Bowled over — Whip up a sublime, savory soup for a superb, super supper

When there's a winter chill, there's no better comfort food than soup. Why?

• You could eat a different soup every day for months. Soups can be hot and spicy, chunky with meat and vegetables, or a velvety smooth puree. Every ethnic cuisine has at least one standout soup — for instance, French onion soup, Chinese hot-and-sour soup, Italian minestrone or Russian borscht.

• It's a budget booster. A handful of ingredients can somehow feed a crowd, and all those odds and ends left in the refrigerator can be tossed in. Barbara Kafka, author of "Soup: A Way of Life," writes that she keeps a plastic bag in the freezer and throws in odds and ends of unused chicken parts, such as necks and wing tips, until she has enough to make her own stock.

• A basic soup recipe is the jumping off spot for creativity. Start with stock (homemade, commercial broth or bouillon base-and-water). Add your favorite veggies and meats for nourishment, herbs and spices for flavor, bulk it up if you want with starches, such as rice, potatoes or pasta. If you want to throw in another herb or spice or some other ingredient, you can ladle out a bowl, add the ingredient and then taste-test. If it works, add it to the whole pot. If it doesn't, you've only ruined one bowl of soup.

• It's a great way to get your family better acquainted with good-for-you veggies. Those who shun a full serving of carrots, spinach or peas may tolerate little bits and pieces just fine when they're mingled in a savory broth.

• Soup can fit into your available time. You can take all day, slow-simmering your own homemade stock from chicken or beef bones, chopping up fresh veggies and so on. Or you can throw it together in 30 minutes with the help of bouillon granules, frozen veggies and other convenience products.

• Most soups give you some leeway with cooking times. Late for dinner? No problem. Just keep soup warm on the back burner or in a slow cooker. Friends or family can grab a bowl as they come and go (and then come back for seconds).

Restaurants know the marketing value of a signature soup. It's been years since the Bratten's Grotto restaurants closed, but Utahns still fondly remember the clam chowder.

The Oasis Cafe's Tomato Fennel Soup is a daily staple at the eatery.

"It can be made vegan, vegetarian or with chicken broth, it's delicious whichever way you make it," said Joel LaSalle, owner of the Oasis Cafe. "If you choose to use chicken broth, the soup will have a little more depth of flavor.