Name your favorite soup!

[Bluetree]

With colder weather upon us, it's a great time to add soup as a meal. I love to make homemade soup, but there are those times when I have to get that can opener out. I'd love to hear some suggestions about great canned soups that don't taste like 'canned' soup, esp those under 300 calories.

My current favorite is Wolfgang Puck's Country Tomato with Basil.

I also like Healthy Choice's Clam Chowder. I scoop out the potato chunks, add a can on baby clams and add salt/pepper.

[Bikingmomof3]

Homemade Potato soup

[kelownagirl]

Well I was going to say Clam Chowder until I saw the words Wolfgang Puck, then I remembered my awesome recipe for his Creamy Mushroom Soup. To die for (or to "live" for as we insist on saying at my house....)

[Offthegrid]

I'm so boring; I go ga-ga for tomato soup. I generally don't even like cream-based soups, which is good for the waistline. And tomato's only 50 cents a can. More money for bike stuff. :D

[snapdragen]

Store bought - I'm a Chicken Noodle girl. For homemade I can do a pretty awesome Potato Leek Chowder.

[SadieKate]

Chinese Hot and Sour from the Noodle Express here in town. I can live on it.

[bcipam]

Although I seem to eat alot of it, I don't really liked prepared/can soup. Just too much salt.

I do love a good tomato soup (with a grilled cheese sandwich thank you), chicken and wild rice, butternut squash and apples (great for Thanksgiving) , split pea and all time favorite mushroom (not Campbell's cream of but a good home made mushroom soup - YUM).

I generally like any homemade soup.

[CyclChyk]

oohhh I love split pea (especially homemade) but the sodium is way up there. Actually, except for tomato, all the soups I likeare probably way over the 300cal mark....

[Eden]

My favorites are Progresso Lentil and Imagine's Butternut Squash

[DeniseGoldberg]

I don't use canned soup either. What I do is make a big pot of soup and then freeze it in individual serving size containers. With some yogurt or cottage cheese, I usually have lunch for many days to come.

My favorite soup has a red lentil base: 1 onion chopped
a little bit of oil for cooking the onion...
1 pound split red lentils (usually purchased at Whole Foods, also easily found at Wild Oats, never in the "regular" grocery store because I've never seen them there...)
7 to 8 cups water / vegetable stock
spices to taste - I usually use some cumin, dried chili peppers, garlic
1 pound tofu, cut into cubes
And then I throw in whatever vegetables that interest me that day. My choice of vegetables often includes carrots, edamame, corn, celery, sometimes potatos or sweet potatos. Oh, and I use a lot of vegetables. As in, I could easily add 2 to 3 cups of the corn & edamame...

Red lentils cook really fast, so this isn't an all-day cooking kind of soup.

--- Denise

[Veronica]

I make my own quick version of Chicken and Rice using canned low sodium chicken broth, you can throw in whatever veggies you fancy, rotissierie chicken and cooked rice.

I also have a pretty quick to put together recipe for Turkey Tortilla soup that substitute Rotissierie chicken into.

V.

[Velobambina]

My mom's Turkey Noodle soup, which she made from the last pickings off the holiday turkey. Ingredients included homemade gravy, carrots, celery, onions, some spices, salt, and egg noodles.

[EBD]

My favorite canned soup is Amy's Organic cream of tomato (not actually creamy). I don't even like tomatoes that much, but I like this soup, especially with some black pepper added, and some parmesan or pecorino romano on the side. It is fresh and tomato-y and not sweet. Amy's other soups are also good, especially lentil and black bean.

My favorite homemade soup is Avgolemono - Greek lemon chicken soup. It's tricky to make (incorporating beaten eggs into hot broth without curdling them), but absolutely warming and delicious. Here's the basic recipe:

Heat 6 cups chicken broth to boil, reduce to simmer.
Add 1 cup orzo and cook in the broth. (That may be too much orzo, I can't remember the proportions).
Separate two eggs and beat the whites to very soft peaks.
Beat in the juice of one lemon and the egg yolks (into the whites).
Temper the egg mixture by adding 2 cups of the hot broth while beating fast.
Take the soup off the burner and stir in the egg/lemon mixture. If you've tempered the eggs correctly they should make the soup thick and frothy, but not become solid.
Creamy and delicious! I often add shredded cooked chicken, too.

Only once did I accidentally leave the soup on the burner, and curdled the eggs. Gross, and very sad for me, as it was a chilly gray day and I had been thinking of this soup for my entire 45-minute commute home.

[Meaux]

My mom makes an amazing baked potato soup that is to die for. Italian wedding soup is also really good. There's a Greek food restaurant here in Houston that makes a glorious chicken and rice soup that has dill and lemon in it. Yum! Now I want soup!

