Being a house-guest has downsides. One is having little control over what you get to eat.

My friends typically prepare excellent food, since most of them are food lovers, but I’ve develop a clever ploy to make sure that every day I can get a good amount of vegetables, some whole grains and enough fiber.

My secret is a repertoire of quick-to-cook soups.

Most people are happy when a guest prepares one dish for a meal, and what host can complain if you want to use just one pot and hang out in the kitchen for an hour or less? 

I accompany them to their supermarket, which is enjoyable since it is almost always more enticing than the overcrowded, over-priced versions in the city.

I grab a few packages of ready-to-use veggies like diced butternut squash, broccoli florets and sliced mushrooms and a package or two of fresh herbs. The dried ones found in most kitchens have lost their flavor, and fresh herbs are so packed with disease-fighting phytonutrients that they are worth the cost.

 I also buy a can of beans and a loaf of crusty whole-grain bread.

Back in the kitchen, I can make my soup in less time than most hosts spend fixing burgers on the grill and adding their embellishments. To be a model guest, I sometimes offer to make a salad and shoo them out of the kitchen entirely.

Or we simply pick up a healthful pizza at the best joint in town, knowing that with my soup accompanying it, we will eat well in every sense.

By adding this easy-to-make soup to a take-out dinner, you can also eat healthy, especially if you buy squash that has already been peeled and diced.

Butternut Squash Soup with Beans and Corn

1 Tbsp. canola oil
2 cups peeled, diced butternut squash
1 leek, white part only, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. finely crumbled dried
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground sweet paprika
3 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup drained canned diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen or canned (and drained) corn
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small Dutch oven or deep saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.

Sauté the squash, leek, onion and garlic until the onion is translucent and starts to soften, 6 minutes. Stir in the rosemary, cumin and paprika until they are fragrant, for 1 minute.

Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, beans and corn and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve or refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 days.

Makes 7 cups.
 
Nutritional information
Per serving: calories, 122 calories; total fat, 3 g; saturated fat, less than 1 g;; carbohydrate, 21 g; protein, 6 g; dietary fiber, 5 g; sodium, 337 mg.

This article was written by Dana Jacobi, author of 12 Best Foods Cookbook and contributor to the American Institute for Cancer Research’s New American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life.

Source: American Institute for Cancer Research
Reference: Something Different

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