Delicious homemade soups... full of good stuff too!

“Soup is a good reason to love winter – it’s comforting, warming, nutritious and delicious.”

Every country across the globe has its own traditional soup that forms a staple part of the diet. Peanut soup in Africa, Polish Borscht, Hungarian Goulash, New England Clam Chowder, Scotch Broth, French onion soup, Italian Minestrone, Miso soup from Japan and even Birds Nest Soup, a rare delicacy from China.

In fact, historians believe that soup was around as early as 20,000BC. In 18th century Paris, broth, bouillon and consommé were served at the first public ‘restoratifs’ from where the word restaurant is derived.

There is a soup for every occasion, thick broths can be a real comfort blanket on a cold winter's day, or a chilled cooler like gazpacho on a hot summer's night.

Soup is often associated with being cared for, and as a child growing up, my earliest memories are of the delicious smells of soup slowly simmering away on my grandmother’s stove, and when anyone was ill, it was soup that came to the rescue. The magical mix of stock with fine noodles and tiny chopped vegetables was served up, always made you feel better, and to this day lovingly called ‘not well soup’.

With Covid and lockdowns keeping us at home and as we head into winter, there is just something supremely comforting about a big bowl of hot soup on a cold day. Our brains evidently connect physical warmth with social warmth, so this could be the hug we all need... and if you haven’t tried before, the perfect time to give soup making a go!

Credit Abel & Cole

They are full of health benefits too!

When it comes to health benefits, soups really do come out tops, for example, potato soup is high in potassium and minerals, whilst even the basic tomato, soup has many essential minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Whatever soup you choose, most research is in agreement that making soup from scratch comes with significant health benefits, largely because it offers the potential for eating a larger amount of vegetables and grains than in your normal day to day diet.

When soup is included into a meal, it has shown that people tend to consume fewer calories overall. A hearty soup of root vegetables for example can be very filling, but low in calories, so it can play an important part of maintaining a healthy weight.

Plus; even those with very few culinary skills will find them easy and incredibly adaptable as you use left overs or any mix of vegetables that you have in your fridge... which can then be frozen. It is just worth bearing in mind though, that as you reach for a supermarket version as the easy option, restaurant and supermarket soups can be high in hidden sodium and fats.

When it comes to health benefits, most research agrees that whatever soup you choose, making soup from scratch comes with significant health benefits.

Recently, I came across the Abel and Cole recipe pages on their website... what a find, the soups section has every possible type of soup you can imagine, from fine consommés to hearty broths, Indian Lakse to Goulash soup. An easy to use site, with clear instructions and there are soups to make in as little time as 20 minutes… my kind of cooking! Good Housekeeping recipes and easy to follow videos are a must and another real find... why not check out all the seasonal recipes.

It was a hard call, but here are Walk the Walk favourites…

Just click the links below for the ingredients and recipes to make these delicious soups... yum!

• A classic Winter Vegetable Minestrone, the ultimate comfort food
• Thai curry squash and coconut for that touch of eastern spiciness
• Green goddess soup which takes just 20 minutes to make and is delicious!
• Fisherman’s Laksa, a meal in a bowl!
• Spiced pumpkin soup... now is the time to use up the pumpkins and squash!
• Pumpkin and chestnut soup with chestnut and chive butter... a warming festive soup that's cooked in the oven!

 “Soup is a good reason to love winter" says Jassy Davis the recipe writer at Abel and Cole – "it’s comforting, warming, nutritious and delicious. Try sweating a mix of root veg with some herbs and spices till tender, then add hot stock, simmer for a few minutes and blitz (or leave it chunky).

Or You can gently roast a few handfuls of onions, carrots, celery and any veg you like in oil or butter till just tender, then add stock or water, simmer and blitz and there you have it!

Soup is cheap, delicious, nutritious and really easy to make, it is the original – and best – fast food.”

We all need that warm comforting hug right now… so get the soup pot on… now how easy is it to make homemade bread!

Nina Barough - November 2020