Home-made soups to cure the common cold

The season of beanies and boots has arrived, and so have bouts of cold and tiresome flus. It is dull to be stuck at home with the flu, but like a hug in a bowl, delicious nutritious soups make it a little easier.

We’ve curated a list of recipes from the kitchens of not only great chefs, but people who’ve lived to tell the tale of how a heartwarming soup made their sick days a whole lot better.

GARLIC SPINACH SOUP, AN EXPLOSION OF FLAVOUR

Garlic spinach soup is a blessing for the ones who love the pungence of garlic. Coupled with the healthy dose of spinach, it provides the body with what it needs, while giving the taste buds just what they require to feel a sense of normalcy.

Ingredients

The ingredients include chicken broth. You can substitute it with vegetable broth.

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1 (2 ounce) package cellophane noodles
• 4 cups fresh spinach

How to make the perfect bowlful

• Step 1
  Bring the chicken broth, garlic, and ginger to a boil in a large saucepan; reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini is tender, for about 10 minutes more.
• Step 2
  Stir in the chicken (skip for a vegetarian option) and cellophane noodles; cook until the chicken is hot and the noodles are soft and transparent, for about 3 minutes. Stir in the spinach until wilted.
• Step 3

Slurp up your delicious creation, and feel better than ever.

CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP: A CUP OF NOSTALGIA

The combination of chicken and rice makes for a hearty and soothing meal. Popular among soup lovers, it has an easy and filling recipe.

Here are the ingredients used in it:  

• 10 cups chicken broth
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• ¼ cup snipped parsley
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• ¾ pound chicken, cut into cubes
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• Lime for garnish

How to prepare it

Step 1

Boil the chicken broth, onion, celery, carrots, parsley, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf in a pressure cooker. Reduce heat to low; simmer until the onion and celery begin to soften, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 2

Stir chicken into the simmering broth; cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle, for approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf. Stir rice and lime juice into the broth.

Step 3

Cook and stir just until rice is hot and grains separate, for about a minute. Garnish with lime slices and voila, your chicken rice soup is ready to soothe you.

THAI COCONUT SOUP, THE MASTER OF FLAVOURS.

Preferred by a niche group, Thai coconut soup is thick, creamy, and of course, coconutty. It has a strong milky flavour, with the addition of delicious whole spices to give relief to an aggressive cold.

Here are the ingredients used to make it perfectly:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 stalk minced lemongrass
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 3 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
• ½ pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pound medium shrimp – peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Salt to taste
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Step 1

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the ginger, lemongrass, and curry paste in the heated oil for a minute. Slowly pour the chicken broth over the mixture, stirring continuously.

Step 2

Simmer in the fish sauce and brown sugar for about 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and mushrooms; cook and stir until the mushrooms are soft. Add the shrimp; cook until no longer translucent.

Step 3

Stir in the lime juice, season with salt, and garnish with cilantro. Pour yourself a cup and welcome an explosion of senses.

CREAMY WHITE BEAN SOUP, THE POWERHOUSE OF NUTRIENTS

A nutritional powerhouse, the creamy white bean soup is made of ingredients that will help boost your strength and immunity. It is as creamy as the Thai coconut, with an added dose of vegetables to add to your daily dose of greens.

Here is an entire list of ingredients. Pick and choose the veggies according to availability and preference.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium diced yellow onion
• 1 medium diced carrot
• 1 diced stick celery
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• Chili flakes or pepper, to taste
• 1 minced fresh rosemary sprig
• 4 cups cooked navy beans (about two 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed)
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cups packed chopped lacinato kale
• ¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley leaves

Step 1

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pot. Sauté the vegetables until slightly softened and translucent, for about 5 minutes.

Step 2

Add the garlic, chili flakes, and rosemary to the pot. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant, for about 30 seconds. Add the navy beans to the pot and stir. Add the vegetable stock to the pot and stir once more. Bring the soup to a boil.

Step 3

Once boiling, ladle half of the soup into an upright blender. Add the lemon juice to the blender as well. Carefully bring the speed of the blender up to high and blend until this portion of the soup is totally liquified. Pour this liquified portion back into the pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Step 4

Add the kale to the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Once the kale is slightly wilted and bright green, season the soup once more with salt and pepper, if you find it necessary. Stir in the chopped parsley as well. Serve the soup hot.

VEGETABLE CURRY SOUP, THE TASTE OF HOME.

The vegetable curry soup has a strong Indian flavour,due to the addition of Indian spices. These spices are great to calm a runny nose, or a worsening cough. Some of the spices might be overpowering to a few people, so pick your preferences while giving your body what it requires to feel better and more powerful.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1 peeled and diced carrot
• 2 diced celery stalks
• 1seeded and minced jalapeño
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp Indian curry powder
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 212 oz cans coconut milk
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 8 oz mushrooms
• 1 small eggplant, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 1 diced small zucchini

How to prepare it

Step 1

• Add olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onions, celery, carrots and jalapeños until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and ginger. Add curry and garam masala and stir until fragrant.

Step 2

• Add the vegetable stock, coconut milk, and salt and stir until the coconut milk is fully incorporated. Add the remaining vegetables and herbs. Allow simmering for 25 minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve warm with cilantro or green onions and flatbread.