Recipe: Tips for Healthful Soups, Pumpkin Soup and Quick and Easy Manhattan-Style Clam Chowder

TIPS FOR HEALTHFUL SOUPS

Homemade soup is an autumn favorite, and a great way to boost the nutritional value of your daily meals. Using the season's bounty of vegetables, along with wholesome grains and herbs rich in a variety of phytochemicals that can protect you from cancer and other diseases, you can make savory, satisfying, inexpensive meals.

- For the most healthful soups, prepare those that focus on fiber-rich vegetables and grains and that de-emphasize fatty foods like meat, cheese and cream.

- Pasta, potatoes, corn, barley and beans are great ingredients that make soups hearty without extra fat.

- Zesty ingredients such as tomatoes, lemon juice or vinegar are fat-free ways to heighten soup flavor.

- Saute onions, garlic and other vegetables in stock rather than oil.

-Defat homemade or canned broth by skimming the surface with a large, shallow spoon, or by chilling the broth and removing the solidified fat.

- Lowfat dairy products like 1% milk or buttermilk (a skim milk product), nonfat, plain yogurt and light sour cream lend richness to creamy soups.

- Small quantities of lowfat cheese, lean meat, poultry and seafood can add a lot to flavor without excessive amounts of fat and calories.

PUMPKIN SOUP:
Saute finely chopped onion, celery and carrot. Add a bit of flour and stir to combine well. Then add defatted chicken broth, canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling), 1% milk, a bit of sugar, and a pinch of ginger, nutmeg, cloves, mace and white pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. A great starter for your Thanksgiving Day feast!

QUICK AND EASY MANHATTAN-STYLE CLAM CHOWDER:
Saute finely chopped onion, minced garlic and diced celery. Drain liquid from canned, chopped clams and add the liquid to the pan with water, diced green pepper and diced, peeled potato. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potato is tender. Add the clams, along with canned stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, and a little sugar, cayenne pepper, thyme, marjoram and black pepper. Bring to a boil again, lower heat and simmer until flavors are blended, about five minutes.

Source: American Institute for Cancer Research