Healthy Cooking Live with Steve

Soups Only version 4.0 features 5 more succulent soups! 

The idea in summer is to get on and off of the range as quickly as possible.  The roasted asparagus and creamy yellow squash soups do that while utilizing ingredients that are plentiful and cheap in the summer!  Cantaloupe and honeydew melons are expensive all year long except for summer when you can afford to play with them some.  We’re going to use them both in the same bowl in an exciting yin and yang presentation I first saw used at the Depuy Canal House in 1986.  Based on the classic Diana Kennedy recipe in “The Cuisines of Mexico;” it’s a winner and I’ve been using it ever since!  Served room temperature; Japanese dashi is a delightfully refreshing summer treat that we’ll dress up with some American additions.  And what would summer be without a gazpacho?

For the health conscious eater, especially those going through a lifestyle modification involving weight reduction, soup can be a way to introduce creativity and variety as well as satisfaction.  A small, but well structured study attested to the high degree of satisfaction derived from soups leading subjects to actually consume almost 30% less calories when presented soup as opposed to the same food items in a different form.[1], [2], [3]  Soup is almost an essential dietary component of any lifestyle modification protocol!  These data were confirmed and their implications expanded in a larger 2007 study that found “pre-loading” or consuming soup in a variety of forms before a meal reduced overall calorie intake for both men and women 18-45.[4]

With Soups Only v4.0 we’re going to continue trying to identify that magical moment when ingredients become more than the sum of their parts.  Soups are where you best learn to isolate flavor profiles and blend them to create something that’s truly special.  Learning how to manipulate all the variables of that “flavor graphic equalizer” is what these Soups Only demonstrations are all about...I hope you can join us!

On the Menu:

• Fresh Dashi White Miso Soup with Tofu & Summer Vegetables
• Chilled Gazpacho
• Chilled Yin and Yang Melon Soup
• Roasted Asparagus Soup
• Creamy Summer Squash Soup

Topics For Discussion:

• Chronic disease: the modern dietary dilemma
• How to cook tasty food with less salt, fat, & sugar
• Kitchen organization for healthy cooking; the basics
• Using a pressure cooker; the basics
• What food to keep on hand
• What equipment to have in your kitchen

[1] Bell EA, Rolls BJ.  Effect of water content of food on satiety.  FASEB Journal.  1999;13:A870.

[2] Rolls BJ, Bell EA, Thorwart ML.  Water incorporated into a food but not served with a food decreases energy intake in lean women.  Am. J. Clin. Nutr.  1999;70:448–455.

[3] Mattes R.  Soup and Satiety.  Physiol Behav.  2005;83(5):739-47.

[4] Flood JE, Roll BJ. Soup preloads in a variety of forms reduce meal energy intake.  Appetite.  2007;49:626–634.