35 Ways to Pimp Your Soup and Sauces

One of the joys of having teens in the house is that I can embarrass them by adopting their phraseology and use it indiscriminately against them. Ideally, this is at a track meet in front of their friends, but in this case I will settle for the small world of the Internet.

For those of you who aren’t aware of what “pimping” has become, it’s when you take a possession and stylize it lavishly and unconventionally. For instance, I saw an ad for a company that sells colorful slipcovers for tanning beds with many different themes of decoration using the slogan, “Pimp Your Bed.” Generally, the designs were over the top, which is also a characteristic of “pimping” something.

I’m all for realistically dealing with food and our eating. Sometimes, we’ll be in “perfection” mode and eat to the best of our knowledge. Sometimes, we’ll go to the other extreme and throw nutrition and any respect for what it does for our bodies out the window. And most times, we’re between the extremes. So, I’m a big fan of tweaking what you’re eating to supercharge–or, colloquially, pimping–your food.

Here are 35 ways to pimp your soup or sauce. Consider adding them right before eating, but if you prefer the flavors to blend, this is definitely one of those times when anything worth doing is worth doing poorly if not well. Add one or more as a garnish, stir them in, or use the list simply as inspiration for getting a little more variety into an ordinary meal. Depending on what you choose, you may add vegetables, herbs, spices, whole grains, nuts, seeds, or other nutrient-rich foods that weren’t there before. Your cells may or may not smile, but your soup could be considerably more interesting.

• Chopped spinach or kale
• Baby carrots, sliced thin
• Flax meal
• Green tea
• Garlic powder or crushed garlic
• Minced onion
• All-natural peanut butter or crushed peanuts
• Pecan meal
• Pureed broccoli or cauliflower
• Minced cabbage
• Cocoa powder
• Green onion tops
• Chives
• Clove (tip: a little goes a loooonnnnggg way)
• Ginger
• V-8 juice (low sodium)
• Black or cayenne pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Any bits of veggies
• Dried or fresh basil
• Dried or fresh parsley
• Dried or fresh oregano
• Dried or fresh rosemary
• Sorghum flour
• Organic wheat germ
• Turmeric
• Sesame seeds
• Curry powder
• Old Bay® seasoning
• Cinnamon
• Chili powder
• Cooked quinoa
• Toasted, ground soybeans
• Poppy seeds
• Cumin

The point isn’t to use all 35 at once (please don’t). It’s to look at an ordinary soup or sauce and ask what you already have in the kitchen that could make it a little more interesting.

Still feeling a little nerdy about what plants can bring to the table? Take a look at Youngevity’s Super Greens, a convenient way to add a wider variety of plant foods to your day.