Category — Soups

Let me start by saying that although their price is right, I’m usually not a fan of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  I’ve tried to like ‘em.  I’ve made tagines around them, chopped them up for Chinese, etc., but they end up slimy and icky.  And this from a woman who has to hold back on the roasted dark meat because her daughter is also a lover.  But now, with this soup, I’ve found a home for those puppies.  No slime.  Just yummy deliciousness. 

This is very easy and very flavorful – great the night you make it and also yummy as leftovers.  [Read more →]

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When I first saw this recipe, I groaned.  Until I made this, I treated my soup pot a lot like my Crock-Pot – it was for dump-n-go meals.   No browning, no pre-cooking the ingredients.  Puleez.  But for whatever reason (not enough to do with my time?  nope, that’s not it.) I decided to try this crazy roasting the veggies thing, and let me tell you, it’s worth it.  Not in a “I will never again eat soup with veggies that aren’t pre-roasted” kinda way, but so good that I don’t begrudge the effort. 

This recipe is ripe for customization – add whatever you have kicking around your fridge – winter CSA time is coming, along with a deluge of root veggies.  Parsnips? Check!  Turnip?  Sure!  Kohlrabi?  Delicious.  Toss ‘em in there and turn your family onto a warm, veggie-licious winter meal (or several!).

Roasted Vegetable Soup With Kale (adapted from Simply Recipes)

Preheat oven to 400°. Line two rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil. Arrange the squash in a single layer on one sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir gently to coat.  Add the carrots, onion, and garlic to the other sheet. Drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast vegetables until they are brown and tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Cut the carrots into 1/2 inch pieces; set aside. Place the garlic cloves and the onion in a food processor; puree until almost smooth. Transfer broth and vegetable puree to large pot. Add 5 1/2 cups broth, kale, thyme and bay leaf to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes.

Add the carrots, beans, and squash to soup. Simmer 8 minutes to blend flavors, adding more broth to thin soup if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf.

Serves six.  This can be made a day ahead of time, and in fact, I think it’s better left over!

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I don’t know why it took me ’til last winter to get really into making soup.  What the heck was wrong with me?  I think I thought they were too complicated, and perhaps not satisfying enough . . . I’ll admit it.  I was wrong wrong wrong.  Case in point – today’s recipe.  It is easy (some chopping is required) and so hearty you really don’t need anything else to go alongside . . . although a little green salad and a piece of crusty bread would set you up for delight, I’m sure.  Enjoy!

White Bean & Kale Soup (inspired by the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter)

In a small bowl, mash about 1/2 of the beans.  Set aside.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or soup bot over medium heat.  Add the sausage and cook, crumbling it with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.  Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic; cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant, 3-5 minutes.  Add the kale and toss it until it wilts down.  Add the broth, tomatoes and both the mashed and whole beans.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended, about 30 minutes.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pass the Romano to sprinkle on top of each bowl at the table.

Serves 4.

If you have leftovers and they’re too thick, thin the soup with a little water or a little more low-sodium chicken broth.

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It’s soup season.  For real now, I think – that last blast of warm weather we got in Boston was flukey (it always happens, right?).  Now it’s chilly and sometimes wet and well, perfect for puttin’ up a pot of soup.  This stew hit the spot.  If you’re not familiar with Eating Well magazine, you need to check them out.  They consistently turn out healthy, mostly easy recipes that are full of flavor.  And if you’re not up for another subscription, there’s LOTS to enjoy on their site.  You can thank me later.

Sausage, Potato, Leek & Spinach Stew (adapted from Eating Well Magazine)

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add sausage and leeks and cook, stirring occasionally and crumbling the sausage with a wooden spoon, until the leeks are tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and salt and stir until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add wine, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover and cook until the wine is almost evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add potatoes and broth; cover and bring to a boil. Stir in spinach and scallions and cook, covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in beans. Cover and let stand for 1 minute. Divide among 6 soup bowls and sprinkle each portion with parsley.

Serves 6.

This is awesome left over.  I put a few handfuls of fresh baby spinach in a big soup bowl, added some stew, and microwaved it . . . warm, filling, flavorful and packed with veggie goodness.

