Good Housekeeping - Good Housekeeping: Soups: 70+ Nourishing Recipes

Is there anything more welcoming than the aroma of a simmering soup? A staple of American kitchens, a hearty bowl of heart-warming soup can be just whats needed on a busy day. Easy to compose with pantry staples and fresh ingredients alike, many kitchen classics require few ingredients. Simply gather the essential ingredients needed to meet your familys tastes and you can create an easy yet versatile meal with a pot of soup.

Soups are great to have on hand in many situations. Whether its a chilly day or a hectic night for your family, a bowl of tasty soup chock-full of vegetables can constitute a balanced meal; plus soup is usually low-calorie and low-fat. Be prepared by simmering a soup on the stove top throughout the day. Then, when you are ready or a family member arrives home, a made-ahead meal, that tastes better reheated, will be ready to enjoy.

While soups are a perfect choice for family fare, dont forget to include them on the menu while entertaining. The perfect dish to accompany any gathering, soup is a no-fuss dish that everyone will enjoy. Serve a bowl of creamy vegetable soup at your next dinner party or put up a pot of luscious gazpacho at your next tailgate or backyard barbecue.

In the Good Housekeeping kitchens, we always say that you can tell the best recipes by the number of splashes on the page. We have selected our very favorite recipes to fill the pages of Good Housekeeping Soups. We hope you take this cookbook into your kitchen, use it to create wonderful memories for your family and friends, and leave splatters on every page.

SUSAN WESTMORELAND

Food Director, Good Housekeeping

Easy to make and full of flavor, soups are an American tradition that has survived through the centuries. These one-pot meals can adapt to the needs and tastes of the time, whatever they may be. In large cast-iron pots over open fires, colonists cooked whatever seafood or game they could find with any available vegetables and flavorings to provide the energy needed to survive in an unfamiliar world. A few centuries later, these early combinations have become regional classics across the country.

Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century immigrants brought European, Asian, and South American ingredients and recipes to our repertoire of slow-simmered sustenance. Twentieth-century conveniences such as the refrigerator, freezer, slow cooker, pressure cooker, and microwave have made a wider selection of ingredients available throughout the year and offer easier or faster methods of soup preparation. Twenty-first-century innovation has led to the creation of soup combinations that are in tune with the new millennium yet are as enticing and comforting as the originals that inspired them.

Good Housekeeping Soups brings you the best of all these possibilities: New World classics, international favorites, and the latest from todays most stylish tables. So get into the kitchen, pull out your biggest pot and a long-handled spoon, select some ingredients from your pantry and refrigerator, and start cooking.

When you get down to it, soups can be made from an infinite pantry of ingredients and can provide a satisfying meal with only one pot to wash. Making soups is just about the easiest thing you can do in the kitchen. It requires very little equipment: Youll need a large, heavy stockpot, saucepan, or Dutch oven with a lid; a long-handled spoon; pot holders; and a cutting board and sharp knife to prepare the ingredients. Youll probably find that everything you need is already in your pantry or refrigerator. Preparing soups doesnt require any fancy cooking techniques: Just combine the required ingredients, simmer them for the prescribed time, and dont let them burn.

Soups are loosely defined as any kind of meat, fish, or vegetables cooked and served in a generous amount of liquid. Centuries ago people ate soups by sopping them up with bread. This way of eating soup supposedly contributes to the dishs name. Soups can be filled with chunky ingredients as are chowders or gumbos; pureed to the thick, satiny smoothness of a bisque; or completely clear like bouillon or consomm. And as for ingredients, the childrens story Stone Soup reminds us that there is always something in the cupboard or refrigerator that can be used to make a delicious soup. Depending on their heartiness, they can be served as a first course or an entre for lunch or dinner. While soups are usually served hot, there are some cool classics such as vichyssoise and gazpacho that cant be overlooked. Fruit soups are a refreshing exception to the definition. They are usually not cooked at all, provide their own flavorful liquid, and are as likely to appear on a dessert or starter menu.

Although making soups is easy, as we tested these recipes in the Good Housekeeping kitchens we discovered some ways to make the experience faster, easier, more economical, and always satisfying. Here are our thoughts.