Food For Thought: It’s A 'Souper Good' Day

By Sandy McCall

You can’t go wrong with soup n’ biscuits for fall.

Soup can be easy to prepare and often offers the opportunity to use up leftovers, or meat and veggies you may already have. Soup also offers another great way to eat clean with less effort. You can simmer your soup on the stove, or add the use of a crockpot or an InstaPot. I love choices. If I am going to be home, I love to have a pot of soup simmering on the stove. It smells great while cooking.

When there’s a day I will be away, there is nothing easier than getting a soup started in a crockpot and coming home to a nutritious bowl of soup. Freezing soup in individual serving containers is a good way to have a quick lunch or dinner later on.

Here are two easy stovetop soup recipes: Chicken Egg-Drop Soup and Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup. Chicken Egg-Drop Soup works easiest if you have leftover cooked chicken.

Yesterday I made easy roasted chicken with herbs and garlic so now I have leftover cooked chicken to use for this recipe. You can also add fresh veggies to this recipe if you like. Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup is another quick and easy soup. It’s very nutritious, as we all know the value of eating fresh garlic.

I added a balsamic drizzle and steamed snap peas to complete this soup but it is also good without the snap peas.

Chicken Egg-Drop Soup

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (cornstarch will work instead)

1 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce will work instead)

2 eggs, whisked

Garnishes: sesame oil, chopped scallions, smoked paprika.

Mix arrowroot powder into the cool broth and add to a saucepan. Add the chicken pieces and the tamari. Whisk eggs in a bowl. Bring broth to a boil and slowly drizzle whisked eggs into broth. Soup is ready.

Garnish each bowl with chopped scallions, a pinch of smoked paprika and a small drizzle of sesame oil. Serve with a smile because it tastes so good and was so easy!

Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup with Balsamic Drizzle

Makes about 1 Quart

Ingredients

3 large garlic bulbs

1 teaspoon olive or avocado oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 teaspoon butter (or oil)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (cornstarch will work instead)

1 14-oz can of coconut milk/cream or dairy milk

Preheat oven to 375°

Cut the tops off of garlic bulbs and drizzle with oil. Add a pinch of salt to the top of each bulb. Wrap the garlic bulbs loosely in a parchment paper package by folding the top and ends over and under.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until garlic is tender. Cool.

Squeeze the garlic pulp into a small bowl and use a fork to mash it into very small pieces. Set aside.

Heat a saucepan and add oil or butter. Sauté the chopped onion until tender. Whisk arrowroot into the room temperature or cold broth. Stir broth into the cooked onions. Add mashed garlic and coconut milk/cream and stir. Add salt and pepper as desired. Simmer and stir until thickened and hot.

Balsamic Drizzle

Pour 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar into a small skillet. Simmer until it starts to bubble and is reduced a bit. Set aside to cool slightly. Drizzle over soup. You can also serve with a few steamed and opened snap peas if desired.

Almond-Parm Biscuits

I often make these easy biscuits to serve along with my soup. Makes 6 biscuits.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup almond flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 cup plain yogurt

3 tablespoons butter, cold

1 egg

In food processor, mix all dry ingredients and grated cheese, add cold butter in small pieces and process until butter is in smaller pieces. Add the egg and yogurt and process. Don't over mix.

If you don't have a food processor, mix dry ingredients together, then add butter and use pastry cutter to cut in butter. Whisk yogurt, egg and cheese together, then stir into dry ingredients. Don't over mix.

Spoon onto parchment paper with an ice cream scoop and bake for about 20 minutes.

Optional Glaze & Topping—For golden tops, beat one egg yolk with one tablespoon of coconut milk. Brush on top of biscuits before baking. Sprinkle with hemp hearts.