Now that the holidays are behind us, I am ready to step away from the cookie jar (and the gratins, and the eggnog) and eat some truly healthy food. In the cool of winter, nothing is more soothing and nourishing than a great bowl of warm soup. There are many great reasons to eat soup:

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1. Soup is a great way to boost the amount of vegetables you eat

Most of us do not eat our daily recommended amount of vegetables. Many soups are vegetable dense, and a great way to boost the amount of vegetables you eat. Here are some of our favorite vegetable dense soups:

Roasted butternut squash soup with lime and coconut

Wild mushroom soup

Roasted carrot and coconut milk soup

Pear soup with blue cheese and pancetta

2. Soup is a great way to manage your weight

Studies show soup can be a powerful tool when managing weight. Soup increases satiety. Eating soup daily results in greater weight loss than eating the same number of calories in more energy dense forms. Eating soup has been shown to decrease total calorie consumption for 1 - 2 days. Eating soup daily also results in better maintenance of weight loss over time.

Here is a great low-calorie soup with numerous health benefits:

Simple borscht

3. Soup can be a meal in itself

A bowl of soup that includes protein can be a one-pot meal. Some of our favorite soup meals include:

Chicken tortilla soup

French lentil and garlic sausage soup

Chicken, chile and tomatillo soup
 

4. Soup is economical

Soup is a great way to stretch your food budget. Most soups call for lots of less expensive vegetables such as carrots and onions, maybe a little more expensive protein such as chicken, meat or seafood, and less expensive protein such as beans and lentils. Plus leftover chicken, turkey, beef and lamb bones that would be otherwise discarded can be cooked with a few vegetables to make delicious, highly nutritious homemade broth.

Here are some of our favorite low-cost soups:

Hamburger vegetable soup

Ribolita soup reconstructed

Leek, potato and asparagus soup 

5. Soup can be made in large quantities and frozen for future meals

Soup is a great way to cook once and eat twice. There is nothing better than getting multiple meals out of one session in the kitchen. I have an enormous soup pot (I call it a cauldron) that I fill up to the brim when I make soup. It doesn't take much longer to make a double or triple batch of soup, and there is nothing better than pulling a bag of homemade soup out of the freezer for a quick and healthy meal at the end of a busy day. Frozen soup is my go-to "fast food."

Farberware 16-quart stainless steel stockpot - $65*

This pot is a great size for making soups and an extremely good value.

What is your favorite soup?