While the first rainy days make us lazy and the short daylight hours induce melancholy, autumn isn’t just “the desperate end of summer,” but a season that can also be very enjoyable. It’s a time of year when nature surprises us with splendid, warm and reassuring hues, the warmth of our homes invites us to intimacy and reflection, and the first wool sweaters bring us comfort and protection.
This season brings with it the desire to warm up with hot, colorful, and flavorful dishes that are also healthy and delicious… it’s time to put soups, minestrone, and cream soups on the table!
Soups: ideal seasonal comfort food
A traditional “poor man’s dish,” whose name derives from the Gothic term “suppa,” meaning “a soaked slice of bread,” 1 soups have been a part of Italian cookbooks for centuries, both in their more traditional form and in the forms of minestrone, minestrone, and cream soups. Born as popular dishes, over time they have been enriched with new flavors, and thanks to their proverbial goodness, they have become one of the most beloved dishes on our tables.
Steaming and fragrant, today soups are seasonal treats with many variations and multiple nutritional properties. These benefits are especially amplified when combined with vegetables, legumes, and grains, creating a 100% healthy dish capable of rebalancing and cleansing the body.
Provident when time is short, they can be prepared in advance, refrigerated, and consumed whenever you like, an excellent way to warm the body and soothe the spirit after returning from cold and busy days.
The nutritional benefits of soups
With nutritional values that vary depending on the ingredients used in their preparation and thanks to the wide selection of foods they are made with, soups, broths, and cream soups can be adapted to any dietary requirement.
Let’s take a look at the main benefits of soups and how we can make the perfect soup, maximizing their nutritional properties.2
SOLE VEGETABLE SOUP
Blended or chopped, the vegetables in this soup will provide our bodies with water and minerals for proper hydration, ensuring a light and low-calorie dish, ideal as an entrée to our main meal. By providing a significant amount of fiber, vegetable soup will also promote bowel regularity.
GRAIN AND VEGETABLE SOUP
Warm, nutritious, and decidedly filling, mixed grain soup provides just the right amount of energy thanks to its complex carbohydrates, nutrients that should make up 50-55% of your total daily energy intake. This contribution, when made with whole grains, also increases your fiber intake, reducing blood sugar levels and playing an important role in protecting against cardiovascular disease.3
LEGUME, GRAIN AND VEGETABLE SOUP
A nutrient-packed triumph is guaranteed by combining lentils, chickpeas, peas, or beans in this already healthy grain and vegetable soup. An unparalleled source of plant-based protein and healthy fats, as well as an inexhaustible source of minerals (including iron, calcium, copper, and zinc), legumes will add the finishing touch to your fall soups. A recommended consumption of 4-5 portions per week can only be facilitated by frequent use of this delicious and complete first course, which should be included without hesitation in the whole family’s diet.
Need some ideas on how to cook legume and grain soups?
Check out our delicious and inventive recipes for Minestrone alla Montanara and Grain and Lentil Soup with Red Broccoli and Curried Red Pumpkin.
In perfect harmony with our evolving vision of the legume and grain category, aimed at offering alternatives to traditional options that combine convenience, health, and flavor, we at Pedon have decided to expand our I pronti line with the new Soups segment. Bean and Pasta Soup and Legume and Grain Soup are two products that reinterpret classic legume and grain recipes with an innovative twist. Healthy and flavorful, they’re ideal for a quick, balanced, and nutritious meal because they’re steamed with 100% natural ingredients and contain no preservatives. Extremely convenient thanks to their single-serving packaging, they’re ready to eat in just 2 minutes once opened and heated in the microwave!
Bibliography
- Treccani – Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia, Source treccani.it
- Soups, minestrone, and cream soups: many variations of the ideal comfort food to warm you up on cold autumn evenings, Sorgente Natura magazine – Dr. Silvia Conti Nutritionist specialized in vegetarian nutrition, Source sorgentenatura.it
- Guidelines for a healthy diet 2018, Crea – Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Source crea.gov.it
