Heart-warming Soups: Health in A Bowl

Monsoon -Winter – Summers or any season can be a is the perfect time to enjoy soups. You get a wonderful variety of vegetables, and soups are the perfect, heart-warming bowls of goodness on a cold wintry evening or a perfect Monsoon evening. Soups serve as a healthy accompaniment to any meal, or they can even be had as a complete meal. They are easy to make and are open to experimentation, apart from being super healthy and tasty.

The problem most people face when making soup is variety. Apart from a few regular flavors like tomato, chicken, or sweet corn soup, most people are at a loss when it comes to variety. Here are a few simple soup recipes of Heart-warming Soups: Health in A Bowl, made with minimal ingredients without compromising on taste and flavor.

Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tsp Oil
1 Medium-sized Cauliflower
1 Big Onion
4-5 Garlic cloves
3/4th cup Milk (or as required)
Sliced almonds for garnish

Method

Chop the cauliflower into florets. Wash well and keep aside.
Add a teaspoon of oil to a pressure cooker. (You can use any oil as per your preference- olive oil, refined oil, butter, etc.)
Crush the garlic cloves and sauté in the oil. Do not brown.
Add roughly chopped onion. Saute.
Add the cauliflower florets and roast.
Add half a glass of water.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Close the pressure cooker and let cook for 3 whistles.
Once done, let it cool.
Strain, and reserve the water for later.
Grind the cauliflower mix in a grinder and pour into the pressure cooker again. Add the reserved water to this. Stir well.
Add some milk, depending upon how thick you like your soup.
Adjust salt and pepper as per taste.
Serve hot in soup bowls and garnish with almond slivers.

Note: You can substitute cauliflower with broccoli. Serve the soup with a sprinkling of cheese, and substitute almonds with walnuts. You can also put tiny broccoli florets or grate some raw broccoli into your soup bowl.

Carrot and Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

8 Cloves Garlic
1 Big Onion
2 Medium sized Carrots
750gm Orange Pumpkin
1 Tsp Oregano
½ tsp Thyme (optional)
Salt & pepper as per taste

Method:

Chop the pumpkin into big chunks and toss with olive oil. You do not need to remove the peel right now.
Heat your oven and roast the pumpkin. (This is done to enhance the flavor of the pumpkin as well as to make it easier to remove from the peel.)
Add a teaspoon of oil or butter to a pressure cooker. Once heated, sauté four crushed cloves of garlic.
Add the roughly chopped onion and sauté.
Add chunks of carrots and sauté.
Scoop the pumpkin from the peel and saute with the other vegetables.
Add 3/4th cup water to this.
Add salt and pepper and close the pressure cooker.
Switch off the gas after 3 whistles and let it cool.
In the meanwhile, finely slice the remaining garlic cloves and fry them in very little oil (1 tablespoon should be enough). Brown them lightly, and be careful not to burn them. Do not strain the garlic.
Once cool, grind in a mixer.
Pour this puree back into the cooker. Add some milk and water as per your desired consistency and let it cook.
Add Oregano, thyme, and salt and pepper as per taste.
Once done, serve piping hot in soup bowls, and garnish with the fried garlic.

Note: You can also roast a red bell pepper with the pumpkin and then cook with the other ingredients. This adds a very vibrant color to the soup and makes it richer in vitamins.

Carrot & Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

2″ Chunk of Ginger (or more, depending on your taste)
5-6 Carrots
1 Onion
Oregano
Salt & Pepper
Pumpkin seeds (For garnish, optional)

Method:

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a wok.
Add crushed or chopped ginger to this and sauté.
Add chopped onion and sauté.
Add chopped carrots and roast.
Add a cup of water and let it boil.
Cover and cook till the carrots are soft.
Once done, let it cool and then grind in the mixer.
Pour in a wok and add more water if you need to, depending upon the consistency you require.
Add Oregano and adjust the salt and pepper.
Serve piping hot in a bowl and garnish with pumpkin seeds.

