You love to eat the salads in summer but during the chilly winter evenings, you crave for something … heartier. Other than a piping hot cup of coffee or cocoa, nothing takes off the chill than a bowl of piping hot soup. Soups are the ultimate comfort foods in winter which is hearty, nutritious and easy to make.
Patricia Sadri says, “Soups naturally warm you up from inside out. They are digested faster but the trick here is that the fiber present in the soups produces more heat in the body due to more energy required to digest them as compared to any other food. Also the warm liquid from the soup will always make you feel warm. Viruses last longer in low temperatures and therefore, keeping yourself warm with warm delights like soup will prove to be anti-viral warding away viral flu.”
Turn your winter’s warm with these easy to prepare soup recipes.
1. The traditional tomato soup
Ingredients:
5 tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 carrot, 1 small piece beet root, ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds, black pepper powder, salt to taste, 1 cube veg seasoning
Procedure:
- Add all the ingredients with ¼ cup of water and pressure cook for 10 -15 minutes.
- Cool to room temperatures and blend with a blender to form a smooth paste.
- Strain the mixture.
- Add 3 cups of water, salt, black pepper powder and a seasoning cube and boil for 10 minutes.
- Serve hot with toasted whole wheat bread croutons.
Tips:
- To make healthy whole wheat bread croutons toast whole wheat bread in a pop up toaster and cut into 1 cm x 1 cm squares.
Well Known Nutritionist, Patricia Sadri says, “Vegetables have ‘water soluble vitamins’ (vitamin B & C), which are lost while they are being washed (vitamin B) or while they are cut and exposed to open air (vitamin C). These vitamins are retained in soups and so increased amount of nutrient content is available and quality of your meal is improved”
2. Spinach soup also commonly known as ‘palak soup’
Ingredients:
10 spinach leaves, 1 big onion finely chopped, ½ tsp garlic finely chopped, small piece ginger, ½ small green chili, 2 tbsp milk
Procedure:
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the onions and garlic and sauté till the onions turn translucent.
- Add the spinach, ginger and green chili and salt and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 5 minutes
- When cool, blend with a blender to form a smooth paste.
- Strain and transfer into a pan. Add milk and black pepper powder and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Serve hot.
Patricia Sadri says, “This soup will fill your stomach and therefore replace your main course. So while you lose weight, you gain a whole lot of nutrients (vitamins and minerals), satiety, increased BMR (basal metabolic rate) which increases heat in the body to burn off those extra calories and which also make you warm inside. You may not need that sweater for a while.”