[alpinerabbit]

Pumpkin. My favorite type is a high-starch one that is called orange dwarf here, don't know what it would be called in the states.

I usually add garlic and ginger, sometimes I turn it into something thai-like by adding coconut milk powder.

Another variant is decorating with a dollop of creme fraiche and pumpkin seed oil.

[margo49]

We usually do everything from scratch but there was this soup in the Friday paper and I just tried it tonight

1 onion sauteed in 1 tbsp olive oil for 5 min +
Add 2 tsp cumin and sautee 1 more min
before adding
1 can of tomatoes (8 oz = 400g) or 5 freshies which I did
1 can chickpeas (same size) rinsed and drained
good grind of black pepper (+/- 1/2 tsp )
cook 10 min before adding
1/3 can Egyptian broadbeans (fava)
juice of 1/2 lemon (or lemming if you prefer)
cook 2 min
then turn off heat
Add a big handful of chopped coriander (or parsley) and zest of the aforementioned lemon
Season (salt, tsp of sugar to straighten out the tomatoes)
Served with bread or pita

The funny thing is that the only cans in the house usually are occasional treats for the cat so when she heard the can-opening process she started to go wild . So I gave her some broad beans (fava) and she liked them!

[SouthernBelle]

In the health food section of my grocer there are soups that come in rectagular cartons, like soymilk. The brands Imagine and Pacific come to mind. I like the sweet potato and butternut squash soups. Plus since they are in the little cartons that can be resealed, you can pour out any size portion you want and refrigerate the rest.

Plus they are useful for sauces.

[winddance]

Here's my favorite soup recipe. It mostly comes out of cans, so it's very easy to make and tastes great on a cold evening!

Spinach Bean Soup
½ cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 T olive oil
2 cups water
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (14 ½) ounces reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 tsp Italian herbs
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
5 cups packed torn fresh spinach
1 can (16 ounces) white beans rinsed and drained
1 can (8 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1-1/2 cups cooked small tube or other small pasta
½ - 1 tsp hot pepper sauce

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the water, tomato sauce and paste, broth, Italian herbs, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the spinach, beans, cooked pasta and hot pepper sauce; heat through.

[Pedal Wench]

My winter bean soup:

I use the tubes of seasoning and beans in the kosher section of the store, made by Maneschiewitz (sp?), usually the split pea.

First, overnight, I soak a lb of lima beans. If I don't have time, I'll use frozen, so I don't have to soak.
In a HUGE pot, I put two tubes of the powdered soup, plus a few cans of chicken broth. I add one bag of pre-washed/cut kale. Then I add the lima beans, and sometimes some more splitpeas (they don't need to be presoaked). Then come a few bags of shredded cabbage (I try to get three in the pot). A bunch of freshly ground black pepper, and an onion if I have one around. I add water or broth (I use the reduced sodium kind) as it cooks down, and once there's room in the pot, I like to add mushrooms, because it gives the soup some texture when it's the only thing I'll have for dinner. If I have spinach lying around, I'll throw that in too. It sounds complicated, but because everything is precut/wash except for the onion, it comes together in just a few minutes, although it's best when it can cook for hours. It comes out like a very thick split-pea/lima bean soup that is wonderful on cold winter nights.

[mimitabby]

okay, i'm hungry.

Chicken soup:
boil water
throw in chicken (raw, either boned or sectioned, without skin)
and carrots
boil until tender.
add onion,
mustard greens, salt, pepper. cook until greens and onion are done.

serve with good bread.

[Eden]

ooooh chicken soup - this is my Italian grandma's recipe, but unlike a lot of Italian grandma's she was actually a pretty lousy cook (EXCEPT for this chicken soup - I loved my grandma, but serioulsy she used Ragu. I think that cooking for her 10 or 11 brothers and sisters from the time she was a pre-teen, after her mom died, probably burned her out early) so I don't know that its particularly Italian.

Chicken wings (I acutally prefer other cuts of chicken since wings are really hard to get the meat/bones separated, but I think she liked them becasuse they were cheap...)
2 or 3 tomatoes cut in quarters
4 or 5 stalks of celery cut in 2 inch pieces
1 onion cut in eighths or quarters depending on the size of the onion
cover with water and simmer all until the chicken is falling off of the bones, the tomatoes and onions have all but dissolved and the celery is nice and soft

cook a cup of pastina (little pearl pasta) separately, so it won't cloud the soup and add to the cooked soup

serve with pepper and some grated parmesan or romano cheese
this also works nice with left over turkey

[mimitabby]

ooooh chicken soup - this is my Italian grandma's recipe, but unlike a lot of Italian grandma's she was actually a pretty lousy cook (EXCEPT for this chicken soup - I loved my grandma, but serioulsy she used Ragu. I think that cooking for her 10 or 11 brothers and sisters from the time she was a pre-teen, after her mom died, probably burned her out early) so I don't know that its particularly Italian.

