The Easy Goodness of Soup

With the coming of summer there 's going to be a bounty of fresh veggies . What to do with so many of these?

Make soup. There's nothing as satisfying as a bowl of fresh soup, full of organic vegetables. Thhis summer's harvest will provide us with corn for chowder and tomatoes, onions and peppers for regular soups. You can add meat or seafood as well along with cream and different stocks. Fresh picked herb such as thyme, sage, chives and mint can also be added for flavor and color. The best part of making homemade soup is that you can make enough for two or three meals and then freeze it. Also leftover soup is good to heat up on those hot summer days when you don;t feel like cooking.Another plus is that it doesn't have all the sodium that store bought soups have.

Homemade soup is easy to whip up. Start off with a good stock (either homemade or a low sodium one) and vegetables. You can puree them first such as with tomatoes or broccoli or leave them chunky , such as with corn or pepper. Depending on whether you want to make a cream soup or not you can add milk or whole cream (this is usually good in making some chowders) and a sprinkling of dried or fresh herbs. The best day to make soups is usually on a Saturday or Sunday . This way you can have it not just for the weekend but for t he week ahead. Soup is easy o thaw out and heat up in a microwave. To make it a more substantial meal, add some fresh crusty rolls and a garden salad.

There's nothing like a fresh made soup filled with the bounty of summer. It's also a nice addition to any table. Freshly made vegetable soup or chowder is an easy way to have a hot, filling meal without any fuss.