---

These healthy soup recipes make an excellent start to any meal. They also make a great light meal when combined with a nice salad and they are wonderful healthy comfort foods that go well with everything from healthy grilled cheese to roast chicken.

You may not be used to having soup for breakfast, but healthy soup recipes are also wonderful in the morning (or as a healthy snack anytime of the day).

Kids (and adults!) who don't otherwise get excited about vegetables may appreciate them more when they appear in yummy soup form- my kids are big soup fans and happily eat lots of veggies this way.

If you have the time and the inclination to make your own stock, and you keep a bunch stored in the freezer, many of your soups will be all the more delicious and healthy (home-made stocks are chock full of nutients, especially those all important blood strengthening and bone-building minerals).

If you don't have stock on hand or you just prefer not to use it, most, if not all, of the soups can be made without it.