You don't need to be a master chef to make a few healthy meals at home. Research by Dr. Barbara Rolls at Pennsylvania State University on the benefits of high-fiber, high-water foods (see article on Energy Density by this writer) shows how brothy vegetable soups are a very smart way to limit caloric intake even while taking in highly beneficial nutrients.

But what about someone who doesn't think about what's for dinner until ... it's time to eat dinner? And what if you're interested in protein content - perhaps because you exercise and know that protein is a key component of building and maintaining muscle: do vegetable soups mean you'll need to supplement with a side entree of meat or a protein drink?

The good news is you can have it all in one quick meal. You don’t even need to know much about cooking. A hearty, healthy, nutrient-dense vegetable soup can be made in less than 15 minutes by anyone who knows how to open cans and plastic bags and turn on a stove.

Vegetable soup basics

Soup is basically a mishmash of foods cooked in water. Cultures throughout the world each have their versions of soups, most of which make use of yesterday’s leftovers (the word “minestrone” is become a synonym for “hodgepodge” because it is defined by use of whichever vegetables are in season – or unused from yesterday).

Translation: there are no rules when it comes to soup. But if you want a fast, vegetable-based, high protein soup that is ready in under 15 minutes and requires almost no skill, here is a way to approach it.

Step 1:

Assemble four categories of ingredients:

A. Water or broth: Soup broth is sold almost everywhere, but you can also use bouillon (water boiled around meat bones) or (the easiest) bouillon cubes to flavor tap water. Rule of thumb for how much: The liquid should be 1-3 inches higher in the soup pot than other ingredients. Also, if you are using canned soup broth use the can to add 3-5 times as much tap water as the broth itself (i.e., the water-to-broth ratio is 3 or 4 or 5:1)

B. Vegetables: Frozen are easiest, which are just as or even more packed in micronutrients as compared to fresh (see related article on 5-a-day vegetables and fruit by this writer). Canned vegetables work just as well, plus the salt in the canning juices contributes to the flavor of the soup. And if that fresh spinach you bought five days ago is looking a little wilted in your refrigerator crisper, it will serve perfectly well in a pot of vegetable soup. Chop an onion or some garlic if you have either around the house and add it to the mix.

C. Protein: Either canned beans (garbanzo, black, kidney, lentils, Navy, Great Northern, etc.) or canned meats (chicken, turkey, roast beef, tuna, or salmon), or both, can be used. As with canned vegetables the juices in the cans contribute to the soup’s flavor. Alternatively, you can work with raw or frozen meats, but those require longer cook times – which blows the idea of a fast soup right out of the simmering water.

D. Flavor: Spices of choice - a dash or dump of hot sauces, Worcestershire and/or lemon juices - add both zing and health benefits. A problem with most canned soups is their high sodium content, but you don't have to do that since you can flavor this to your own taste buds. Some great spices to try: oregano, turmeric, caraway seeds, cumin, fresh (best) or dried cilantro, coriander and mustard seed (or just regular old prepared mustard). Experiement and find which flavors work best for you, and try to keep salt use at a minimum.

Step 2:

Throw everything into a soup pot, heat to medium high – and serve. If you are out of crackers, toast some whole grain bread or pita and crumble it over the soup. Keep all the above ingredients in the house (all have long shelf lives) and you’ll always have a healthy meal just 15 minutes away.

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Russ Klettke is author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat, the regular guy’s guide to eating smart” with Deanna Conte, MS RD LD (Marlowe & Co., 2004); available where books are sold and in hundreds of public library systems in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The book focuses on ways to eat healthier for people who might otherwise eat processed and fast foods.