Looking for hearty, delicious meals that fit your food budget? Try fragrant soups or stews: Easy to make with simple ingredients. Gift your family a delicious hearty meal of veggies, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Soups or stews are a great way to use leftovers and save your food $ by using beans or lentils instead of costly meat. Stews become soups by adding more liquid or soup becomes stews by using less liquid.
Any way you like, these warm hearty flavors satisfy and bring comfort.
Start with basic veggie soup:
Chop an onion, some celery and a couple of carrots. Cook in a tablespoon of olive oil until the onion is soft. Include some garlic if you want.
Add a few cups of veggie or chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Add "hard" veggies like parsnips, cauliflower, leeks or turnips. Season with your favorite spices. We recommend a bay leaf and a pitch of thyme.
Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until the vegetables are slightly soft.
Add soft vegetables like greens, broccoli, or peas in the last 5 minutes.
Taste, season and enjoy!
More protein? Add protein-rich beans like chickpeas or lentils or cooked chicken or beef for the last 5 to 10 minutes before serving. No leftovers? Buy beef chuck or chicken thighs on sale. Add to the broth, cooking for 20-30 minutes before adding veggies. Toss in a can of tomatoes for more flavor and nutrition.
Soup or stew, this is a meal you can play with to satisfy everyone’s taste and provide vitamins and energy.
Soup for Supper
recipe: Tuscan Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS:
1 (15-ounce) can low-sodium cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 carrots, diced (about ½ cup)
1 small zucchini, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried sage
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 (14.5 oz) can no salt added diced tomatoes
2 cups of chopped kale or chopped baby spinach leaves
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, optional
TO MAKE:
In a small bowl mash half of the beans with a masher or the back of a spoon and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, zucchini, garlic, thyme, sage, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper, and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the broth and tomatoes with the juice and bring to a boil. Add the mashed and whole beans and the spinach leaves and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes more.
Serve topped with Parmesan, if you like.
Tips and tricks: Play with your soup
BE CREATIVE: Add what you like: Greens, veggies, beans
Add leafy greens to soup at the end. Cook just enough so the greens wilt.
Use beans instead of chicken or beef for good protein without extra fat. Beans have fiber for healthy digestion, antioxidants for better health and save you $$
Add cooked rice or noodles for a heartier dish. Cook separately and add at the end so rice and noodles don’t get “mushy.”
Soup or Stew? A teaspoon of corn starch dissolved in a about 1/3 cup of broth can thicken your soup and make it more like a stew. Dissolving the corn starch before you stir it prevents lumps.
Dippers for Soup: Toast up stale bread. Cut it in finger size strips and serve with soup. Delicious dunked into soup.
Fast Salad: For a crunchy side dish, try fast and easy Carrot, Beet and Apple salad. Shred or cut into small pieces 1 large beet, 3 carrots, 2 apples. Mix with 1 tsp olive oil and 3 tsp apple cider vinegar. Tangy, crunchy full of flavor and full of cold fighting Vitamin A and C plus potassium and magnesium.
Click recipes below for more ideas
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