THE NIBBLE » Soups

GIFT: Chicken Soup & The Fixings

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:07:23 +0000

Sick friends, stressed students, new parents and others who need a pick-me-up would be very happy to receive a shipment of chicken soup.

Chicken soup is great comfort food for whomever needs a Spoonful of Comfort—which is the name of one of the two chicken soup gifts we tried recently (the other, not surprisingly, is Grandma’s Chicken Soup).

We enjoyed both soups, plus all the fixings: noodles, matzo balls, challah and cookies.

Is chicken soup really the “Jewish penicillin” that cures colds and flus? See the article!

You’ll also learn the different types of chicken soup: chicken broth, chicken bouillon, chicken consommé and more.

Read the review and contemplate a hot bowl of chicken soup—with noodles or matzo balls.

Make your own with this chicken soup recipe.

Get well, get through exams/new baby,
get a good bowl of chicken soup. Photo courtesy SpoonfulOfComfort.com.

Switch it up with international chicken soup recipes: Udon Noodle Soup With Chicken & Lemongrass, Mexican-Style Chicken Soup With Queso Fresco and Chicken, Corn & Tortilla Soup.

PRODUCT: Amy’s Organic Soups

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:30:42 +0000

Just in time for the cold spell come three hearty soups from Amy’s Organic.

If you don’t know this brand, try it and become one of the many fans. The products are organic, tasty and better for you than most supermarket brands.

Amy’s aims to appeal to vegetarians and vegans as well as the general audience.

The three new soups include Chunky Tomato Bisque, Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable and Spanish Rice and Red Bean.

Chunky Tomato Bisque is creamy, velvety and sweet as sugar. Alas, that’s because there are 14g of sugar is per serving—almost three times as much as the other two varieties. You’ve heard us say this before, but there is more sweetener hidden in our food supply than is necessary or healthy. That Amy’s uses organic evaporated cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup means nothing to your glycemic index.

Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable Soup is vegan, a flavorful mix of tomato, potato cubes, roasted corn, bell pepper, black beans and onions. Green chiles and chipotle are listed on the label, but we tasted pepper rather than chile heat.

Stay warm this winter with Amy’s Organic
soups. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

Spanish Rice & Red Bean Soup is mis-named. Spanish rice is a spicy white rice side dish prepared with tomatoes, onions and green peppers. Putting the words “Spanish rice” in front of this red bean soup with tomatoes, corn, bell pepper, zucchini and brown rice (which is the eighth ingredient on the label—i.e., not a whole lot of rice) is misleading. But the soup is hearty and nicely peppery.

The line is gluten free, certified organic by QAI and kosher by Ner Tamid K. The soups are low fat, cholesterol free, high in fiber and have no GMOs.

PRODUCT: Progresso’s New High Fiber Soups

Nibble Editors — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:57:17 +0000

The new high fiber soup family from
Progresso. Photo by Erika Meller |
THE NIBBLE.

Just in time for the chilly weather, Progresso has released its new High Fiber Soups to warm you up while helping you with your daily fiber intake. Each of the four varieties contributes 28% of your daily value of fiber (7g/serving), with no artificial flavors or MSG. It’s a painless way to add fiber to your diet.

Chicken Tuscany with lots of Great Northern Beans, was a favorite, enhanced with a dash of sea salt and some fresh sage from our window plant.

Chicken Vegetable, possibly the most popular flavor of the group for most consumers, didn’t ring our bell as much. The broth tasted strongly of the green beans in the soup.

Creamy Tomato Basil was sweet and comforting, but we have to give it the thumbs down because the sweetness came from added sugar. If you don’t mind sugar added to your savory foods, it’s very appealing, but we think that the practice has contributed to America’s obesity and diabetes woes. It’s one of the things we keep an eye out for when we buy packaged foods.

Homestyle Minestrone was also “Nibble-ized” with a spoonful of fresh-ground Parmesan cheese that we keep in the freezer for exactly this purpose. (if it’s ground very fine by the store—not shredded—it freezes well).

The pull-top cans are convenient for work lunches with microwaves; just transfer the contents into a mug. Learn more at ProgressoSoup.com.

