Lentil Soups: Easy, Filling and Delicious

Have you made a pot of lentil soup lately?
It's healthful cooking at its best: easy, hearty, tasty and loved by young and old.

Lentils come in one-pound bags in the dry beans section of your supermarket.
Usually you will find two kinds: ordinary greenish-brown lentils, and orange lentils which are actually just the ordinary lentils with their skins removed. You may also find tiny dark green lentils, called French lentils, but these are usually more expensive and may be in the gourmet or international section of the store. All cook quickly and make wonderful soups.

Here are three of Diana's favorite recipes. They all use chicken or vegetable bouillon made from cubes or liquid concentrate as the soup base; you can pick your favorite brand or just use water if you prefer.


Golden Lentil Soup

1 cup orange lentils
6 cups bouillon
4 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
pinch cayenne, or to taste

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil in a large pot and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Mash the lentils or puree them with a hand blender . The recipe works equally well with regular (brown) lentils or split peas.

4-6 servings


Italian Lentil Soup

1 cup lentils (any type)
6 cups bouillon
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
pinch cayenne, or to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup bulgur
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, undrained, broken up
2 10-ounce bags baby spinach leaves (or use frozen spinach)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients but the spinach and black pepper in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils and bulgur are tender. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the spinach leaves, cover and cook 2 minutes more. Serve with ground pepper to taste.

6-8 servings


Lemony Lentil-Spinach Soup


8 cups bouillon
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cups lentils (any type)
1 medium red potato, cut in 1/2" cubes
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cayenne, to taste
1 10-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
Juice of one lemon
Freshly ground pepper

Put the bouillon, onion, garlic, celery, lentils, potatoes and spices in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until the lentils and potatoes are both tender. Add the spinach and lemon juice and cook 5 minutes more. Serve with ground pepper to taste.

6-8 servings
Read my Good Food Book FREE, with 100 healthful recipes.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

Cheese and Potato Soup - A Recipe for Cheddar Baked Potato Soup That Is Out Of This World

This cheddar potato recipe makes a soup that is creamy and smooth with true baked potato flavor. You can dress this up with a dollop of sour cream and chives or crumbled bacon, but I like it just as it is.

The flour serves to thicken the soup. I don't like my soup real thick, so I usually use less. If you like a real thick soup, increase the amounts to 6 tablespoons or a little more. The important thing when adding flour is to cook it in the butter before adding the liquid. This will avoid that raw flour flavor that can result if the flour is not completely cooked.

It is important that the soup not boil once the cream is added. Boiling will cause the cream to separate. If this is a problem for you, wait to add the cream just before serving and only reheat.

Cheddar Baked Potato Soup Recipe

6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup yellow onions, diced
4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 cups hot chicken stock
4 cups baked potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
1 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup diced green onions (white part only)

Additional grated cheese and chopped parsley for garnish

1. Cook onions in butter over medium-high heat until transparent, about 3 minutes.

2. Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps. Cook 3 - 5 minutes until just golden brown.

3. Add chicken stock gradually, whisking to prevent lumps, until liquid thickens.

4. Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, chopped bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper sauce and black pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. Do not boil.

5. Add grated cheese. Heat until cheese melts and soup is smooth.

Garnish each serving as desired with grated cheese and chopped parsley. You can also use a dollop of sour cream and chives or crumbled bacon.
Do you need more easy soup recipe ideas? Sign up for our newsletter at Easy Soup and Stew Recipes from Easy Southern Cooking and get quick and healthy recipes delivered to your email regularly.

Are you interested in traditional southern cooking? Diane has just finished a free cookbook of her favorite southern recipes. Download Easy Southern Favorites today. These recipes are guaranteed to have them begging for more. Best of all, its free!

Diane Watkins is a traditional southern style cook. She enjoys cooking, teaching, and writing about good food and family. For more information on southern cooking and recipes visit her website at Easy Southern Cooking

Delicious Mushroom and Carrot Soup

1 onion finely chopped
8 cups chicken broth
2 Tsp fresh basil chopped
1 Tsp fresh cilantro chopped
2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp olive oil
2 carrots, sliced

Place the chicken broth in a large pan. Add the bay leaf and bring to a boil.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper (exclude the salt if the broth has salt). Stir and cook the mushrooms until brown. Add to the broth mix.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onions and carrots until soft. Add the basil and cilantro, stir until well mixed. Add all to the broth mix.

This recipe is a soup that can be served with a beef or lamb dish, it can be served over beef or lamb. For lunch this soup can be served alone or with a sandwich to round out the meal.

