Soups can come in a variety of flavors and textures–hot or chilled, creamy or brothy, chunky or smooth, savory or sweet (gotta love a chilled strawberry soup), and so on. At this time of year, I’m all about the hot and savory. All other aspects are up for grabs.
One thing that I particularly like about soups in general is how adaptable they are to many dietary restrictions. For example, if you want something creamy but need it dairy free, you could use coconut milk. Maybe you can’t do coconut either. Try adding a couple bags of cauliflower rice to the soup and then using an immersion blender (a.k.a. stick blender) to purée it. Need another great option for adding some nice viscosity? Try using pumpkin purée. Want a soup that’s vegetarian or vegan? In a lot of cases, just swap chicken stock or broth for vegetable or mushroom broth.
Now, I’m not saying that you should mix every one of these things together and expect great things. However, I am definitely saying that soup recipes are prime candidates for making swaps to suit your particular dietary needs.
Soups . . . A Breakdown
One way to think about soup making is by breaking it down into:
- Liquid
- Feature Ingredient
- Supporting Flavorings or Aromatics
- Thickeners
Liquid
What is your base? Stock, broth, cream, milk, etc.
Feature Ingredient
What is the highlight of the soup or the main ingredient that you want to stand out? It could be a particular vegetable, meat (or other protein), or fruit.
Supporting Flavorings or Aromatics
What is going to give the soup some depth of flavor? While it’s great for the feature ingredient to shine, the soup will be better if it has multiple notes of flavor. I like to use things like bay leaves, worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, curry paste, smoked poblanos, and so on to accomplish this.
Thickeners
How thick do you want your soup? How can you accomplish your desired thickness? While dietary restrictions may require some “out of the box” thinking in this category, whatever you use will be repeatable in future applications.
Some examples:
No Dietary Restrictions = Flour and butter for a roux
Pretty much any Dietary Restrictions = Xanthan Gum
Dairy Free, Low Carb = Canned Coconut Milk
Coconut Free, Low Carb = Heavy Cream
Low Carb, Dairy Free, Coconut Free, Nut Free, Vegan = Puréed Cauliflower Rice, Pumpkin Purée
By this time, I suspect you get my point that soups are wonderfully versatile. I strongly encourage you to try something new and make one of these Cozy Soups to Keep You Warm this week!
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