Add a Soup Course for Your Budget and Your Health

Did you ever sit down to a main meal with a group with a voracious appetite? I have and I can tell you that keeping those appetites satisfied can yield a pretty hefty price tag at the supermarket. Not only is it expensive, but if they are famished, they will probably tend to eat larger amounts of protein and carbohydrates, a very unhealthy practice.

What is a home cook to do to save their diners from unhealthy habits and themselves from gastronomic bankruptcy? Implement a soup course! In my travels I have found that many cultures have a soup course installed as part of their regular meal experience. This is not a coincidence, but something that makes sense as it is beneficial in many ways. Soup is a great way to control hunger as the liquid fills the belly and then signals the brain that it is satiated, curbing the hunger monster within before the start of the main course. Once the main course has commenced, there isn't the sense of urgency of raw hunger and therefore more sensible decisions about what to eat and how much can be made. This saves not only your diners' health, but your wallet as well as soup is often inexpensive, especially if home made. A vegetable soup course is also an easy way to increase the amount of vegetables in the diet.

Plan your soup course in accordance with your meals when meal planning. I like to make sure that heavier meals are preceded by lighter, lower-calorie broths and lighter meals are preceded by creamy, heavier soups.

Soups can be hot or cold and made from almost anything you have on hand and frankly, the simpler the better. You can use your own homemade stocks or bullion and can utilize leftovers such as chicken, meat and vegetables. Shorten your time in the kitchen by cooking the chicken for the main course in water, then use this broth for your soup course. To make broths heartier without becoming heavy, add a small handful of rice or pasta, making sure to keep the ratio of grain to broth low. Cream soups can be made without adding dairy simply by blending the ingredients after cooking.

Once you begin adding a soup course to your meal plan, you will find that you have happier, healthier, more satiated diners and a grocery budget that leaves you smiling.

A recipe to get you started

I spent six weeks living in a very poor town in Peru last summer while working on an archaeological dig. I learned just how important a soup course can be. In this town even the restaurants had trouble feeding their diners due to very tight budgets. The soup course was always something very simple, yet delicious. It was here that I had this soup that has become one of my family's favorites.

Squash soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 C zucchini or yellow squash, diced, skin on
½ small onion, diced
4 C stock or water and bullion
½ tsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a soup pot sauté squash and onions in olive oil until onions are translucent.
2. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add stock or broth.
4. Bring to boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.
5. Let cook until the squash begins to fall apart.
6. Serve.