A beginner's guide to making and choosing nutritional soup

Nourishing, comforting and inexpensive, soup is a staple food worldwide. Broth-based soups may even facilitate weight loss. In one study, the more soup people ate, the fewer calories they took in overall and the more weight they lost. One likely reason is that soup is high in volume, so it helps you feel full on fewer calories.

Even a novice cook can make a delicious soup with a few basic ingredients: diced carrots, potatoes and other vegetables simmered in a broth with herbs.

• Leftover meat or seafood can be added for more flavour and nutrition.
• Cooks who have the inclination can simmer leftover bones with vegetables to make a soup stock; reduced-sodium canned broths are also acceptable.
• Bouillon cubes can be used, but they are high in monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium and other additives; always taste the soup before adding salt or seasonings.

• Although some vitamins may be lost during the slow cooking of vegetables, soups made with fresh ingredients still provide an excellent variety of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and protein.
• Vitamin loss can be minimized by adding the vegetables toward the end of the cooking process, bringing the soup to a boil, and cooking only until the vegetables are barely tender.
• Making your own soup allows you to control the salt content, an important consideration for people with high blood pressure or those who are on a sodium-restricted diet. Use herbs and natural vegetable flavours to replace salt.
• Chilling the stock forces any fat to congeal on the surface and makes it easy to remove for fat-free soups. Another way to remove the fat is by pouring the stock through a defatting cup.
• Cream soups and New England-style chowders contain higher amounts of saturated fat, but this can be reduced without losing flavour or texture by substituting evaporated skim milk for cream and whole milk. "Cream" soups can also be made with pureed cooked potatoes and milk.

Canned and instant soups have varied quality and nutritional value.

• Choose soups low in fat and sodium.
• Although canned soups are not as nutritious as homemade, they are better than instant soups, which are so highly processed that some experts have described them as little more than a mix of MSG, artificial flavours, sodium, dyes and additives.

Soups fall into one of six types. Cooking methods and ingredients frequently overlap.

1. Chowders, such as bouillabaisse, combine coarsely chopped vegetables and fish, shellfish or meat with stock for a thick, stewlike consistency.
2. Clear broths, such as consommé or bouillon, are strained concentrated stocks made from a mixture of aromatic vegetables, either cooked in water or beef or chicken broth. Noodles, vegetables and diced meat may be added to the strained broth. Some broths are thickened with a beaten egg just before serving. When a concentrated beef or chicken consommé is chilled, its natural aspic forms a solid jelly, which is a digestible and nutritious food for convalescents.
3. Cold soups, such as the Spanish gazpacho and Scandinavian-style fruit soups, are always served chilled. Others, such as the leek-and-potato vichyssoise, can also be served hot.
4. Cream soups, based on vegetables, meat or seafood, are often thickened either with the same roux that is used for sauces or with cream. Try using evaporated skim milk or double-strength reconstituted skim milk.
5. Vegetable purees (potage) are smooth and made from vegetables simmered in stock or other liquid, then blended or sieved.
6. Vegetable soups, including minestrone, are made with chopped vegetables that are boiled quickly in water or stock. They are thickened with rice or pasta.

Whether you're making or buying it, soup is a nutritious and filling meal. Keep this guide in mind and make healthy choices to get the most out of your soup.