The Skinny on Soup

Soup is amazing. It is filling, can easily be a low-calorie meal and is diverse enough to fit whatever you are in the mood for. I have never been a huge soup fan...because the soup I've always eaten was the nasty, canned , processed stuff. I used to think that making homemade soup was difficult and time-consuming. I could not have been more wrong. Most soups I make simmer 20-40 minutes and are ready to serve, and they taste AMAZING!

Making soup is therapeutic for me too. There is just something about dicing vegetables and turning them into a delicious soup. And seriously, is there anything better than warm soup belly on a cold winter day?

Here are a few staples that I always have on hand that make it a cinch to throw together basically any soup I'm in the mood for:
Fresh Produce (especially root vegetables)
Fresh Herbs
Spices
Frozen steam bag veggies (the ones that have veggies and rice together are awesome)
Canned beans
Dried Rice
Dried Lentils
Dried Barley
Vegetable broth
Canned diced tomatoes
Unsweetened Almond Milk
Tomato Paste


And so I will begin my week long "soup posts" with one of the simpler soup recipes, literally you are just heating this soup up, although if you let it simmer 20-30 minutes the flavor will be much better. This is the only soup I will be posting that isn't literally from scratch.

This recipe is as easy as throwing all of these ingredients into a pot and simmering over low-medium heat.  I call it simply "Mexican Soup".  

• 2 cans of Southwestern Style Corn from Green Giant (which is a mix of corn, onion, red peppers, and black beans, which you could just add separately if you don't want to buy this brand)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (do NOT drain)
• 32 ounce carton of vegetable broth
• 1 bag steamed rice, do NOT steam, throw it in frozen (this one had spinach and tomatoes in it too) If you want to skip this step you can leave it out and then just serve the soup over cooked rice
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/2t-1t of Red Pepper Flakes if you want some spice

Since all of these items can be kept in either the freezer or pantry it's a nice "go-to" meal when you are short on time and inspiration.

I can't wait to share my "Black Bean and Tomato" soup later this week. It is my new favorite soup!