Turnip & Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

750gms Turnips
2 Med Onions, roughly chopped
4-5 Cloves Garlic, crushed
½ Kg Spinach
Dried Oregano (as per taste)
Rosemary (Optional, as per taste)
1 Tsp Oil (refined or olive)
1 Tsp Butter or olive oil
Salt & Pepper (As per taste)

Method:

Peel and roughly chop the turnips and keep them aside.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pressure cooker and add the crushed garlic to it. Saute.
Add the chopped onion and sauté.
Add the chopped turnips and roast.
Add a cup of water and some salt and pepper, as well as the rosemary.
Close the pressure cooker and cook for three whistles.
In the meanwhile, wash and roughly tear the spinach.
Heat some butter or olive oil in a wok and cook the spinach till it wilts. Keep aside.
Once the mixture in the pressure cooker has cooled, grind it in a grinder.
Transfer the contents back to the cooker and adjust the consistency with water, as per your liking.
Adjust the salt and pepper and add the Oregano.
Serve piping hot in soup bowls and top with the wilted spinach.

Note: You can also add some burnt garlic on top for more texture.

Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

1 small cup Red Lentils (lal massar), washed and drained
6 Cabbage leaves, washed and roughly torn
3-4 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 Tsp Oil
3 Tbsp Rice, washed and soaked
Few Coriander leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper, as per taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and sauté the garlic in it.
Add the cabbage leaves and the lentils.
Add a cup of water and salt and pepper.
Pressure cook for three whistles.
In the meanwhile, cook the rice separately, as you normally do.
Once cool, grind the contents of the pressure cooker in a mixer.
Pour into the pressure cooker and adjust the consistency as per your taste. Also, add more salt & pepper as required.
Add some of the cooked rice to each soup bowl and pour the soup on top.
Add a few drops of lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.

Lemon Coriander Soup

Ingredients:

1 Heaped Tsp Garlic, crushed
1 Big onion, finely chopped
1 Tsp Ginger, crushed
1 Tsp oil
1 cup Cabbage, finely chopped
1 Cup coriander with stalks, finely chopped
½ Cup French beans, finely chopped
½ cup Carrots, finely chopped
¾ Cup Sweet corn, boiled (You can use frozen corn too)
Juice of 1 lemon, or more, as per taste
Salt & pepper, as per taste
1 Tbsp Cornflour (Optional)

Method:

Saute the ginger and garlic in the oil in a wok.
Add the onion and sauté till translucent.
Add half the coriander and mix well.
Add all the other vegetables and stir well.
Add enough water to just cover the vegetables. Cover and let it cook. Keep checking in between to see if the vegetables are done.
If you prefer a slightly thicker version of this soup, add the cornflour to half a cup of water and mix well.
Pour this mixture into the wok and keep stirring.
Add salt and pepper as per taste and top with the remaining coriander leaves.
Pour the soup into bowls and add lemon juice as per taste.

Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

1 Big bunch of spinach, washed and roughly torn
2 Med Sized Onions, roughly chopped
4-5 Cloves Garlic, crushed
5-6 Cloves Garlic, finely sliced
1 Tsp Olive oil
½ Cup Milk (Maybe more, depending on the consistency you like)
Salt & pepper to taste
2-3 Tbsp Cheese, grated

Method:

Add the garlic, onion, and spinach to a pressure cooker.
Add half a cup of water and salt and pepper as per taste.
Close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook for three whistles.
In the meanwhile, lightly brown the sliced garlic in the olive oil. You do not need to strain this when done. We will use the garlic with the oil.
Once the contents of the pressure cooker have cooled, grind in a mixer.
Transfer the contents back to the pressure cooker and cook with some milk.
If you want a thinner consistency, you can add more milk or water, as per your preference. Milk adds a slightly creamier and richer texture to the soup.
Adjust salt and pepper as per your taste.
Add some grated cheese to the soup bowls. Pour the hot soup into the bowls and top with the garlic oil.

We have given you seven soups for the entire week. Most of these are very easy to make and barely take any time. The method for most of these is very similar, and they are super healthy and absolutely yum. Serve your soups with a chunk of bread or some breadsticks and a blob of butter. Stay warm this winter with your bowl of deliciousness.

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