Ahorsesoul: i LOVE the site you connected us to! I could stay there for hours!
I have a crockpot that I have never used. (Blush). From that cooking site that you linked us to.... it sure looks like it would "carmalize onions" to use a crockpot.
Yesterday, I saw a "health" segment on some of the reasons "chicken soup' REALLY IS HEALTHY WHEN YOU HAVE A COLD. OR FEEL SICK.
I can't remember them all. One is... you don't feel like eating much when you are sick.... and chicken releases something (when it is cooked) into the broth.... that makes it easier to digest protein... so you get more benefit from what you do eat. Then... there is something in the broth that gets rid of mucous. (Sorry). There are lots of other reasons that is IS good for you when you are sick.
Sunday night... I was, gone, helping dd with a project. So... dh heated up two bowls of the soup-that-is-a-meal that I had made days earlier.
I bought a "chicken chipolte soup"... fresh-made... to try. (The stores have "soup bars" with fresh soup.)
It was MUCH too spicy for us. (Lips and mouth were on fire!) So... I used that as a base... with 32 ounces of vegetable stock. A package of frozen green peas (which soothes down strong things). And a package of frozen "soup vegetables" that were diced pretty small. Two cans of black beans (protein, fiber, lots of antioxidents and no strong taste). The resulting mix still had a light "Merxican" taste. Now here is what made it really good:
Avacados were on sale because they were ripe to use that day. I peeled and diced one, chopped fresh tomatoes, (separate bowls for each), crunched up a crunchy taco... and put out a bowl of vegetarian sour cream. (You could use unflavored Grerek yougurt).
You put the hot soup in a big individual bowl. The person... puts the fresh chopped up things on top. The hot spicy soup is mellowed by the avocado, tomatoes, crunchy corn taco and smooth sour cream.
Dh LOVED it! Me too.
The original fresh-prepared soup may not have been too healthy.... because who knows what they put in it (additives, preservatives).... but it was really diluted with all the good stuff you add to it.