8 Healthy Additions to Chicken Soup

Good,basic chicken soupis already one of the healthiest foods around, so the ways to make it healthier actually involve adding ingredients rather than taking them away.

1. Sturdy vegetables.
The easiest way to boost the healthiness quotient of chicken soup is toadd plenty of vegetables. In addition to carrots, throw in peeled parsnips, sweet potatoes, winter squash and turnips.

2. Greens.
Add pre-braised greens to your soup just before serving or add them during the last several minutes of cooking, depending on how tough they are. (羽衣甘蓝和羽衣甘蓝, for example, can go as long as 30 minutes unless they’re very tender, whilechardonly needs 15 minutes; spinach andescaroleare done in 5 minutes or less.)

3. Hominy.
Turning the soup intoMexican-stylepozole not only involves adding fiber-rich hominy but antioxidant-packed herbs and chiles as well.

4. Kimchi.
If you don’t mind the extra salt, add the naturally fermentedspicy Korean cabbageto your soup. It has been shown to have anti-cancer and immune-promoting properties, among other benefits.

5. Beans.
To increase the heartiness and fiber quotient of your soup, add somedrained canned beansand let them simmer for at least 30 minutes to absorb the flavors.

6. Brown rice and avocado.
For a super healthyColombian-style soup, add brown rice for a fiber boost and healthy fat-rich avocado.

7. Hummus and red peppers.
When you blend chickpea spread and silky jarred piquillo peppers with chicken broth, you create arich but creamlessbroth for soup.

8. Better dumplings.
Love dumplings? Make them withwhole-grain flour.

Kristin Donnelly is a formerFood & Wineeditor and author of the forthcoming The Modern Potluck (Clarkson Potter, 2016). She is also the cofounder ofStewart & Claire,一行一个ll-natural lip balms made in Brooklyn.