Hearty Soup

Got Soup? Today temperature’s are climbing back into the twenties! Practically a heat wave! With bone-chilling winter temperatures in New England, nothing says ‘comfort and warmth’ as much as a steaming bowl of soup. Soups are inexpensive, easy to make, delicious and nutritious. Explore recipes or get creative and make your own. One of my favorite winter standbys is my ‘chock-o-block’ vegetable soup, made with 10 different vegetables, potatoes, and a variety of beans. You can mix and match vegetables and spices in soup to your liking.

Serve soup steaming hot. Mix in some fresh greens at the last-minute for added nutrition. Add a hunk of warm bread on the side for added comfort. Enjoy!

Nutritional Value of Soup. Soups are often full of a variety of nutrient-dense vegetables, legumes, other fiber-filled ingredients, and spices offering great flavors, aromas and health-promoting nutrients  in one bowl. *Avoid high salt intake. *If your doctor has advised a sodium restricted (low sodium) diet, avoid processed and canned soups that are often high in sodium. When eating out, ask about the salt content before ordering. Fresh is Best. Ask your local restaurant or deli to add low-salt soups to their menus. Home-made soup allows you full control over the amount of sodium. You can substitute salt with herbs and spices for great flavor!

Soup Recipes. Shop at one of Cape Ann’s bookstores or stop by the library for cookbooks with soup recipes. For a fun event, join the Manchester Public Library for the next Seasonal Cookbook Throwdown on Soups and Stews. Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. The Library has copies of two different soup cookbooks, “Soup Night” and “Soup Club,” available at the front desk. You can check one out, try a recipe, then come back and sign up to make that recipe for the throwdown. The library provides, cups, napkins and spoons for the event. Healthy soup recipes can also be found in magazines such as Cooking Light, Healthy Cooking, Vegetarian Times and the cookbook In Cod We Trust by Rockport’s Heather Atwood, and many more. Check out the redfish soup in the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Cookbook: Stories and Recipes and GMG’s own Sista Felicia’s Sicilian Cookbook for her recipe for minestrone soup.

Butternut Squash Soup. On a recent trip to Africa, we learned that ‘butternut squash soup’ is the unofficial national soup of South Africa. This recipe has healthy butternut squash, apples, onions, curry and nutmeg.

Eat Local. If you don’t have time to make your own soup, stop by one of these great restaurants on Cape Ann and purchase an inexpensive, nutritious meal for lunch or dinner. Soups at these restaurants are homemade and change daily, offering a wonderful variety of flavors and nutrients. Today (January 21st) the Willow Rest in Riverdale Gloucester is serving a Mushroom soup and a Tomato Curry Soup. Along with meat-based soups, the Common Crow offers organic, gluten-free and vegan choices. On the menu today is an Italian wedding soup with meatballs, which they say “sells out quickly!” They also have a veggie, miso noodle soup, a sweet potato, corn, kale soup, and a white bean veggie chili. Today at the Essen in Manchester-by-the-Sea they have a beef chili, a tomato basil soup, and a white bean soup. Though not on today’s menu, the Essen often serves a carrot-ginger soup that is ‘to die for.’ 

For a richer meal, you might try a New England seafood or clam chowder at one of Cape Ann’s many local seafood restaurants – Halibut Point, Seaport Grille, Latitude 43, or the Causeway in Gloucester and Periwinkle’s or CK Pearl in Essex. Or try the seafood stew made with a tomato saffron broth, mussels, haddock, shrimp and scallops at the Blue Lobster Grill in Rockport. And for the ultimate ‘comfort food,’ Hula Moon serves a grilled cheese sandwich to go with your chili, soup or chowder.

Nutritious and Delicious. Add a side salad to your soup or chowder to round out your nutritious meal. Bon appetite!  

Do you have a favorite soup recipe or go-to restaurant for soup and chowder on Cape Ann? Share your favorites with GMG.   ~ Karen

Karen Pischke B.S.N., R.N., C.C.R.N. Alumnus. Certified Hypnotherapist, Tobacco Treatment Specialist, Usui Reiki Teacher/Komyo Shihan. Owner/Founder of Dreamtime Wellness™ Promoting Optimal Wellness for Body, Mind & Spirit. A Registered Nurse for more than 30 years, I love learning about and sharing health information with family, friends, clients and my community. www.DreamtimeWellness.com. Find us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dreamtime-Wellness-/348619611849199

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