Soup. The liquid nourishment held in high regard by almost every known culture and civilisation is also much loved by Greek cuisine for more than one reason.

Although soup is less appealing during hot summer weather, it remains one of the most favoured culinary selections when it comes to nutritious and healthy, not to mention comforting foods.

Now that Easter with its meat, alcohol and chocolate galore is behind us, why not switch to detox mode, which helps our system function better and shields against cold weather.

Soup is a fine source of fibre and protein, combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables and sometimes good fat and carbohydrates as well. Cooking a tasty soup isn’t rocket science and there are very few possibilities of things going wrong.

A warm spicy soup can wake us up and can get sluggish digestion going while boosting our metabolism.

Soups are classified into clear and thick, or as the French prefer, in five subcategories depending on the method of thickening. The established names for clear soups are bouillon and consommé, while the thick ones are divided into purées, bisques and veloutés.

All freshly cooked soups are healthy, yet canned soups are considered to hold a high risk for our health as they contain large amounts of sodium, which is detrimental to the liver, and MSG (monosodium glutamate), a flavour-enhancing chemical that is toxic to the kidneys. There is not much effort, though, in making homemade soup, which is easily refrigerated for future meals, preserving its significant health benefits. Soup is also very economical and adaptable to any household.

However pro-vegetarian chefs tend to be lately, we must acknowledge that gelatin stock from bones and cartilage contains hydrophilic colloids, attracting digestive juices which help accomplish an efficient and fast digestion. Because gelatin attracts liquids even after it has been cooked, soup is highly recommended by doctors worldwide as therapeutic in the treatment of digestive and intestinal disorders.

Physicians and dietitians promote soup to help fight hyper-acidity conditions, indigestion, colitis and Crohn’s disease, not to mention cancer, anaemia, ulcers, diabetes, and certain muscular hypertrophies.

Moreover, the Mayo clinic has shared several modern researches confirming that stock helps to treat urinary and kidney infections amongst a long list of infectious diseases. Stock also contains soluble components of cartilage and collagen, highly beneficial to people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and other joint problems.

To conclude, soup is also a great appetite suppressant that can fill us up easily, therefore ideal for weight-loss. Let’s top up our vitamin quotient with some of the most appealing soups for this coming season.

Today we’ll have a fasolada (a.k.a. Greek bean soup).

With fasolada, all you need for a perfect and highly nutritious meal is warm sour-dough bread and olives.

Ingredients:

500g dried white beans
3 carrots, sliced
1 bunch of celery, coarsely chopped
2 medium sized onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 bunch of parsley
1 chilli pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2-4 cloves of garlic
salt and ground pepper
to taste

Method:

Rinse and pick over the beans, then soak them overnight and drain.
Add water again (enough to cover the beans) and bring the pot to a boil.
Put in all of the remaining ingredients except the salt and simmer for about an hour and a half.
Check if the beans are tender and the soup has thickened, adding more water if needed.
Then add salt and pepper with the raw olive oil and stir.
Leave the soup to ‘sit’ for a few minutes and serve garnished with a few leaves of parsley.

More soup recipes to come.