Soup, a mélange of herbs, vegetables, meat, or seafood in a savory broth, is a staple in almost every country and culture on earth.  It is the universal comfort food, medicine, and elixir. According to The Vegetarian Times magazine, “Nearly every culture turns to soup to heal, nourish, and soothe.”  Soup is not known, traditionally, as part of a quick meal, but recipes are changing to reflect the availability of ingredients like instant soup bases, pre-cut ingredients, and Litehouse Instantly Fresh Herbs.

I’m a major fan of Litehouse Instantly Fresh Herbs. I love fresh herbs and aromatics, and I use them often. However, after a long day of teaching and after-school bus duty, I’m not always up for chopping onions, garlic, and herbs. Take away my jars of Litehouse Instantly Fresh Herbs,  and I believe I would suffer from withdrawal. I’d miss the fresh aromas and the convenience of shaking fresh tasting, flavorful herbs and aromatics directly into the pot.

Blending Squash

Now that the air is getting crisp, there’s soup on my stove at least twice a week. I like using winter squash, like butternut and acorn, as soup ingredients. With winter squash, it’s possible to make a creamy soup without cream or milk.  Butternut squash, in particular, is brimming with Vitamin A—one cup of cubed, raw squash contains 457% of one’s daily allowance for Vitamin A and 52% of the daily allowance for Vitamin C.

Ginger in Broth

The flavors of butternut squash and ginger are compatible. The mild sweetness of butternut squash gets a bit of zesty heat from ginger. For this Butternut Squash Ginger Soup recipe, I saved time by using pre-cut, packaged butternut squash, which I microwaved to retain as much of the Vitamin A and Vitamin C as possible. I used a tea infuser to add flavor from the Litehouse Instantly Fresh Ginger directly into the vegetable broth—this method also prevents woody bits of ginger from seeping into the broth. Save time chopping garlic and onions (and save your tears) by adding Instantly Fresh Garlic and Instantly Fresh Red Onion to the broth as well. These freeze-dried aromatics are great to have on hand for fast soups, stews, and other dishes.

Microwaved Butternut Squash

This fall, let tradition and convenience mingle in one pot in your kitchen. Stock up on Litehouse Instantly Fresh Herbs and make soup that’s quick, easy, savory, and scrumptious.