by Sande Waybill

Created on: November 17, 2009

If you live in a particularly cold part of the world, you are likely to appreciate a bowl of steaming soup after an outdoor excursion. It is also common practice to consume a hearty bowl of soup simply to keep warm at home. If you already have a favorite soup recipe, one way to ensure that it will keep you warm is to add a teaspoon of ginger powder. This will have a warming effect that also works to keep your circulation healthy.

Ingredients such as potato and pumpkin are both filling and long lasting. Adding a teaspoon of chili or ginger powder to a potato or pumpkin soup is a great way to make sure your soup keeps you warm as well as full. Other hot ingredients can have the same effect. You might prefer the taste of horseradish or some cracked black pepper corns.

A bowl of hot oats or porridge is a great breakfast idea to keep you warm throughout a wintry day. Oats can have the same affect when added to a soup mix. Just sprinkle a tablespoon of oats into your usual soup mix as you cook it. Barley is another healthy grain that is often added to soup mixes. It adds both flavor and fiber to the soup, additionally warming the body. Whereas oats can be added to instant or stove-top soups, barley needs to be well cooked before consumption so goes best in stove-top soups.

If you generally consume canned soup, adding a warming spice such as ginger or chili will be of benefit for those seeking to warm up. Instant soups can likewise have a touch of spice added to improve their qualities for winter consumption. With stovetop soups, you will get warmer whilst you are standing at the stove stirring as an added bonus.

Another addition that many people make to soups is croutons. If you enjoy crunching a few croutons in your soup, a good way to warm you up is to buy or make chili-garlic croutons. This will add to the heat of the spice that lingers in your mouth and stomach and keeps you warm. For those who enjoy tomato, onion, or other spring and summer vegetables, you can add spiced dumplings to your stove-top soup mix. This will both warm and fill you up extra.

*WARMING VEGETABLE SOUP RECIPE*

* potato, sweet potato, pumpkin - 1-cup
* half a parsnip or turnip
* a pinch of salt
* 1-tablespoon olive oil
* barley - 1-tablespoon
* one-teaspoon each of: ginger powder and chili powder
* half-teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon
* 1 onion, half stick celery, quarter-cup of peas, and 1 tomato
* OPTIONAL: dumplings made of flour, water, and either curry powder or cracked pepper
* OPTIONAL: garnish with chopped chives, coriander, croutons, and/or a swirl of cream

Dice the first group of vegetables and place in a pan of salted & oiled water that just covers the vegetables. Add the barley and spices and bring to the boil. Simmer for twenty minutes. Chop the other vegetables finely and add them to the saucepan. You also add the optional dumplings at this stage if you fancy some. Simmer for twenty more minutes. Garnish and serve.

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