Making soup? Slow it down a bit

If you're trying to adapt a regular soup recipe to your slow cooker or to improve one you've already made, here are a few key slow-cooking tips to help you make the best soup ever. Keep them in mind when putting together your slow-cooker recipes and you can't go wrong. Not a slow-cooker connoisseur? Not to worry. A slow cooker is like any other tool and you'll get better at cooking with it the more you use it.

Some ingredients stand up to, and benefit from, longer cooking times more than others. All of these can be added at the very start of cooking.

Robust vegetables: Onions, root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, winter squashes, tomatoes, celery, cauliflower and broccoli.

Meats: Lean cuts from the shoulder and rump of beef, lamb, goat, pork, whole chickens, chicken thighs and chicken legs.

Spices: Most spices can and should be added at the beginning of cooking, though rosemary can become bitter over the longest cooking times and is best added at the end.

These are quicker-cooking ingredients that wouldn't hold up over hours of cooking and add some fresh flavor to a slow-cooked dish. Add all of the following ingredients in the last 30 to 45 minutes of cooking.

Softer vegetables such as peas, corn, bell peppers and spinach.

Pantry items: Rice, noodles and other grains. You can add these already cooked, though uncooked grains are helpful for soaking up excess liquid and it makes them more flavorful. Beans can cause some debate; personally, I like to add them at the end of cooking so they retain some firmness, though they can be added at the beginning if that's easier for you.

Dairy products: Milk, yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese. Coconut milk is also best added at the end.

This ensures that all the ingredients will cook more or less at the same rate.

With our busy schedules, it's tempting and sometimes necessary to just dump all the ingredients in the slow-cooker and press "go." This is perfectly fine and will give you a nice warm dinner to come home to.

If you have a few extra minutes and want to take that soup to the next level, brown the veggies and sear the meat before putting them in the slow cooker. You'll be rewarded with richer, more intense flavors in your soup.

Meats and root vegetables will take longer to become tender than, say, cauliflower. Nestle those items around the bottom and sides of the slow cooker, where they will have more direct contact with the slow-cooker's heating element.