The art of making 5-star soups that are loaded with nutrition and flavor is quite simple and we want to share it with you in this blog. It begins with determining the purpose of your soup. The foods of greatest nutritional value are cruciferous vegetables. These include many of the leafy greens and solid green vegetables such as kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, and watercress. Per calorie consumed there are no better foods to eat and enjoying them in soups has been proven scientifically to build extraordinary immunity and strength within the body. Therefore, selections from these vegetables should become the foundation or basis for every soup you make. And you should include the full spectrum of variety that exists among cruciferous vegetables from day to day. Now let's look at the steps for creating wonderful soups:

1. Today we will choose cabbage as our cruciferous vegetable of choice. Tomorrow we will show another soup that uses kale. Let's begin with 2 cups of chopped cabbage.

2. Add the cabbage and 4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth to a soup pot.

3. Next add two cloves of minced or pressed garlic.

4. Now add one medium to large yukon gold or yellow potato, cubed.

5. And to the mix always add one diced onion.

6. Then add your choice of 1 14-oz can of beans (drained and rinsed) or 1 cup lentils, or dried peas, rinsed.

7. The final ingredient is to add your choice of leafy green. Depending upon the green you select you will want to add it at the beginning, middle, or end as the soup cooks. For example, kale takes much longer to soften than spinach or cilantro, each of which can be added after the soup is done cooking. Also, the volume of leafy greens you will add depends upon the leafy green and the flavors it adds to the soup. In this soup we will add just 1/4 cup of cilantro because of its stronger, distinctive flavors, and we will add the cilantro after the soup is cooked. Let's get to cooking!

8. Bring all these ingredients to a boil! Then turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the pot with a lid. Cook until ingredients are tender. This will always vary depending upon your ingredients. This soup will take about 10 minutes to cook because the potatoes take that long to soften. If there were dried lentils in this soup, we would have to extend the cooking time to 15 to 20 minutes.

9. After the soup is cooked, season it with a bit of ground black pepper and sea salt.

10. Now ladle about 1/3 the pot's contents into a blender and blend until smooth and then add blended contents back into the pot and stir until chunky ingredients and blended ingredients are mixed together well.

11. Finally, add the fresh cilantro to the cooked soup and stir in well. It is now ready to serve!

This is all there is to making a 5-Star Soup that is loaded with flavor and nutrition and that will satisfy you for hours. Our favorite evening meal is always a 5-Star Soup and a 5-Star Salad. Add to this a sweet piece of fruit for dessert and life just doesn't get any better!