Soup, Soup, Beautiful Soup

My Favorite Recipes - and Some Breads Too!

By Linda Larsen, About.com Guide

Ravioli Stew

Linda Larsen

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Soup is one of those miracle foods that we turn to when in need of comfort, warmth, and an easy meal too! Mimi Sheraton, in her wonderful book The Whole World Loves Chicken Soup, says "How can anyone resist the combination of love, strength, healthfulness, and celebration, all conveniently contained within a single bowl?"

And the recipe variety is endless. You can experiment with soup recipes as you can with no other food. Use what you have on hand, try something different (leeks, anybody?), or make your mother's classic minestrone recipe. These recipes are really foolproof, and I have tried to cover the range of homemade stocks (freeze them!) to combining condensed soups for a quick treat. I even have a recipe for making your own condensed soup mix, so you can control fat and sodium as well. Any of these quick and easy soup recipes can become vegetarian by using vegetable stock or water in place of meat stocks, and omitting the meat.

And what is soup without a hot, savory fresh bread as accompaniment? Bread may not seem like a Busy Cooks food, but there are some wonderful recipes that take hardly any time at all, and add immensely to your meals. Be sure to check out the Bread Machine Recipe discussions in the Busy Cooks Forum too!

Quick breads, refrigerated bread doughs, and even the occasional scratch yeast bread recipe are all featured on the next page. Bread really has an undeserved reputation for being difficult and time-consuming. If you are puttering around the house, there is no better feeling than having bread rising and baking in your oven.

Most of the work in the recipe is accomplished by the bread itself - you just mix, form and let it rise and bake! And if you have a bread machine, it's even easier. Mix, set the machine, and come home to a fabulous aroma of baking bread. Browse through the following collection of soup and bread recipes, mix and match, and fill your own recipe box!

Feel free to experiment as much as you like with these recipes. Soup is meant to be changed! Also think about toppings for your wonderful soup. Crackers, popcorn, croutons, toasted bread, grated cheese, fresh herbs, sour cream, crisp crumbled bacon, toasted nuts, thin slices of lemon or lime, creme fraiche, and even toasted bread crumbs add a fabulous texture and contrast to your warm and soothing soup.