The ABCs of Making Soup – Easy Soup Tips for Healthy Eating and Living

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Making a soup seems to be one of the most easiest options that you have, and many people feel that it is one of the easy recipes that they can include in a meal everyday to be able to concoct a wholesome meal.

While soups are a really good option for healthy eating, the fact is that you need to be able to make a soup well to be able to ensure that the flavor and the taste are imparted well. If one of the ingredients dominates the flavor of the soup, you may feel that you are eating that specific ingredient and nothing else.

Here are some tips that can help you ensure that the soup that you make is one of the best and that these healthy recipes are ones that your family members love to consume.

  • The basic ingredients in any soup include lean meat, juicy beef, veal or mutton. It is best to obtain this basic ingredient in a manner to ensure that the meat is completely fresh. Fresh meat is a requirement if you want your soup to be succulent and juicy. Stale meat can make the best of recipes seem inadequate, because the tough meat is not easy to cook. So make sure that you obtain freshly cut meat from the market rather than opt for frozen packets that are days or weeks old.
  • Another set of ingredients that are almost always a must in soups are roots and herbs. These are also ingredients that you need to ensure are as fresh as possible. Make sure that you clean the roots and the herbs properly, since these tend to have some soil in them even after they are in the packed form.
  • The proportion of ingredients that you use in the soup is critical. If you have not tried making a soup earlier, then it might be a good idea to check up some easy recipes on how to cook soup. These healthy recipes can help in ensuring that the amount of ingredient that you use is perfect enough to give you a soup that is nicely blended and good to taste.Making a soup seems to be one of the most easiest options that you have, and many people feel that it is one of the easy recipes that they can include in a meal everyday to be able to concoct a wholesome meal.
  • The amount of water that you add for the soup is critical. This is what will ensure that you have a proportionate soup with the ingredients, water, and meat in the right proportions. The thumb rule is that a quart of water should be used for a pound of meat. The amount that you use for gravies is about half what you use in a soup.
  • The best way to make a soup is in a closed vessel, but that is not the only procedure that you will end up following when you cook a soup. The whole idea is to put in the meat and the other ingredients that you need to bring to a boil and then pass them through a sieve. Make sure that the meat is something that you retain so that you can get chunks of it, especially if you are not making a clear soup. The idea is to stew and simmer the ingredients later so that you get the desired consistency.
  • If you feel that the soup that you have made has a watery consistency and you are looking for something that is thick, you should take off the cover of the vessel and allow the soup to simmer for some time. This ensures that the excess water evaporates and boils away, making the soup thicker than before.
  • A good soup that is not made in a rush and is being cooked for the entire family can take anywhere between 3 to 6 hours depending on the specific recipe that you have chosen. If you have looked up some easy recipe, then it may be faster to make a soup. However, do allow for at least 3 hours if you want something that everyone will savor.
  • Not everyone knows this, but the best soups are always made a day before they are required to be consumed. When the soup is cold, the fat can be separated easily from the soup, and this is a procedure that is part of all healthy recipes. When you are removing the fat and pouring the soup, make sure that you do not ‘disturb’ the sediments at the bottom. These are ingredients that will otherwise always escape in a sieve, but you may not want them in your mouth while eating the soup.
  • For clear soups where you do not want any chunks coming in your mouth as you have the soup, the best sieve to use is a tamis. If you have to sieve the soup while it is hot, soak the tamis in cold water so that you get the best results.
  • The standard fundamental is that all clear soups should be totally transparent, and that thickened soups should have a creamy consistency. This does not mean that all non clear soups have to have cream in them; it’s just that all such healthy eating soups should have the consistency of cream.
  • Some of the ingredients that you can use to make healthy recipes for thickened soups include arrowroot, bread rasping, isinglass, butter, barley, rice flour, oatmeal or flour. You can also use some pounded beef along with some butter and flour too.
  • Some vegetables that you can use when you want to learn how to cook good soup include mushrooms, beetroot, carrots, turnip, shallots, onions, potato mucilage, and macaroni. These are ingredients that give some color to the soup as well.
  • Some of the herbs that you can use to garnish your soup and to give it that extra flavor include parsley, thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, basil, mint, oregano, and more.

The above mentioned tips should ensure that the soup that you make ensures healthy eating. The most difficult recipes can be converted into easy recipes if you only keep these tips in mind.