Baby it’s cold outside…

Let’s make soup.

I love the winter. I love soup and one pot meals. There are many ready-made soups out there in the world. There are even “healthier” pre made soups to choose from. If you are really in a pinch for time you could absolutely find one that works for you. If you do have the time, and I am only taking about 30 minutes, you could make the most scrumptious soups from scratch. I think your time in the kitchen is important. I love to cook but I don’t want to spend hours and hours in my kitchen slaving away. I want to create real food, really good food and in the most efficient way possible.

Here are some things we need to think about for making soup:

Are we making our stock from scratch or are we buying it pre made. If you choose to buy your stock pre made there are many great choices for organic and free range chicken.

I found this stock at Kroger for $1.99 in the health food section. It is rich and creamy and organic too!

Today I used this brand. Over the last month I have made my stock many times. So delicious and full of flavor. I will post my recipe for that in a few days.

Next thing to tackle in your soup is deciding what you want as your main ingredients. Are you making a vegetable soup, a puree soup, or are you making a bean soup? There are a million and one ideas here, insert your own.

Today I decided to go with a vegetable soup with coconut milk and mini organic ground turkey meatballs. It was a hit. My kids love it, granted my kids love veggies, but any kid would love this soup. The soup was brimming with veggies and a savory stock. For the grain eaters in my family I added some Japanese Soba noodles(traditionally made with all buckwheat) mine had a buckwheat and wheat mixture.

Here are the ingredients I used.

1/4 yellow onion

4 garlic cloves

2 inch chunk of fresh ginger

1 large carrot

2 large handfuls of green beans cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 orange bell pepper

2 stalks of celery

1 box of organic free range chicken stock

4 cups of water

1/2 can coconut milk

salt

pepper

roughly 2 tsp of curry powder

1 tsp of coriander seed(crush in your hand over soup pot)

2 tsp ground ginger

handful of fresh cilantro

1 pound of organic ground turkey

Here is how it all went down. By the way I also use this as an opportunity to spend time with my youngest firecracker.He pulls his stool up and gets to work. He loves to cut the green beans and the carrots. His most favorite is to make the little meatballs. Kids love this stuff and if you don’t mind the mess then get your kids in the kitchen with you. It’s a great way to bond, plus you get the added bonus of teaching them lessons that can use forever. I love the fact that my kids love to cook. I smile knowing that when my sons grow up they can cook amazing meals for their families. Everybody loves a man who can cook.

I added a tbsp of organic extra virgin olive oil to the pot. Once the oil was ready I added in my chopped ginger, garlic and onion. I add a drop of salt to extract the moisture from the veggies. Once they soften I add my water and chicken stock. I brought that up to a boil. In the meantime I cut the carrots, bell pepper, celery, green beans, and cilantro. I added everything except the cilantro at this point. Then I got busy make those yummy little meatballs. Super simple. Add your meat in a bowl. For time sake I used ground ginger here instead of fresh. I then add cilantro and a dash of salt and pepper. Make your meatballs really small and drop them into your boiling water. They cook fast, really fast. I then added my half a can of coconut milk, a dash of salt and pepper, ground curry and my coriander seeds. If you are adding noodles then get a small pot of water and bring it to a boil on the side. If using soba noodles they cook really fast, 3-4 minutes in a rapid boil.

Now it’s time to plate.

If using noodles then place them in the bowl first. Then fill up your ladle with as much veggies and meatballs as you like. Then pour on that golden goodness. Garnish with fresh cilantro and enjoy.

There is so much goodness in this soup. The healing properties of the chicken broth. Chicken broth, especially made with the bones, is rich in minerals, soothing and really easy to digest. The antimicrobial properties of your ginger and garlic. The carotene in the pepper and carrot. The fiber in your green beans. Oh my, oh my.

If you want to make it even healthier then try this. After your place your soup in the bowl add some fresh greens like kale or spinach right on top. Turnip greens are also full of vitamins and nutrients and really cheap right now. They tend to be more bitter than kale or collards, but if you like that then go for it. If you want to get some raw veggies in your diet then here you go. Yes, the soup is cooked, but the veggies won’t get to the temperature that would cook them and break them down. By the way, it tastes great and adds great texture to your meal.

Now you know how good this soup is for you, but the best part is that….

It’s really yummy too!

Here is a great article about why chicken broth is so good for you. Check it out here!