RECIPES: These 3 vegetable soups offer quick and cozy comfort
Georgia winters are often cold, wet and gray. During these frigid months, we have visions of pots of soups simmering on the stove for hours, steaming up the windows and filling our homes with delicious and tantalizing aromas. While that sounds rewarding, it’s not required. Homemade soups have developed a reputation for being all-day affairs that require huge time commitments. The reality is that you can also have a pot of cozy comfort ready to ladle into a bowl in less than 45 minutes.
Undoubtedly, there are soups and stews that require long cooking times, but many vegetable soups like the ones we’re featuring here are almost as simple as bringing the ingredient to a boil in stock, reducing the heat to simmer and letting it cook for a short period of time until the vegetable is tender and slightly broken down. Add a quick pulse with a blender and you have a rich and creamy soup — without the cream.
First, you want to start with the soup base. In its simplest form, the base of a soup is usually onion. In some recipes, it’s the trio of onion, carrot and celery. In these recipes, I’ve trimmed the prep time and chopping by using onion alone or pairing it with celery.
All bases are cooked in a small amount of fat to concentrate the flavor of the vegetables and evaporate the moisture, creating a full-flavored building block. In this trio of soups, I use nonstick cooking spray to minimize the fat and calories.
We incorporate starch in some soups to slightly thicken the mixture once the liquid is added. Longer cooking recipes might use rice or a white potato but you can speed things up by using all-purpose or gluten-free chickpea flour as a thickener. Soups with starchy ingredients, like the Spiced Sweet Potato Soup featured in this collection of recipes, may not require an additional thickener.
Next up is the main ingredient, the vegetable, then the stock or broth. (If you want to save even more time, you can opt for pre-chopped vegetables from the produce department.) Once the vegetables have been added, simply add just enough stock to cover the veggies. You don’t want the vegetables swimming in stock. And remember, you can always add more liquid, but it’s not as easy to take it out.
Simply let the vegetables cook until tender, then blitz the mixture with an immersion blender, ladle it into a food processor or even use an old-fashioned potato masher, and you have a creamy soup ready to enjoy.
If you are pureeing the soup in a blender or food processor, the heat and pressure can literally blow the lid off. To avoid a soup explosion, fill the blender jar no more than halfway with soup and use a clean kitchen towel over a loosely fitted lid to cover the top and protect your hands (and kitchen ceiling).
While this trio of Tomato Soup, Cauliflower Parmesan Soup, and Spiced Sweet Potato Soup is plant-forward, they are still hearty and filling, perfect for taking the chill off a cold winter’s night. And, the best part is that you can have a bowl of nourishing, homemade wholesome soup in minutes.
RECIPES
Tomato Soup, Cauliflower Parmesan Soup and Spiced Sweet Potato Soup are warm and wonderful, certain to brighten even the coldest, dreariest winter day. All freeze well and can be doubled if you want to make a batch and tuck some in the freezer.
Tomato Soup
An immersion blender makes quick work of the whole tomatoes, but you can also use cans of diced tomatoes or even tomato puree if that is what you have on hand. And of course, the classic partner for tomato soup is a grilled cheese sandwich.
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Pinch ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose or chickpea flour
- 1 cup reduced-fat low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1 (28-ounce) can low-sodium whole tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
- Heat a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add the onion, tomato paste and allspice. Cook, stirring frequently so the tomato paste doesn’t burn, until the onion is soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined. Whisking constantly, gradually add the chicken stock. Add the tomatoes and their juices, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, cover and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
- To finish the soup in the stockpot, use an immersion blender and puree. Alternatively, working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender and puree. Leave it coarse and chunky if you prefer a more rustic soup or puree until smooth for a more elegant soup. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 69 calories (percent of calories from fat, 9), 3 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams total sugars, 4 grams fiber, 1 gram total fat (trace saturated), no cholesterol, 353 milligrams sodium.
Cauliflower Parmesan Soup
This is a creamy yet creamless soup made with real, recognizable ingredients. It’s true, cheese can be high in fat, but it’s also packed with protein, calcium and vitamins A and D. Parmigiano-Reggiano, an Italian dry-aged cheese, and Parmesan, its less expensive cousin, are actually lower in fat compared to many other cheeses. Lastly, if you use cheeses that are full of complex, strong flavors, like Parmigiano-Reggiano, you’ll find that a little goes a long way.
- 2 cups 2% milk
- 2 cups reduced-fat low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose or chickpea flour
- 1 large (2-pound) cauliflower, stem end trimmed and cut into florets
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- To avoid clumps of flour in your soup, it is important to heat the milk and stock in advance. Know that you’re not really cooking the liquids, but simply warming them until they are no longer room temperature or cold. To do so, combine the milk and stock in a small saucepan and place it over medium-low heat until warmed through, about 3 minutes. You can also combine the milk and stock in a large liquid measuring cup and microwave it on high for about 2 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave. Set aside and keep warm.
- Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir to combine. (The mixture will be very dry.) Add the reserved warm milk–stock combination and whisk to combine. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the liquid is incorporated.
- Add the cauliflower, salt and white pepper. Return to a boil then decrease the heat to simmer. Cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.
- To finish the soup in the stockpot, use an immersion blender and puree. Alternatively, working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender and puree. Leave it coarse and chunky if you prefer a more rustic soup or puree until smooth for a more elegant soup.
- Add the cheese and cayenne; stir to combine. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and white pepper. Garnish with additional grated cheese, if desired. Serve immediately.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 202 calories (percent of calories from fat, 26), 15 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams total sugars, 5 grams fiber, 6 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 17 milligrams cholesterol, 664 milligrams sodium.
Spiced Sweet Potato Soup
Curry powder and garam masala are both intensely flavored Indian spice blends, found in the spice aisle of most supermarkets. The blends vary widely, but the most common spices used in garam masala are cumin, coriander, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, nutmeg and mace. Curry powder often contains similar spices to garam masala, plus a heavy hand of golden orange turmeric. Either fragrant blend will balance the sugary sweet potato with warming, aromatic spice.
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garam masala or curry powder
- 2 pounds (about 4 large) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 4 cups reduced-fat low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, plus more to taste
- Red pepper flakes, for serving
- Heat a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add the onion and garam masala or curry powder and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, stock, nutmeg, cayenne, salt and white pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat to simmer. Cook until the potatoes are soft, about 25 minutes.
- To finish the soup in the stockpot, use an immersion blender and puree. Alternatively, working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender and puree. Leave it coarse and chunky if you prefer a more rustic soup or puree until smooth for a more elegant soup.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and white pepper. Ladle into warmed serving bowls and garnish with optional red pepper flakes. Serve immediately.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 238 calories (percent of calories from fat, 3), 9 grams protein, 51 grams carbohydrates, 11 grams total sugars, 8 grams fiber, 1 gram total fat (trace saturated fat), no cholesterol, 559 milligrams sodium.Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