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Wednesdays are CSA share distribution days for us, and therefore Tuesdays are the days I freak about the stuff that’s still hanging around my fridge(s).  This week, there was a lot – we went away for the weekend and so I didn’t cook for a few nights.  I didn’t want to waste the precious bounty, so – here came this kitchen-sink green soup to the rescue . . . this soup will help you get your frugalista on, big-time.

My mother was poking around at the library and found a great cookbook called Love Soup by Anna Thomas, the author of the roundly praised Vegetarian Epicure.  Only after she’d begun to photocopy her favorites (um, mother of an intellectual property litigator) did my mother realize it’d be better to just buy the book . . . so many looked so good.  I received the photocopies (she’s not one to waste anything!) and this one caught my eye.

This isn’t so much a recipe as a method.  You can put anything in this soup – sky’s the limit.  Only a few things remain the same – you caramelize an onion to start.  You add some garlic part-way through, you garnish it with some lovely olive oil and perhaps a sprinkle of cheese.  But which veggies you choose is entirely up to you.

I used:

• a bunch of flat leaf parsley
• a half-bunch of cilantro
• a bunch of lacinato kale
• 3 bulbs (is that what they’re called?) kohlrabi
• 2 bunches of scallions
• 1 medium yellow onion

Get yourself a large stockpot or a big Le Creuset – I used my 7 1/4 qt. Le Creuset for this.  Thinly slice the yellow onion, and cook it with a sprinkle of salt, in about 2 T. of extra-virgin olive oil.  Cook it on low heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s golden brown and soft - you’re letting the onion’s delicious sweet flavor develop here.  Don’t rush it! This will take about 1/2 hour, but you’re going to be chopping while you do this . . . .

Meanwhile, clean and chop all your various veggies – you can use stems of things here, too, ’cause you’re cooking it ’til it’s soft. 

When your onion is sufficiently caramelized, de-glaze the pan with a little vegetable or low-sodium chicken broth.  Then add all those greens, along with approximately 3 cups of whichever broth you’re using.  Toss the veggies in the broth until they cook down a bit (my pot was practically over-flowing to start).  Also add 3-4 T. of arborio rice – this will add starch and will result in a velvety soup when it’s finished.

Once the broth begins to boil, cover the pot, reduce the heat, and let the soup simmer for approximately 1/2 hour.  Add more broth to completely cover the cooked-down vegetables, and add 2-4 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste (for all those veggies, I added the equivalent of 4 cloves of crushed garlic).

Once everything is sufficiently mushy (more or less time, depending on what you’ve got in there), remove the vat from the heat and use either an immersion blender or a regular blender (for goodness sake, be careful blending hot liquids, OK?) to puree the soup.  Return it to the heat, bring it back to simmer, and add the juice of one lemon, Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper to taste.  Voila!

Garnishes – a little extra-good extra-virgin drizzled on top adds a delicious richness.  Also good is some fresh white cheese – I used some ricotta salata, but Thomas suggests that feta or Cotija would be good.  You could also make up some croutons to throw on top.  If it hadn’t been 50-gagillion degrees out, I’d have hacked up a stale loaf of rosemary focaccia I have in the fridge and toasted that up.  Maybe tomorrow?

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I’m not sick of soup yet, and I hope you aren’t either.  While D. did request a “solid meal” when he returns end of week, even he’s been digging the soup lately.  And who wouldn’t?  They’re hearty, healthy, flavorful, warm, cheap and easy.  D. gets dinner made for him, most nights, but easy on me is easy on him.  ‘Cause as we say in our house, “if mama ain’t happy, no one’s happy.” 

This soup takes a bit longer to prep than the Slow Cooker Taco Soup I made the other day – but not too long.  It’s about 40 minutes of your time, total – that includes rolling up the little meatballs, which are so cute, and so tasty, you’ll be glad you made the effort.

Slow Cooker Escarole Soup With Turkey Meatballs

 In a large (mine is 6-qt.) slow cooker, combine the carrots, escarole and chicken broth.  Cook on low for 4 hours, making sure your escarole gets submerged in the chicken broth.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the turkey, 1/3 c. cheese, breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, eggs and some salt & pepper (best way to do this is with your hands).  Rinse your hands and fashion the turkey mixture into 1-inch meatballs.  Place on a plate or cookie sheet and cover.  Keep in the refrigerator until it’s time to place the meatballs in the soup.  After your veggies have cooked for 4 hours, carefully put the meatballs in the soup, recover the slow cooker, and cook on high for another 3 hours, until the meatballs are cooked through.  Stir and taste for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper as needed.  Serve topped with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.

