From the Publisher
If one food conjures up comfort, it is homemade soup. A dose of serenity sipped from a spoon, soup is as comforting as home itself.
Homemade soup also comes close to being the perfect meal: easy to make, naturally low in fat, rich with nutrients, and convenient and economical, it is a superfood from most every perspective. That's the heart and soul of Enlightened Soups.
In addition, recent studies indicate that eating a healthful soup produces greater feelings of satisfaction and satiety at meals than a variety of other types of food. Researchers aren't sure why, but speculate that it may have to do with soup's high water content, as well as the piping hot serving temperature, which slows down the speed of eating, allowing time to notice a feeling a fullness.
But while the health news for soup is compelling, the primary reasons you'll want to make each and every soup in this collection are far simpler. First, they are absolutely and unfailingly delicious. Second, they are loaded with healthful ingredients, with a minimum of fat and calories. And third, they are all easy to make in 60 minutes or less.
These recipes honor the classics, but tweak tradition enough to keep them healthful and fresh, making all of these soups modern favorites as well as tried and true friends. Think Lemon Chicken Soup with Fresh Spinach & Pasta, Roasted Vegetable Minestrone, Italian Tortellini-Sausage Soup, Summer Corn & Basil Bisque, and Split Pea with Caramelized Onions.
Enlightened Soups includes a wealth of soups from across the country and around the world, adapted to be healthy and home-cook friendly, with familiar, readily available ingredients. For example, Tunisian Chickpea Soup, Tuscan Farro & Bean Soup, West African Peanut Soup, and Thai Chicken & Coconut Soup. In other words, this slender volume brings you the world in a bowl, one sip and slurp at a time.
It won't take much time or effort to work your way through these recipes, either, because soup-making has an honest minimalism that makes it accessible and appealing to home cooks of every level of ability. Enlightened Soups simplifies things further, offering recipes with particularly straightforward cooking techniques and easy-to-find ingredients, and then categorizing each according to total preparation and cooking time: 20, 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
Finally, all of the recipes are well-tested, and follow recognized, "enlightened" guidelines for healthy eating, including no more than 10 grams of fat per serving, and utilization of healthy fats and oils, lean meats, and plenty of vegetables. In short, each recipe delivers contentment on multiple fronts.
So pull out the pans and enjoy your new collection. For ever-pleasing soups equally at home in the dining room or kitchen, you need look no further than Enlightened Soups , because fast, healthful, delicious soup is always in style. Soup's on!
About the Author
Camilla V. Saulsbury, Ph.D., is a food writer, food scholar, and recipe developer. She has won numerous national recipe contests, including the grand prize at the Great American Chicken Bake-Off and the 2006 Build-a-Better-Burger recipe contest. Her recipes have appeared in
Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens, Vegetarian Times, Cooking Light, Sunset, and others. The author of eight previous cookbooks, she lives in Texas.
Camilla Saulsbury is a recipe developer, freelance food writer, cooking instructor, and author of nine cookbooks. She has been featured on
QVC and
Today on NBC, and and has made multiple appearances on the
Food Network. Saulsbury is the brand ambassador for
Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry and has recently served as spokesperson for
Pillsbury baking mixes, developing rainy day baking recipes for children. Last, she has won multiple major national cooking competitions, including the Food Network's $25,000 Ultimate Recipe Showdown in 2007, the $50,000 Build a Better Burger Contest in 2006, and the $100,000 National Chicken Cook-Off in 2005. She lives in Texas with her husband and son.
Camilla Saulsbury is a freelance food writer, cooking instructor, and author of multiple cookbooks. Her work has appeared in major publications including
Better Homes and Gardens,
Cooking Light, and
Vegetarian Times. She has been featured on QVC and
Today on NBC, and has also made multiple appearances on the Food Network. Saulsbury is the brand ambassador for
Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry and has recently served as spokesperson for
Pillsbury baking mixes. She lives in Texas with her husband and son.