Mushrooms come in many varieties. Use your favorite mushroom with this dish or use a combination of mushrooms for an even more robustly flavorful soup. The nutritional value in mushrooms is what makes them special. Mushrooms provide several nutrients including riboflavin, niacin and selenium. They do not contain cholesterol, fat, or sodium. Mushrooms provide nutrients typical of meat and some grains.

Mushrooms can be fried, baked, grilled, boiled, served alone, served stuffed with meat or fish, as a soup here, as a topping over meat---especially steak. The list goes on and on. Mushrooms are both delicious and a diverse food, surely to delight the most discriminating palate.
Lois Center-Shabazz is the founder of the personal finance website, Msfinancialsavvy.com and the author of the award-winning book, Let's Get Financial Savvy!

Tasty and Easy Recipes of Soups From Stems, Spinach And Garlic Soup And Veg Clear Soup

Soup from STEMS OF VEGETABLES

INGREDIENTS:
8-10 stems of spinach leaves
4-5 tender stalks of the leaves just below cauliflower
2-3 stems of coriander leaves
1 small sprig spring onion
1 stalk of celery
1/2" ginger peeled and crushed
1 clovette garlic crushed
1 tbsp. cornflour
1/4 dried red chilli crushed
1/2 tsp. sugar
salt to taste
1/2 tsp. soya sauce
1/2 tsp. oil or butter
2 1/2 cups water.

METHOD OF PREPARATION:
Clean any fibrous threads from the stems. Chop the vegetables into thin slanted slivers. Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic. Saute for a minute. Add vegetables. Stir fry till tender. Add water and bring to a boil. Mix cornflour in 1/2 cup cold water. Add to soup, stirring continuously till it comes back to a boil. Add the chilli, sugar, salt, soya sauce and boil till thickened like cornsoup Serve fresh and piping hot.


SPINACH AND GARLIC SOUP

INGREDIENTS
10 ounces Fresh spinach -- trimmed/coars.
4 cups Chicken broth.
1/2 cup Shredded carrots.
1/2 cup Chopped onion.
8 cloves Garlic -- minced.
1/3 cup Butter.
1/4 cup All-purpose flour.
3/4 cup Heavy cream or half & half.
1/4 cup Milk.
1/2 tsp Black Pepper.
1/8 tsp Ground nutmeg.

METHOD OF PREPARATION
In a 5-quart Dutch oven, bring spinach, broth and carrots to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat; cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute onion and garlic in butter until onion is soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add flour; cook and stir over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Add to spinach mixture. Puree in small batches in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Place in a large saucepan. Add cream, milk, pepper and nutmeg; heat through but do not boil. Serve with bread.


VEG. CLEAR SOUP

INGREDIENTS:
2-3 juicy large carrots.
1-3 pieces bottle gourd.
1-2 leaves cabbage.
1 tbsp. cream.
1 small blob butter.
Salt, pepper to taste.
2-3 tbsp. cream whipped smooth.
1 small sprig mint.

METHOD OF PREPARATION:
Grate 1 tbsp carrot finely, Keep aside. Finely chop cabbage, Keep aside. Pressure cook remaining carrots with bottle gourd till very soft. Cool and blend in mixie. Strain. Heat butter, add the pulp and bring to just about boil. Add the grated carrot and cabbage and salt. Take in serving bowl. Add a swirl of whipped cream. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper and chopped mint before serving.

Add your own Garnishing and let us all know how it tasted. Do post feedback.

Tell us if you liked the recipes. For more soup recipes and to post feedback, visit
http://salads-and-starters.blogspot.com/

How to Thicken Soups with out the Fat

Smooth and creamy soups are so pleasing to the pallet with there smooth texture and buttery taste. However these types of soups are often times high in fat and cholesterol. There are easy ways to still be able to enjoy hearty thick soups with less fat and less cholesterol.

Here are four alternatives to heavy cream, butter or coconut milk when thickening soup.

Alternative One

Substitute plain yogurt for the cream, butter or coconut milk. Simply make the soup as normal holding back the fat. At the end of cooking add enough plain yogurt to make the soup creamy and smooth. Plain yogurt has a tangy taste and may alter the flavor of the soup. To combat this add a spoonful of honey or sugar with the plain yogurt. But keep in mind yogurt will curdle if boiled. Never boil soup with yogurt.

