For years, I avoided making homemade soup because I thought it was hard to make.  Since most canned soup is way too salty for me, that meant I did without soup.

This is most unfortunate as soup is a most excellent and versatile food.  On it's own or with a sandwich, it makes a fine lunch.  Paired with a salad, it's a light dinner.  It can also be a good first course in a larger meal.  Reheated, it's a great snack, especially on a chilly day.

It's also ridiculously easy to make if you use storebought broth.  Buy a decent non-fat, low sodium brand of stock (I like the resealable containers) and you are good to go.  Several brands even make good vegetable stocks, so making vegetarian soups is really easy.

All soups have four basic steps:

1. Saute the aromatics (onions, garlic, spices, sausage, etc.) in some oil until soft. You can deglaze the pan with broth, wine, or a light vinegar).
2. Add the liquid — usually broth, possibly supplemented with crushed or peeled tomatoes, tomato juice, or milk.
3. Add the floaters — things like chopped veggies or cubed already cooked meat or potatoes.
4. Thicken.  Once the veggies are soft enough, you will probably want to thicken the soup a bit.  You can do this by adding rice or noodles or by taking out a few cups of the soup, running it through the blender, and pouring it back into the soup.  that thickens it up nicely without changing the flavor.

Ta da.  You just made soup.  Wasn't as hard as you thought, huh?