Find reviews of our favorite soups, plus recipes, in our Gourmet Soups & Stocks Section.

PRODUCT: Comfort Crunch Fruit & Nut Mixes

Nibble Editors — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:00:51 +0000

Dried fruit and nut mixes have probably been popular since the dawn of man. It wouldn’t have taken much for a hunter-gatherer to combine some raisins from wild grapevines with crunchy nuts and deem the combination better than either food alone.

But it’s taken until recent times for fruit and nut mixes to be seasoned so deftly that the snack is better than ever. One practitioner of the art is Lambie Stout, a mom and cancer survivor from Toledo who gives 5% of the proceeds of Comfort Crunch to cancer research.

Comfort Crunch is available in four varieties including one vegan recipe (the Original). The mixes of fresh, crunchy nuts and moist dried fruits are enhanced with crystallized ginger and pepitas, chocolate-covered ginger or chocolate-covered toffee.

A healthy, indulgent snack, the chic minimalist packaging makes a yummy stocking stuffer. There’s also lovely holiday packaging that hold two bags (see the website, ComfortCrunch.com, for gift options). If you’re looking for corporate gifts, you can’t go wrong with this feel-good option.

Read our review of Comfort Crunch.

Find more of our favorite sweet snacks.

Comfort Crunch brings tidings of comfort and joy.
Stock up for the holidays! Photo by Hannah
Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

RECIPE: Cauliflower Soup With Cocoa Brown Butter

Editorial Assistant — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:30:36 +0000

A rich, velvety soup, cocoa brown butter with crunchy cacao nibs (you can strain them out if you don’t like crunch) and a heart-shaped crouton flavored with smoky paprika. What’s not to love? This recipe was developed by Woodhouse Chocolate, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week (and a great choice for Valentine chocolate).

- Make the Valentine soup.

- Read our review of Woodhouse Chocolate.

RECIPES: Soup Garnishes

Editorial Assistant — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:00:56 +0000

It doesn’t take much to turn a bowl of carrot
soup into something glamorous. Here, a swirl of
heavy cream, a parsley sprig and some gourmet
flatbread from Top Pick Of The Week Rustic
Bakery do the trick.

Take a minute to garnish, and a bowl of soup will never be “just a bowl of soup” again. Just use one or more of these garnish groups, mixing and matching as appropriate for the recipe:

- Bread: Artisan bread, crackers, croutons, flatbread, pita, toast

- Dairy: Crème fraîche, grated/shaved cheese, heavy cream, sour cream, yogurt, quark

- Herbs & Spices: Fresh herbs taste best, but dried herbs as a backup

- Fruit: Apple slices, dried berries and cherries, fresh berries, grapes, lemon and lime slices, melon balls, pear slices, diced pineapple

- Vegetables: Cooked or raw to match the soup, e.g. a broccoli floret or carrot slice atop broccoli or carrot soup

Read the full article, with suggestions for 21 different soups.

Find garnish ideas for other types of food in our article, Garnish Glamour.

NEW PRODUCT: Kettle Cuisine Gluten Free Soups

Editorial Assistant — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:21:47 +0000

Lovers of Kettle Cuisine, the nation’s leading premium soup brand, can feed their gluten-intolerant family and friends four new varieties of gluten-free soups, bringing the total to nine choices packed in convenient 10-ounce microwaveable bowls. Kept in the freezer, these easy-to-prepare soups are convenient workplace fare as well as a quick meal or snack at home. For family with friends (or friends of the kids) who have Celiac disease, they’re convenient to keep in the freezer as an offering.

The new flavors include Organic Carrot Soup with Coriander (organic, dairy-free & vegetarian), Organic Mushroom & Potato Soup with Cream (organic & vegetarian), Roasted Vegetable Soup (dairy-free & vegetarian), Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables (dairy-free & vegetarian).

These gluten-free flavors join Angus Beef Steak Chili with Beans (dairy-free), Chicken Chili with White Beans, Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles (dairy-free & low fat), Grilled Chicken & Corn Chowder and New England Clam Chowder.Kettle Cuisine is found at retailers nationwide and is also available online for delivery anywhere in the United States from GlutenFreeMall.com.