Chicken wings (I acutally prefer other cuts of chicken since wings are really hard to get the meat/bones separated, but I think she liked them becasuse they were cheap...)
2 or 3 tomatoes cut in quarters
4 or 5 stalks of celery cut in 2 inch pieces
1 onion cut in eighths or quarters depending on the size of the onion
cover with water and simmer all until the chicken is falling off of the bones, the tomatoes and onions have all but dissolved and the celery is nice and soft

cook a cup of pastina (little pearl pasta) separately, so it won't cloud the soup and add to the cooked soup

serve with pepper and some grated parmesan or romano cheese
this also works nice with left over turkey


it sure is an Italian Recipe! and it's related to mine. the only reason i don't put pasta in my soup is because I usually make it to last several days and the pasta grows and sucks up all the broth.
I didn't know you were Italian, Eden.

[Pedal Wench]

okay, i'm hungry.

Chicken soup:
boil water
throw in chicken (raw, either boned or sectioned, without skin)
and carrots
boil until tender.
add onion,
mustard greens, salt, pepper. cook until greens and onion are done.

serve with good bread.


Mustard greens? I might have to try that instead of kale in mine. Is it bitter? By the time the kale and cabbage cook down in mine, they're don't add much flavor, or texture, but oh-so-many vitamins! The mustard greens probably are just as nutritious.

[Eden]

it sure is an Italian Recipe! and it's related to mine. the only reason i don't put pasta in my soup is because I usually make it to last several days and the pasta grows and sucks up all the broth.
I didn't know you were Italian, Eden.

All the way on my Daddy's side - my maiden name was Battaglia. His grandparents were all immigrants- from near Napoli on my Grandma's side and Sicily on Grandpa's. Funny enough my Grandma's family actually lived out here in Oregon, near Tillamok, for a while when she was a kid- I seem to remember it even had something to do with a cheese factory. I didn't know that until recently. There might even still be some Tedesco relatives of mine down there for all I know - there are definitely some down in California, but its a really big family and I never got to know very many of my great aunts or uncles. My mom's family is classic American mutt - English, Irish, Scottish, German, Slovak and probably more.

[mimitabby]

Mustard greens? I might have to try that instead of kale in mine. Is it bitter? By the time the kale and cabbage cook down in mine, they're don't add much flavor, or texture, but oh-so-many vitamins! The mustard greens probably are just as nutritious.

mustard greens are more pungent than bitter!
to keep their flavor, don't overcook them!

Eden very cool paisana!
:)

[Deanna]

My favortie canned soup is Campbells (the fancy can Campbells) Italian Wedding Soup. Lately it's the only canned soup I buy.

[mimitabby]

My favortie canned soup is Campbells (the fancy can Campbells) Italian Wedding Soup. Lately it's the only canned soup I buy.

yeah, that is a good kind. Sometimes those get into my cupboard, DH buys it.

[7rider]

I really miss Rhode Island Clam Chowder.
All of the yumminess of chowder, but it's not cream-based. Clear broth.

I just had some butternut squash/carrot soup that a vegan friend of mine gave me the recipe for (my version wasn't vegan, as I used chicken broth instead of veggie broth (or water)). Nice and hearty and spicy...perfect for a cold winter day. If I can find the recipe in this disaster zone that serves as a kitchen, I'll post it.

I view canned soups in the same way as icecream....if you don't go for the "real version" - i.e., NOT low fat, low salt - what's the point?

[Veronica]

I agree with you except for the low salt. Canned soups are only salty because of the canning process.

V.

[seychelle]

Homemade lentil soup. Yum ! I also love leek & potato and butternut squash soups.

[mimitabby]

yes, i love lentil soup too.
I'm surprised to meet such a gang of soup lovers.
you guys don't like canned soup because of the salt, but gosh, when we are working hard on our bikes, we NEED that salt.

[Pedal Wench]

yes, i love lentil soup too.
I'm surprised to meet such a gang of soup lovers.
you guys don't like canned soup because of the salt, but gosh, when we are working hard on our bikes, we NEED that salt.

Progresso Lentil, with a huge handful of fresh spinach thrown in!

[mimitabby]

Progresso Lentil, with a huge handful of fresh spinach thrown in!

yup, it's very close to the same taste you get from cooking your own lentils!