Easy winter soups for women over 50

What is comfort food?

Comfort food is different for everyone, but the results are similar! It’s the food that makes you feel safe, warm, and cared for. Comfort food can be nostalgic and take you down fun memory lanes. It’s fun.

Comfort food vs eating for comfort

Comfort food is food that is eaten consciously, and eating for comfort may be a disorder, such as overeating to feel good.

Are winter soups comfort food?

Yes!

What is a great winter comfort food?

During the winter, I like to eat hot foods that make me feel cozy. My nostalgic comfort food is Porcini pasta with a bit of Parmesan cheese. A good pasta has cured many blues! Porcini risottos make excellent winter comfort food, too!

My favorite comfort food is hearty winter soups! I love to make different soups and am always testing out recipes.

Chopping veggies is soothing, and I make sure to add bright colors and fun textures to my soups. The visuals are so important!

Winter soups and comfort food

Craving comfort food, carbs, and sweets in winter is natural, and I’ve been working on making my meals more balanced and I want to add more veggies to my meals.

I’m not speaking about diets; just trying to balance out my cravings and still eat tasty food.

When I crave carbs and comfort, I turn to soups. They’re warm and filling, and I love the ritual of chopping for a soup.

Recently, I made a fish broth with fresh fish heads from my favorite fishmongers at the Mercado 31 de Janeiro in Lisbon. I had the flu, and when I mentioned it, they gifted me the fish to make a healing broth. That simple kindness made my day.

I made the broth, strained out the fish heads, and added cooked rice, raw carrots, sweet corn, fava beans, dried herbs, and salt and cooked it all for about 30 minutes. The result? Heavenly comfort!

Don’t you love an easy comfort food soup?

I love soup all year round, but it becomes much more important in winter!

Soups are simple, satisfying, and adaptable. One of my go-to recipes is an easy carrot and zucchini soup. It’s basic but an excellent foundation for mixing things up. It a great winter soup but it can also be served in the summer with a bit of lemon or ginger juice.

Basic Winter Soup

• 4 large carrots
• 1 sweet onion
• 4 medium zucchinis
• 4 medium potatoes (optional if you don’t want carbs)
• Salt and pepper
• 4 cups of water (you can substitute for chicken or veggie broth)
• salt and pepper to taste

Chop all the veggies, place them in a pot, add salt and pepper, add water, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it cook for 45 minutes. Blend it until smooth and thick.

From there, you can tweak it however you like.

For a variation, I take three cups of the soup, add a handful of arugula, and cook it for five minutes before blending again. Sometimes, I top it with a spoonful of Greek yogurt.

Other greens work just as well:

• Spinach
• Collard greens
• Watercress
• Kale

This soup is a good non-fat soup.

A Hearty Veggie Soup

This veggie soup is a great option when I need something more substantial, and it’s one of my favorite winter soups.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 cups of chicken broth
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 medium butternut squash
• 3 chayote
• 2 zucchinis
• 1 1/2 cups of brown lentils (soaked overnight and drained)
• 6 tomatoes
• 4 small potatoes (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley (added before serving)

Chop all the veggies, peeling the chayote and zucchini first. Remove the skin from the tomatoes.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the onions, and let them cook slowly for about 30 minutes (medium heat and lower). Simmering the onions caramelizes them, bringing out their natural sweetness.

Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large pot. Add all the chopped vegetables, salt, pepper, and onions—DO NOT add the tomatoes yet—and cook on medium heat for 40 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley. A spoonful of Greek yogurt on top can also be a nice finishing touch.

Cauliflower soup

Cauliflower soup is a great basic soup. You can play around with it by adding different spices and herbs to tweak it or eat it plain.

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized cauliflower

2 onions

3 tablespoons Olive oil

4 cups of chicken or veggie broth

salt and pepper to taste

butter (optional) (for caramelizing onions and to add to soup)

Parsely for garnish

Chop the onions and stir fry them with olive oil and one tablespoon of butter, medium heat, until they caramelize. About 20-30 minutes.

Place the onions in a pot with a cover.

Add the broth, salt, pepper, and chopped cauliflower.

Cook for 30 minutes, medium heat.

After 30 minutes, add the butter and cook for 10 more minutes.

Blend the soup.

Serve with chopped parsley.

I have also had this soup with a teaspoon of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and it’s great!

Tweak your cauliflower winter soup:

Add cumin to the soup when you add butter, and the soup will have a very different taste. Add one teaspoon of freshly squeezed ginger juice (per serving), giving the soup an extra kick!

Winter is a time for warmth! 

What foods bring you comfort? Does your comfort food relate to your past, or have you created your special comfort foods?

More articles about food on 50 and Rising

Eating well after 50

Discover the pleasures of healthy eating

A special note:

I am not a chef per se, nor do I develop amazing recipes, but I love to play in the kitchen!