Serves 6.  You could add some small cooked pasta to this just before serving if you like.  Good with a crusty loaf of bread, and if you’re L., slather that with LOTS of butter.  Mmmmmmm.

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It’s official, folks, I’m on a soup bender.  More gross weather on Tuesday in Boston . . . cold, snowy, gray . . . what better soup weather?  Plus, I didn’t know if D. was going to make it home in time for dinner, so I wanted something that would hold ’til he got home to eat.  I got inspired by a post on the Epicurious blog and 30 minutes later, I was sipping a bowl of hot, spicy goodness.  After he got home and ate, D. said that “this one is even better than the bean and barley one the other night . . . .”  This one is a helluva lot faster, for sure.  Enjoy!

Chorizo & Chickpea Soup With Spinach

Heat the olive oil in a stockpot or large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onions and saute until they’re translucent.  Add the garlic and saute just until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add the chorizo and stir.  Add the chickpeas, diced and strained tomatoes, chicken stock, cumin and oregano, stirring to combine.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove lid, add vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.  Add spinach, stirring to wilt.  Serve with grated cheddar on top. Great with a crusty loaf of bread to help sop up the spicy broth.

Serves 4.

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This rich, thick and hearty soup came about thanks to two fellow Boston bloggers, Kelly and Sues.  After reading my tortelloni soup post, they both encouraged me to check out the New England Soup Factory Cookbook, so, I immediately ordered it up via the Minuteman Library Network.  This is my usual M.O. when I’m curious about a cookbook – I vet it via the library and decide if I want to add it to “The Collection” or not.  “The Collection” is getting so large that it’s going to have to move outside the kitchen very soon . . . so there’s no room for stragglers.

This, is a GREAT cookbook – thanks Kelly & Sues!  There are so many good-looking recipes here – seasonal soups (think cool, light soups for summer, root veggie soups for winter), simple childhood favorites like Alphabet soup, creamy chowders, tomato-based soups, and sandwiches and salads to go alongside.  On the first pass-through, I flagged 7 soups that particularly stood out for me, and this one was one of them.  I wasn’t disappointed!

As is my way, I tweaked and doctored.  This recipe turns out a vat of inexpensive, hearty, savory soup that’ll stick to your ribs.  D., at first skeptical, pronounced it “delicious,” which is good, ’cause unless I freeze this, we’ll be eating it all week . . . .

Fava Bean & Barley Soup

To prepare the fava beans:  rinse and pick over the beans and discard any discolored beans or pebbles.  Put the beans in a bowl and cover with water.  Let stand overnight, then drain and rinse.  Alternatively, in a large saucepan, combine the beans with enough water to cover.  Cover the pan, and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat and let the beans sit for two hours.  Drain them before adding to the soup.

Heat the oil in a stockpot or large Dutch oven (this just fit in my 7 1/4-quart Dutch oven) over medium high heat.  Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery.  Saute until the onion is translucent and the celery is softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the beans and the barley and saute for another 2 minutes.  Add the stock and the bay leaves.  Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours or until the favas are thoroughly cooked, adding more stock if the soup is too thick (I probably added another 2 c. part-way through the cooking time).  Add the parsley, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Serves 12.  Note – if you’re tasting the soup prior to adding the Worcestershire, etc., it’ll be quite bland . . . those last few ingredients make it all come together in a delicious flash of light, so don’t be discouraged!

What the heck are fava beans?  I love ‘em, and have eaten them for years – again probably because of my Mid-East roots.  If they’re new to you, here are some facts:  Fava beans were enjoyed by the ancient Egyptians and continue to be a prime source of protein in Middle Eastern cuisine. Favas are considered by many to be one of the tastiest beans – they have a firm texture and creamy, meaty taste that holds up well to strong flavors.  Fava beans hold their shape well, so they’re great in soups.  They do have a very tough, inedible skin, so it’s important to get dried favas with the skins already removed.

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