4 hearty soups for winter

Check out these great soup ideas to keep you warm and nourished in the winter.

Butternut squash soup is easy to make, and its nutty flavour and meaty texture make for a naturally rich and creamy food. To make butternut squash soup this winter, cook a chopped butternut squash in a deep pan with pieces of onion and two cans of chicken broth. Once the broth is boiling, reduce the heat and allow the squash to simmer for 20 minutes. Once it's done, drain the squash and puree it in a blender with a quarter cup of orange juice. When you're ready to serve, top the soup with sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

To make a great homemade tomato soup, combine a chopped onion and a chopped bulb of fennel with a third of a cup of olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot. Cook the onion and fennel, then stir in a quarter cup of tomato paste and cook for 5-10 minutes. After the onion and fennel are well coated in tomato, drain and chop two cans of peeled tomatoes and add four cups of water to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce and let the soup cook down for about 30 minutes. Transfer half your pot's contents to a blender and puree. Top the chunky tomato mixture with the puree, and you'll have a soup with delicious texture and flavour.

It might not sound like a soup at all, but these two ingredients combine to make the perfect winter soup. To make a great beer and cheese soup, cook a chopped onion, a chopped leek, and two chopped cloves of garlic with butter in the bottom of a dutch oven. Once the vegetables are cooked, add three bottles of pilsner, a pound of grated gruyère cheese, and three teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce. Let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes, then spoon into a blender. Puree the soup with two pieces of chopped rye bread, then reheat. Once the soup is reheated, it's ready to be eaten. You can also serve this soup as a great dip for chips, pretzels and more.

Black bean soup is a hearty treat that can be made with a variety of ingredients to give it an earthy flavour or a more spicy Latin-cuisine influenced taste. For a simple black bean soup recipe, combine a can of black beans with two cups of salsa, a chopped scallion, a minced clove of garlic, and a handful of chopped cilantro. To give it even more of a kick, add some cumin and chili powder. This soup is best served topped with sour cream, shredded cheese, and a little parsley or cilantro.