Healthy Recipes for a Dutch Oven

Who wouldn't want to eat their vegetables when they're tucked into a fragrant broth with bits of tasty chicken and spiked with a shot of fresh lime and cilantro? This healthy Southwestern chicken vegetable soup seems even richer with the smoky flavor from roasted poblano peppers and garlic. Serve this healthy chicken soup recipe with tortilla chips.

This hearty bean and barley soup tastes like it has simmered for hours, but actually it's quite quick to throw together. Plus this recipe for healthy bean and barley soup freezes beautifully. If you have cooked barley on hand, omit the quick-cooking barley and stir in 1 1/2 cups cooked barley along with the broth in Step 2.

Quick-cooking barley and sirloin help get this beef-and-barley soup on the table in a snap--and it doubles easily. If leftovers get too thick in the fridge, add a little broth when you reheat it. Serve with crusty bread and a glass of malbec.

This Eastern European soup (called kapusniak in Polish) is traditionally made with sauerkraut. To keep the sodium in check in this healthy recipe, we use fresh cabbage and save the sauerkraut for a deliciously salty-sour garnish.

Sautéed spinach (or any greens) with garlic and a squeeze of lemon (or vinegar) is a simple formula that lets spinach shine and will never go out of favor.

Italian comfort food at its best, this easy soup recipe lends itself to countless variations. Our version features fiber-rich white beans instead of pasta.

Bake up some Manchego cheese toasts and uncork a bottle of Ribera del Duero to enjoy alongside this healthy pot of soup. Both sweet and hot Italian sausage work well.

Fresh or frozen ravioli cook in minutes and turn this light vegetable soup into a main course. Look for whole-wheat or whole-grain ravioli in the refrigerated or frozen section of the supermarket. Serve this healthy ravioli soup with a side salad.

Slowly adding hot broth to arborio rice helps release the starch from the rice, giving risotto its characteristic silky, creamy texture. We add a splash of wine along with each addition of broth to give the dish a more pronounced wine flavor. If you'd prefer the wine to be more subtle, add the entire cup at the end of Step 2 and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed, then begin adding the broth. If you prefer to omit wine, use more broth in its place.

We took the classic flavors of Buffalo wings--hot sauce, blue cheese, carrots and celery--and created a finger-licking-good casserole. Serve this dish during football season to a hungry crowd and it's sure to be a hit. We don't typically recommend ingredients by brand name, but in this case we make an exception for Frank's RedHot Sauce. It has the perfect balance of spice and tang for this casserole. Texas Pete and Crystal hot sauces are suitable alternatives if you can't find Frank's.

Instead of loading up this comfort food side with tons of brown sugar and marshmallows, we have turned to sweet spices, vanilla and inherently sweet dried fruit to enhance the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes. A topping of pecans and pepitas replaces traditional marshmallow topping to keep it healthy and add texture and color for a beautiful casserole.

This healthy vegetarian chili has a fragrant touch of cinnamon for added flavor. Let diners top it with whatever suits their taste.

In this healthy fish chowder recipe, heavy cream is replaced with milk and flour-thickened fish (or seafood) broth and we keep sodium amounts reasonable with lower-sodium broth. By making your own homemade fish chowder, you'll save up to 300 calories, 20 grams of saturated fat and 500 milligrams of sodium per serving compared to many store-bought or restaurant chowders.

This quick and easy spicy chicken soup recipe is made with leftover cooked chicken and is spiked with garlic, ginger and hot sauce.

Topping steamed broccoli with a good-for-you cheese sauce is an easy way to entice picky eaters to eat their veggies.

This roasted chicken recipe may be the most useful recipe you'll ever find. It's a meal on its own or the start of any recipe that calls for cooked chicken--perfect for meal-prepping lunches or dinners to have throughout the week.

Now everyone can enjoy classic Thanksgiving favorites, like this dairy-free green bean casserole. We make a homemade vegan cream of mushroom soup using almond milk for the creamy base that's combined with fresh green beans. Top it off with classic french-fried onions (we have a vegan recipe for that, too!) for a side dish everyone will devour.

You don't need broth for this lentil soup recipe--it's rich thanks to the browned bits in the bottom of the pan that meld into the soup, packing it with flavor. Ground coriander, from the seed of the cilantro plant, has a floral, citrusy flavor that dovetails nicely with the lemon.

This creamless—but creamy—mushroom soup recipe showcases the savory flavor of fresh morel mushrooms. If you can't find fresh or dried morels, try other dried mushrooms, such as dried shitakes or creminis, but be sure to use at least one ounce dried mushrooms to keep the luscious flavor in this healthy soup. Serve with crusty garlic bread.

Tofu has a reputation for being bland, but when marinated in Italian seasoning for up to four hours, it's anything but in this veggie-packed soup.

This combination of mussels with plenty of garlic, parsley, saffron and white wine was inspired by the Venetian soup zuppa de peoci, which is usually ladled over sliced crusty bread. Here we serve it over pasta. For a more elegant presentation you can remove the mussels from their shells before serving…but then again, who wants to be elegant? Enjoy!

Soup beans speak instant comfort to anyone who has familial connections from Appalachia, where every garden produced shelling beans that could be eaten fresh or grown to maturity for dry beans.

Barley adds texture, flavor and a healthy dose of fiber to this chicken vegetable soup recipe.

Also known as fasolada, this simple, rich stew is popular in Greek cuisine. Featuring a medley of white beans, tomatoes, carrots and celery, this fragrant stew is perfect for cooler weather.