Soup -- quick, cheap, healthy

As we ease into fall, it's time to make the next seasonal diet move: Soup. Make it a mealtime staple now through winter.

Why?

Because it's low in calories and high in water content. It fills you up before you fill out.

Soup is also a good-tasting vehicle for vegetables and other fiber-full ingredients. Many, if not most, varieties of soup score well on the nutritional balance sheet. Soup tends to be a good source of vitamins and minerals. With the exception of cream-based soups, it's also low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

And it's cheap.

Basic ingredients of soup -- water, herbs, spices, vegetables and beans -- are inexpensive. Soup is even more economical if you add leftovers -- odd bits of vegetables, rice, pasta or pasta sauce -- to a pot.

Soup is also a convenient, quick meal. It requires little stovetop supervision, and you can even make it in a slow cooker.

It's easy to make from scratch. Follow a basic recipe if you care to, but a little more of this ingredient or less of that is nothing to be concerned about. Soup is forgiving.

To make soup in the simplest way possible, try these tips:

• Start with a base of broth. Make your own by simmering vegetable scraps and seasonings in water, or take a shortcut. I like to start with two 32-ounce shelf-stable containers of vegetable broth (such as Trader Joe's or Pacific Natural Foods brand) or add low-sodium vegetable bouillon to water.
• Add to it. Dump in some split peas, lentils or dried beans and cook until tender. The soup can be ready sooner if you use rinsed, canned beans such as garbanzo or kidney beans. Add frozen or fresh chopped onions, bell peppers, and celery, minced garlic or stewed tomatoes or whatever you have on hand that you'd like to use up.
• Season it. I like to add lots of cracked black pepper, basil and oregano. Leave out the artery-clogging bacon grease and animal fats, though. Add flavor with fresh or dried herbs and spices. Hot pepper sauce or vinegar gives soup some kick and can compensate for less added salt.
• Add some more. For variety, add barley, rice or bits of pasta. Kids like alphabet-shaped pasta.

The biggest drawback to soup tends to be its sodium content.

You have a lot more control when soup is homemade rather than from a can. When you make soup from scratch, cut the sodium level by using reduced-sodium tomatoes, rinsing canned beans and limiting added table salt.

You can also dilute the sodium load of soup by ensuring that the rest of the meal is low in sodium. For example, serve soup with crusty bread and fresh fruit salad, sliced, fresh vegetables or a mixed green salad tossed with vinegar and oil.

Soup often thickens overnight. If it does, add more broth before reheating, or serve leftover soup over cooked rice or couscous.

Make what you need for a couple of days and freeze the rest for another day. Take soup to school or the office for lunch and save money on meals away from home.

I like to use two-cup glass Pyrex bowls with tight-fitting plastic lids for reheating in a microwave (I found mine at Kohl's). Japanese-style Bento boxes or a thermos are other options.

Plan to get into the soup habit this fall. It's one of the simplest -- and most pleasant -- seasonal strategies for a healthy diet.