Mom's instruction "Eat your vegetables!" supports the choice of eating lower on the food chain, but how exactly should we get those five servings of veggies a day? Vegetables and soup were made for each other. Soups filled with vegetables will nourish your body, mind and waistline, too. Low in fat, luscious vegetables are packed with fiber, giving you a full feeling with few calories.

Historically, out of necessity, cooks added whatever ingredients were available to a pot of boiling water to create a meal for the family. Voila! Soup was born. It's my favorite food to cook any time of year. It's warming, nourishing and satisfying, as well as wholesome, simple and convenient. Hot soup relaxes the digestive system and can be an impromptu meal, snack or travel food, and it can even be used as a sauce over rice or noodles.

You can enjoy soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or as a healthy snack. Soup is also a good choice for casual entertaining with unexpected guests alongside a simple side of greens. It can be easily transported anywhere in a thermos, and, not to mention, soup is one of the few leftovers that improves with time. I recommend making large quantities and freezing them for another day's quick meal. I also often recommend sautéing vegetables before adding them to the soup pot for additional flavor. When soups are to be blended, chop vegetables into large pieces to reduce preparation time.

Sweet vegetables like carrots, winter squash, onions and parsnips are good choices for nourishing soups, and they're featured in the recipes below. They satisfy the sweet tooth, maintain blood sugar levels and support the middle organs: the liver, spleen and pancreas. Traditional medicine believes that by nourishing these organs, the body becomes relaxed, reducing stress and worry.

GOLDEN AUTUMN SOUP
The garnet yams and rolled oats create a lovely texture and visual appeal in this ambrosial soup. The scallion garnish adds a bright splash of green.

Ingredients:
4 cups water
11/2 pounds carrots, cut into large pieces
11/2 pounds garnet yams, peeled & cut into large pieces
1 medium onion, cut into large pieces
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tsp curry powder, or more to taste
1 tsp unrefined sea salt
1 tbs soy sauce, or more to taste
1 tbs fresh scallion, thinly sliced, to garnish

Instructions:
Bring four cups of water to a boil in a pressure cooker. Add the remaining ingredients, except the scallion. Lock the lid in place. Bring up to full pressure over high heat. Place a flame tamer under the pressure cooker and reduce the heat. Maintain high pressure for six minutes. Quick-release the pressure.Transfer the soup to a blender and process until uniform in color. Serve garnished with scallion.

Variations:
• To minimize clean-up, purée the soup in the pressure cooker using a hand-held blender instead of a traditional blender.
• Cook in a stockpot until tender, about thirty minutes, rather than in a pressure cooker.

VEGETABLE BARLEY SOUP
Many of the ingredients in this soup have soothing properties that calm the nervous system, making it a natural stress reliever.

Ingredients:
1 cup pearled barley
7 cups water
1 6-inch strip kombu
1/4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
3 cups peeled butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tbs sweet, white miso
1 cup frozen peas, optional
1 tbs scallions, thinly sliced, to garnish
1 sprinkle umeboshi vinegar per serving, optional

Instructions:
Add the barley and five cups of water to a stockpot. Soak for eight hours if possible. Bring the barley and water to a boil. Skim off foam from the surface until it subsides, about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, cover the kombu with water and let soak for five minutes. Cut it into half-inch squares and add to the pot. Simmer for one hour with the lid ajar. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, nonstick skillet. Sauté the onion until translucent, about five minutes. Move the onion to one side of the skillet and add a few more drops of oil to the cleared space. Add the carrots and the salt. Sauté for several minutes. Add the squash and sautéed vegetables to the stockpot and cook until the vegetables are tender, about fifteen minutes. Place a small amount of the hot soup in a small bowl, add the miso, whisk until smooth and return it to the pot. Simmer for two minutes, then add the peas. Serve garnished with scallions. Pass the umeboshi vinegar at the table.

Variations:
• Substitute parsnips for the carrots or buttercup squash for butternut.
• For a creamy consistency, blend half the soup before adding the peas.
• Add half a cup diced seitan when adding squash and vegetables.

Lenore Baum teaches vegetarian cooking classes in her school and home in Weaverville, NC and has over thirty years experience in natural foods cooking and instruction. She is the author of Lenore's Natural Cuisine and Sublime Soups (Recipes included in this article are excerpted from Sublime Soups, copyright 2004.) and can be reached at http://www.lenoresnatural.com or 828-645-1412.

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