Alternative Two

Whisk in sour cream. Sour cream is not exactly low in fat or low in cholesterol but it does have the smooth creamy taste and texture many soups require. The trick to using sour cream is to only use 2-3 tablespoons and to whisk it in just before serving. By whisking in the sour cream at the end of cooking the smooth creamy taste will still be full bodied when the soup is served. But just like yogurt sour cream will separate if boiled, never boil soup with sour cream.

Alternative Three

Use less fat. Often a recipe will call for ½ cup to 1 cup of heavy cream. This amount is often times not necessary to achieve the same smooth creamy flavor and texture. Simply lower the amount of heavy cream to 2 tablespoons and the soup will still maintain the desired finish.

Alternative Four

Use vegetable puree. A simple puree of potatoes or other root vegetables will accomplish the desired thickening of the soup. Simply omit the cream, butter or coconut milk and substitute a cup of thick vegetable puree.

Shauna Hanus is a gourmet cook who specializes in creating gourmet recipes. She has extensive experience cooking with easy to find grocery items to create delightful gourmet meals. She is also the publisher of a no cost bi-monthly gourmet newsletter. Her newsletter is always fun and informational packed with tips and trivia you can use everyday. Sign up for her newsletter and learn more about Gourmayeats Weekly Recipe Club at http://www.gourmayeats.com

Soups - Add Variety and Spice to Your Diet

On a cold autumn or winter day, nothing warms the tummy like a nice hot bowl of soup. As a child, one of my favorite winter activities was to eat some chicken noodle soup filled with saltine or ritz crackers. Even now, I love to have a nice piping hot bowl of chicken noodle soup for lunch on Sundays.

Soup is not just for defrosting oneself after spending some time in the chilly outdoors, though. Soups also make great appetizers for dinner parties and great anytime meals when you feel like eating light.

As a kid, I used to think that soup must necessarily come from a can or a packet, and that there were really only 2 kinds of soup, chicken noodle and vegetable beef. Adulthood has really opened my eyes to the dizzying array of soup recipes out there. Clam chowder has become one of my absolute favorite soups.

Soups come in all manner of consistencies, flavors, and heartiness. Here are just a few:

broth: Liquid resulting from meat, poultry or vegetables that have been simmered.
bouillon (boo-yoh): A clear thin broth made typically by simmering beef or chicken in water with seasonings.

bouillabaise (boo-yah-beys): a soup or stew containing several kinds of fish and often shellfish, usually combined with olive oil, tomatoes, and saffron.

bisque: a thick cream soup, esp. of puréed shellfish or vegetables.

chowder: a thick soup or stew made of clams, fish, or vegetables, with potatoes, onions, and other ingredients and seasonings.

gumbo: a stew or thick soup, usually made with chicken or seafood, greens, and okra or sometimes filé as a thickener.

As you can see, soups come in many varieties, offering something for nearly every palate and diet. If you're feeling like having something a little different for your next dinner party, then try a good soup for an appetizer. Try to match your soup to the entree in order to give a little "preview" of what's to come. For instance, if you are serving a broiled salmon as an entree, then a good fish chowder might make an excellent appetizer for the meal.

Soups have something to offer nearly everyone, regardless of your tastes and preferences. Try a hearty, thicker soup if you are particularly hungry, or a lighter soup if you are not so hungry. If you're wanting to put a little variety into your diet, then soups are an excellent way to do so.
Allen is a life-long writer and reader who writes on a number of subjects including cooking, writing, and Internet marketing. Allen has several cooking related websites including sites about soups and stews, beef recipes, and pork.

Hearty Homemade Soups for Babies and Toddlers

Hearty homemade soups make great meals for babies and toddlers. These soups combine meat and vegetables into one easy meal, they are inexpensive to make, and they freeze well for later meals. My twin boys love this split pea soup recipe!

Beef Stew

1/3 c. flour
1 1/2 lb. stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 c. water
4 medium potatoes
3 medium carrots

Coat meat with flour and brown in oil. Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low all day or on high for 4-5 hours. Other vegetables like green beans or peas can also be added.


Split Pea Soup

3 c. split peas, rinsed
1 c. ham, cut into small cubes
1 medium carrot, cut into small cubes
7 c. water
3 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low all day or on high for 4-5 hours.

After soups cool, blend in blender or food processor, adding more water if necessary for desired consistency. Blend soups until completely smooth for younger babies. These soups are suitable for babies 6 months and up who are eating a variety of solid foods and also for toddlers.

To freeze soups for later, pour the cooled soup into ice cube trays and freeze until solid. Transfer frozen cubes to Ziploc freezer bags. Happy cooking!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.