Dear Chef Kathleen,
 
Do you have any good soup recipes? I seem to make the same ones over and over. Thank you!

Phyllis


Dear Phyllis,

It's the perfect time of year to splurge on soup meals, especially if you're trying to eat right and stay healthy.

Soup and salad meals are an easy way to work several servings of all the right stuff into one meal—vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lentils and low-fat dairy. Add raspberries, blackberries, dried cherries or apricots, apples and pears to a tossed salad and you can easily work in a few servings of fruit at supper too.

Lentil soups are of the quickest to prepare, and they're quite substantial. The following recipe is one of my favorites.

Tip: The recipe calls for lime juice in two places. You will need 3/4 cup total.

Lentil Soup With Cilantro Sour Cream

To prepare: place 1/2 cup of low-sodium chicken stock in a large soup pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add 1 finely diced small onion, 1 finely diced carrot, 2 finely diced stalks of celery and cover.

Cook, stirring often, until vegetables have softened a little, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Add 2 cups dry lentils, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 5 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or water. Season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered until lentils have softened and are cooked through, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small nonreactive bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream or fat-free Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup of lime juice and 1/2 cup loosely packed, roughly chopped cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

When the lentils are cooked, add 1/4 cup fresh lime juice and 1 tablespoon grated or minced jalapeno. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. Swirl a dollop of the sour cream mixture into each bowl. Serve hot. Serves 4.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Whole grains can be challenging to work into your diet, but they're especially easy to work into soups such as Mushroom Barley. Besides keeping you feeling full longer, barley has been proven to help lower cholesterol.

Research conducted in Canada, the United States and Australia has shown that components in barley play an important role in lowering blood cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

As well, in a small Canadian study at the University of Alberta, noninsulin dependent diabetics (Type 2) had improved blood glucose levels as a result of including barley in their diet in place of wheat products.

It is believed that the soluble fiber and other components in barley are the key reasons for the positive effects.

Tip: Quaker Oats makes a quick cook barley, available near the regular barley, usually located near hot cereals in the supermarket.

The Quaker Oats barley can be used in place of the pearl barley the recipe calls for.

Adjust cooking times according to package directions.

To prepare Mushroom Barley soup: Pour 2 cups warm water over 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms and let stand until softened.

Meanwhile, heat a large soup pot over medium heat until hot.

Add 2 slices of thick cut bacon that's been cut crosswise into thin strips and cook until golden and starting to crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add a diced onion, a diced carrot, a diced celery stalk and a splash of water, cover, reduce heat to medium and cook until onion has completely softened, about 10 minutes.

Strain mushrooms, reserving 1 cup of their liquid.

Dice mushrooms and add to soup pot with reserved liquid.

Add 7 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Add 1 cup pearl barley, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until barley is tender, about 1 hour.

Add the juice of one lemon and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle into soup bowls and top each portion with a tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6.

kd@chefkathleen.com