Check out THE NIBBLE’s favorite gluten-free products.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Go Appetít Cool Soup

Editorial Assistant — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:00:17 +0000

A new alternative for healthy eating on-the-go, Cool Soup makes soup “drinkable” from a bottle at room temperature or chilled. It’s a new way to fruit and vegetables without having to chop and cook. The portable plastic bottle has a nine-month shelf life. As a snack or meal replacement, it’s high in vitamins and antioxidants, low in calories and 100% natural.

Go Appetít is “taking soup to new places” with Cool Soup, a new category in specialty convenience foods, Drinkable Soup. The company calls its products “souperfood.” Now, when you need something nutritious on the go, and want more than a piece of fruit, yogurt or an energy bar, you can have some yummy comfort food—soup! No spoon needed, just twist the cap and drink from the 8-ounce, single serve bottle. If you want a soup and sandwich or soup and salad combo, it couldn’t be easier.

Cool Soup is low in calories and 100% natural with no preservatives, artificial colors or artificial flavors. While it is ideal to consume the soup chilled for enhanced flavor, no refrigeration is required, and they taste just fine at room temperature. We toted them our purse and backpack, the latter with an ice pack, the former without, and didn’t feel any loss of quality drinking them unchilled.

Read the full review.

An easy way to eat your fruits and veggies on the
go: soup that you drink from the bottle. Above:
Rich Vegetable Gazpacho.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Long Kow’s Crystal Noodle Soup

Editorial Assistant — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:50:57 +0000

An easy way to eat your greens. The crystal noodles are underneath the veggies. Shown above: Vegetables & Eggs variety.		With Long Kow’s Crystal Noodle Soup, and all you need to do is provide the boiling water and the spoon (chopsticks or a fork are helpful to manage the noodles) to enjoy a bowl of steaming noodle soup made in its own bowl in just three minutes. Savory, in four flavors, and leagues better than the other products in its genre, these soups are imported from China. If you’ve experienced cello packets of ramen noodles or instant cups of noodle soup, (and is there anyone who hasn’t?), you know that they offer a comforting repast, but not a quality dining experience. Long Kow has upped the ante, using superior ingredients and a large enough portion to make a meal in its own bowl. Just add boiling water, and in three minutes your steaming hot meal is ready. You also need to supply an eating implement—you could slurp the soup from the bowl in a pinch, but the long noodles would present a challenge.
Although the ingredients are freeze-dried, you’d swear they were fresh-made, from the bok choy, mushrooms and spinach to the eggs and tofu. And how satisfying those glassy bean thread noodles are in their savory broth. Well done, Long Kow! Read the full review on TheNibble.com.

PRODCT REVIEW: Frontier Soup’s Corn Chowder

Nibble Editors — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:44:59 +0000

Need comfort? Make this soup. Frontier Soups’ Corn Chowder mix is a great food find.		We’re sad now that winter is turning into spring, because we won’t have an excuse to whip up a batch of one of our favorite uber-comfort foods, the luscious corn chowder from Frontier Soups. Frontier’s entire line of dry soup mixes was a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week last year (read the review). The $6.00 bag makes about two and a half quarts of thick, chunky soup (BYO potatoes, chicken broth and heavy cream), which makes us very happy: Depending on who is in the house, we can enjoy it for two or three days. (We straddle the line of wanting to be generous and offer it to everyone, and wanting to be covetous and keep every precious drop for ourselves.) As with many of Frontier Soup’s mixes, we couldn’t find a better recipe if we tried; most of the soups taste as good cold as they do hot. We love the corn chowder plain with some fresh dill, but you can add glamour with crumbled bacon and/or grated Monterey Jack or your favorite semisoft cheese (a mound of cheese curls on the surface of the soup makes an excellent presentation). Turn the soup into a main course by adding diced chicken breast or seafood—poached salmon, haddock or cod, crabmeat, clams or oysters (or a mix).
If it’s already warm where you are and a thick, creamy corn and potato chowder seems too wintry, try the spring-like Potato Leek Soup and Asparagus Almond Soup. Find more of our favorite soups in the Soups & Stocks Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine.