Keep Warm This Winter With These 5 Cozy Soup Recipes

Unlike most other cooking methods, soups retain most of the essential nutrients — a win-win all the way.

When the temperature dips, nothing comforts more than a hot bowl of soup. No wonder even die-hard vegetable shirkers begin downing a warm cuppa come winter. After all who doesn’t need some TLC (tender love and care) when the weather starts to get nasty!

The Benefits Are Multifold

Besides the feel good factor, soups have a lot more going for them. They are easily the best way to incorporate a wide assortment of vegetables and fruits into our diet and boost the nutrition and antioxidant quotient (read more vitamins, minerals and enzymes) of our diet. Plus they are the easiest way tools they are quick to assemble and prepare.

A dieter's friend their volume fills us up without calorie creep, and they help hydrate the body (which is often a problem during the cold months).

And here is my favourite reason why I love them so much:

Unlike most other cooking methods which remove essential nutrients from the vegetables, soups actually retain most of the essential vitamins and minerals. So they are a win-win all the way.

That said the fact is that soups are good for us, but only as long as one knows how to cook them right. Trust me you can easily cook delicious (and healthy) soups with fresh ingredients at home (it doesn't take that much effort and time).

Here are 5 fun recipes for you to try.

Loaded Vegetable Soup

• Heat 1 tbsp oil

• Add one onion, a carrot, all sliced thinly, and fry for 10 mins

• Stir in 50 gm lentils (of your choice) and cook for 1 min more

• Pour in 1 litre veg stock

• Add 2 tbsp tomato purée, a pinch of thyme, one leek, 150 gm cauliflower, one zucchini (or any other two vegeta-bles of choice) and 3 cloves garlic

• Bring to the boil, then cover and leave to simmer for 15 mins

• Add half cabbage (or spinach) and 1 tbsp basil leaves

• Cook for 5 mins more until the veg is just tender

• Season with pepper

Butternut Squash Soup

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a large pan

• Add one onion and fry for 5 mins

• Add the 1 clove garlic and 100 gm squash, and cook for 5 mins more

• Pour in 1 litre vegetable stock (or water)

• Stir in the 1 tsp chopped basil, then cover and simmer for 20 mins until the squash is tender

• Blitz with a hand blender, allow to cool in the pan

• Meanwhile heat some oil in a small pan, then fry some fresh basil leaves till crisp

• To serve, ladle the soup into small bowls and top with basil leaves and a grinding of black pepper

Basic Tomato Soup

• Roughly chop 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 celery stick

• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add 2 bay leaves, and sauté till it soft

• Add 1 kg roughly cut tomatoes to it, add 1 tbsp tomato paste and stir again

• Add 1 litre of veg and let it cook to desired consistency

Broccoli Leeks Spinach Soup

• Heat 1 tbsp oil

• Add 1 chopped onion and (garlic cloves

• Add 1 cup chopped broccoli, 2-3 leeks and 3 cups water of vegetable broth

• Add salt and pepper

• Cook for 15 min, covered

• Then add some chopped spinach and cook for another 7-8 minutes

• Let it cool

• Churn in a mixer

• Chill and have with some freshly squeezed lemon

Dal Soup

• Take 2 tbsp of dal (any)

• Add 1 and a half cups of water and tadka of just chopped 1 tbsp onion, 1 green chilly, salt and lots of zeera (adding tomato is optional)

• Cook it and when it is ready just squeeze a bit of lemon on top... then sip the dal soup slowly

(Kavita Devgan is a nutritionist, weight management consultant, and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of The Don't Diet Plan: A no-nonsense guide to weight loss, Fix it with Food, Ultimate Grandmother Hacks, and The Immunity Diet and 500 Recipes: Simple Tricks for Stress Free Cooking.)