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Vegetarian Soups Provide Economical, Healthy And Delicious Meals
The cost of food is becoming a concern for most Americans. Indeed, around the world, people are struggling to put nutritious, filling meals on the table for their families. Here, we'll take a look at one of the best menu ideas to fulfill that objective. Vegetarian soups are easy to make, packed with nutrition, economical and provide a hearty and satisfying meal. Serving soup with a hearty loaf of bread or biscuits, just once a week, can substantially help you stay within your food budget. There are so many types of soups and varieties of vegetable combinations, that your family will look forward to 'soup night'. Let's take a look at some basic vegetarian soup combinations.
If you're a strict vegan, and choose to use only vegetable broths, you can still achieve variety of flavor with different seasonings. For example, thyme, sage, rosemary, basil and parsleys go well with most vegetables. Cilantro adds a piquant accent that will jazz up almost any vegetable combination. You can make your own mix of seasonings, or use a single herb to bring out the flavor of a particular vegetable. Thyme adds an extra dimension of flavor to legumes and is good when a dose of garlic is added. Basil is a natural partner with tomatoes. If you use potatoes in your recipe, you've got a natural thickener in the starch.
Vegetarian soups afford you more of the nutrition contained in the veggies. When veggies are served as a side dish, many of the nutrients are lost in the water in which they're cooked. Soup leeches these nutrients right into your broth. Another way to enrich your vegetable soups is to save the water from cooked veggie side dishes in a container in your freezer. When soup day rolls around, add this water to your stockpot.
If you're not a strict vegan, you can gain variety in your broths with cream, chicken or beef based broths. Starting with a few tablespoons of butter an equal amount of flour and a whisk, you can make a quick roux. Add your broth base slowly, whisking all the time. Add your vegetables according to the amount of time needed to cook the particular veggie. Vegetables like zucchini require just a few minutes to cook, so add them shortly before serving. When using carrots and potatoes, add them right away to assure a tender result.
Vegetarian soups are most visually appealing with a good mix of color. Combine green, orange, red and yellow vegetables for a bright tasting and attractive dish. The color of a vegetable is often indicative of its major nutrients, so a variety of colors increases the nutritive value of your soup.
Although produce has become expensive, you'll be surprised at how little it takes to make a substantial, filling vegetarian soup. If you have a garden, this is not even a concern.
Best of all, soup hardly requires a recipe. Toss in what you like! Bon Appetit!
Summary
Vegetarian meals provide healthly low cost meals for the entire family. Soups naturally leech the vitamins and minerals from the vegetables right into the broth while cooking. Go for ingredients that add color to jazz up the dinner with a variety of red, green, and yellow vegetables.
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