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• by:
• Saulsbury, Camilla V.

If one food conjures up comfort, it's homemade soup. A bowlful of soothing satisfaction by any measure, comes close to being the perfect meal. It is easy to make, naturally low in fat, rich with nutrients, convenient, and economical.

With Enlightened Soups in hand, home cooks will have more than 150 quick, delicious, and innovative options from which to choose. From new takes on classics like chicken soup with herbed dumplings and Tuscan minestrone to innovations like butternut bisque with Gruyere croutons and Hanoi beef noodle soup, Enlightened Soups is filled with choices for any day of the week, any time of the year.

Like all of the books in the Enlightened Cooking series, the recipes are straightforward, the ingredients commonly available, and the techniques geared toward the home cook. Further, the recipes are tested and follow well-recognized "enlightened" guidelines for healthy eating, with no more than ten grams of fat per serving, healthy fats and oils, lean meats, and plenty of fresh herbs and vegetables. In other words, each recipe is as good for you as it is good to eat.

Every recipe includes a nutritional analysis, and at the back of the book, quick-search appendixes indicate which soups are especially low in fat (fewer than 3 grams per serving), especially low in calories (150 or less per serving), and especially low in total time required (from start to finish). The recipes are divided into puréed, meat, poultry, seafood, vegetable, and legume soups.

For ever-pleasing soups that are equally at home in the dining room or the kitchen, home cooks need look no further than Enlightened Soups for fast, healthful, delicious soup. Soup's on!