way to incorporate beets without having an overpowering beet flavor.

This is a recipe for stuffed pepper soup. We subbed the beef for ground chicken breast and even added an extra lb. We also subbed the rice for orzo, but you could use whatever you'd like really. It was damn good and made a big pot.

http://diethood.com/stuffed-pepper-soup-kitchenaid-stand-mixer-giveaway/

If you have a pressure cooker, you can make a killer soup in 30 minutes or less. I also prefer brothier soups. You can add cream to it for your husband (cook it for a few minutes more in that case). You can also make this in a slow cooker.

Chicken, beef, pork, sausage (lean varieties) or tofu
Celery, onions, bell peppers, carrots, garlic
Chicken or veggie broth
Black or kidney beans (canned but rinsed)
Fresh Kale or collard greens
A little olive oil
Optional: Corn
Seasonings like Lawry's, Goya Sazon, or good old salt and pepper

It's delicious, low-carb, hearty, full of protein. It tastes like a stew but is much lighter and brighter. I've even done this with Chicken Gizzards (I love them, sorry!). Amazing and super easy.

I just made a crockpot of Minestrone. There's a copycat of Olive Garden's Minestrone recipe out there, but I used what I had on hand and it turned out delish!

Low sodium veggie stock
Bag of frozen peas
Bag of frozen green beans
Can of undrained petite diced potatoes
Fresh baby spinach
Can of drained garbanzo beans
Garlic
Salt/pepper
Italian seasoning
Small shell pasta (I added at the end so it didn't get mushy - not much cause it really bumps up the calories)

Top with Parmesan cheese.

LOVE soup too!

I once saw Tyler Florence of the food network teach a college student how to make chicken stock and then 3 different soup from the stock. I have tried them all and they are really good. Here is a blog post with links to all his recipes and one soup I created. It is creamy but no cream is used. It is like the greek soup thickened with tempered eggs and lemon juice.
http://soupspiceeverythingnice.blogspot.com/2013/10/lemon-chicken-and-vegetable-soup.html

This one has pasta but you could omit or add rice or more veggies:

Rotisserie Chicken Soup
http://soupspiceeverythingnice.blogspot.com/2014/02/rotisserie-chicken-soup.html
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 small carrots, cut into 1/2 inch slices or cubes
3 celery ribs, cut into 1/2 inch slices or cubes
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch dice
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence (without lavender)
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup dried small elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken
3/4 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 handful parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Place a large pot of water to boil.

Place another soup pot over medium heat and add olive oil. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Stir in garlic, tomato paste and flour. Continue to stir and cook until the flour and tomato paste brown a little. Add Herbs de Provence, bay leaf and chicken stock; bring the liquid to a boil. Fold in the chicken, and season with salt, black and red pepper. Continue to simmer on low for 18 minutes while you cook the pasta.

Add elbow macaroni to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Drain pasta and add to the soup pot. Add chopped parsley and taste for seasoning. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove from heat and serve.

EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK VEGGIE SOUP (MEAT IS OPTIONAL)
325 g (about 1 medium sized) white or Vidalia onion, cut into ¾” pieces
75 g celery, chopped with leaves (set leaves aside for garnish)
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T cumin
1 T paprika
½ tsp cayenne (optional)
215 g pepper (any will do), diced
230 g cherry tomatoes, halved and salted
• Any tomato will do- just remove some of the seeds and cut into bite-sized pieces
150 g cucumber, seeded and diced
115 g carrots, diced
150 g frozen cut okra
1 14 oz can of peas, drained and rinsed
4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
16 oz frozen (or thawed, doesn’t matter) chicken, pieces (ie: breasts, tenderloins, thighs… just not whole)

1) In a large pot sweat onion over medium high heat
2) Once onion is in the pan, add cumin, paprika and cayenne and stir until the onion is sweaty and opaque
3) Add celery, peppers and garlic. Stir
4) Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally
5) Add tomatoes and cucumber. Stir
6) Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 5 minutes
7) Uncover and allow mix to come to a low simmer
8) Stir in room temperature broth
9) If you want to add meat, add it before the broth comes to a simmer
10) Cover and cook until the meat is cooked through (or longer, for more juicy, flavorful meat)
11) Add okra, peas and carrots. Stir and increase heat to medium
12) Cover and cook on medium for another 5-10 minutes
Salt and pepper to taste
Anything can be added to this and it will probably be delicious!