Photo courtesy of Pixabay
By Elizabeth Magee, LRD
Brrr. Its mid-November and I’m contemplating moving to a warmer climate. You’d think I haven’t lived here my entire life and the cold is something new to me. Nope! Just getting soft as I age apparently.
The one perk of this time of year is that it’s now transitioned from salad season to soup season! I love both meals. In general, I don’t love to cook – unless I’m making soup. It’s the one thing I can make as I go along and it’s so satisfying to clean out the fridge/freezer/pantry by adding certain items to soup instead of throwing them away. #thisis40
I still crave salads in the winter, and I still order them and make them. But after a cold afternoon of shoveling or building snowmen, we’re not all thinking of crispy, veggie-filled salads. Something warm sounds better. Are we lacking veggies in the winter living where it’s cold?
It’s hard to say. But probably. Most of us are lacking when it’s warm, more veggies are in season and they’re more cost effective; Or maybe your garden ended up better than mine. (See previous post, hahaha!)
If you still want to eat salads, I support that. They feel more comforting to me if my protein option is warmed up on my salad, and I love the cold and hot mix. So maybe it’s some warmed up taco meat, or a delicious hunk of steak warmed up, or even warmed up beans or a hard-boiled egg that hasn’t quite cooled.
But, if you’re done with salads until spring rolls through, that’s fair. It’s time for you to invest in soup!! You can get all your food groups in one bowl and like I said, clean out the kitchen at the same time. Sometimes it’s a fun game to see what veggies I can work in. I haven’t had a fail yet! It’s the perfect set up for extra veggies.
- Throw in a can of something hanging around – tomatoes are my fave, I’m surprised I’m not adding green beans to more as I type this.
- Half a bag (or not even) of frozen veggies hanging out? Throw them in! You can bet there will be Swiss chard from the freezer in every soup I make.
- Take that sad looking celery, zucchini or mushrooms, and put them in the pot!
Maybe soup isn’t your thing, but hotdish is. The same tactic can work there. Get creative. Amp up spaghetti sauce with mushrooms, peppers, or onions. Focus on what you have on hand.
Clean out that kitchen! Extra veggies are waiting for you! It’s sad to throw them in the garbage. They deserve better! 😊
Elizabeth Magee is a licensed registered dietitian. Her posts appear monthly on OYT.
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