How to make country-style tomato soup and Sicilian lentil and endive soup

Soup and stew

Country-style tomato soup for 2 people

The secret to this menu is adding the right amount of salt, which requires some experimentation. The right amount of salt brings out the flavors of all the ingredients without overpowering the main taste. Once you master this, your tomato soup will be so delicious that customers will be asking for the recipe.

1/2 yellow onion, diced; 2 cloves of garlic, minced.

4 Roma tomatoes, chopped; 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon cumin, 1 cup water

1/2 cup short-grain rice

Alternative: 1 cup washed red beans, 1/4 teaspoon chopped red chili pepper

practice:

Sauté the onions over medium heat until they begin to brown. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Add the remaining ingredients (including the red bell pepper, if you use it), except for the rice. Simmer all of these until the tomatoes are soft. While sautéing the tomatoes, occasionally crush them with the back of a spatula until they become a sauce. Add the rice, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 25 minutes. If desired, add the optional beans after turning off the heat.

Simplified version: You can skip the timer and simmer the scallions and garlic with an 8-ounce can of crushed tomatoes over low heat. This way, the soup will be ready in just 3 minutes.

Tip: This soup can be kept in the refrigerator for more than a week, but it will thicken into a porridge-like consistency after the first day. If you want it to be more like a soup, add 1/4 cup of water when reheating.

Each serving contains: 142 calories, 4 grams of protein, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of sugar, 1 gram of total fat (7% of calories come from fat), 4 grams of fiber, and 292 milligrams of sodium.

Sicilian lentil and endive soup for 2 people

The natural flavor of this country-style soup comes from the light taste of boiled lettuce.

1/2 onion, diced; 2 celery stalks, diced.

1 baby carrot, diced; 3 Roma tomatoes, diced.

1 cup of green lentils 3 cups of low-sodium vegetable soup

1 red potato, diced; 1 cup chopped endive

2 cloves of garlic, minced; 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

2 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped, on toasted whole wheat bread

Alternatives: Spinach, kale, or mustard greens can be used instead of endive.

practice:

Sauté onions, celery, and carrots over medium heat until softened. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Add tomatoes, endive, and lentils. Bring the broth to a simmer again. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. After 15 minutes, quickly add potatoes, stir, and cover again. After 5 minutes, remove the broth from the heat. Immediately stir in cilantro and black pepper. Serve each serving on a slice of toasted whole-wheat bread. If endive is unavailable, substitute with an alternative leafy green, adding it as needed.

Simplified version: You don't need to stir-fry all the vegetables. You can put all the ingredients and vegetable broth directly into a pot and bring the soup to a boil. Add the green beans, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Each serving contains: 564 calories, 31 grams of protein, 106 grams of carbohydrates, 12 grams of sugar, 3 grams of total fat (4% of calories come from fat), 35 grams of fiber, and 378 milligrams of sodium.

Tuscan Harvest Soup for 4

The real ingredients for this soup are onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and tomatoes. While adding other ingredients is a good recipe overall, these are just suggestions. You can add whatever vegetables you have on hand to make it a different recipe each time.

1 onion, chopped; 1 large carrot, sliced.

2 celery stalks, sliced; 3 cloves of garlic, minced.

6-8 Roma tomatoes, chopped, 1/2 cup water

Or 1 15-ounce can of crushed roasted tomatoes and 1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 potato, diced

1 cup chopped cabbage, 1 cup washed and cooked red beans

1 zucchini, chopped, 1 cup cooked brown rice

Alternative: Shred fresh perilla leaves as a garnish.

practice:

Sauté the onions over medium heat until browned. Add the carrots, celery, and garlic, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt, black pepper, bay leaves, and thyme. Simmer the soup until the tomatoes become a sauce. Add the cabbage and simmer for another 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the soup from the heat and immediately stir in the red beans and cooked rice. Garnish with basil leaves if desired.

Simplified version: This recipe has a longer ingredient list, but it boils down to adding three different groups of vegetables to the pot at different times. Sauté the first group briefly, then simmer the others over low heat. If you want to simplify it further, you can add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, water, herbs, and spices all at once, then bring them to a simmer. Add cabbage, zucchini, and potatoes 5 minutes before the soup is fully cooked. If you use a 15-ounce can of crushed, roasted tomatoes, you'll have ready-made tomato sauce.

Core concept: Many Italian and French soups use 2 parts onion, 1 part celery, and 1 part carrot as the base, making the broth directly in the pot.

Each serving contains: 211 calories, 9 grams of protein, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of sugar, 1 gram of total fat (4% of calories come from fat), 9 grams of fiber, and 162 milligrams of sodium.