Posts Tagged ‘soup’

Yesterday at work I was chatting with one of our photographers on the merits of soup as a meal. He argued soup can never be filling, but I disagree. Seinfeld jokes aside, I love having soup for dinner, especially chilled soups during the summer. Cold borscht, gazpacho, vichyssoise – they may not be hearty, but when it’s 90° and humid, the last thing I want to do is sit down to a huge piece of roasted meat and potatoes. Especially when I have air conditioning in only one room of my apartment.

I got excited when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Bon Appetit because it has all my favorite things. Thai curry paste, squash, cilantro… to me, those are incredibly refreshing flavors and ideal for a chilled summer soup. This recipe makes a nice big batch and is actually quite satisfying by stirring in some thick and creamy Greek yogurt plus an extra little sprinkle of cilantro. If you wanted to bulk it up you could easily keep some of the squash from being pureed and stir it in once you chill it, but I think the puree itself is just perfect.

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I’m feeling much better, but haven’t quite graduated to chewing yet, so I whipped this up tonight for dinner. Although I desperately wished I could have some crunchy toasts with it (oh, crunchy food… how I miss you…), it was still incredibly delicious and smooth as silk.

All you do is warm frozen peas in stock, blend them with some balsamic vinegar, season, and eat. A bit of fresh goat cheese adds a rich touch without being too aggressive, and the whole thing comes together in 15 minutes. It may sound too simple to be delicious, but so many great soups are as simple as this, so just embrace it! Now excuse me while I retreat to the couch and my glorious prescription pain killers once more.

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Okay, it’s not the most photogenic thing in the world, but trust me – the ugliest foods always taste the best.

My buddy Clif recently asked me about making green chile chili and ever since I gave my tips, I couldn’t get it out of my head. And then as I was cleaning out the seemingly bottomless cabinet of appliances I have under my sink, my crock pot was staring me in the face, practically glowing with the suggestion to use it.

So here is quite possibly the easiest recipe I have on the site so far – even easier than the 2-ingredient ‘ice cream’! Only one step! This is the greatest set it and forget it kind of meal, and it reheats superbly, which is exactly what I need right now. Thick and rich from the beans and their natural starch, plus packed with flavor from all the spices – it could be served on a cold winter’s day with hot cornbread, or a warm summer afternoon with chips and guacamole.

Freshly ground white pepper.

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Back in August I was feeling a little on the sniffly, sore-throat, swollen-gland side, so naturally I wanted some soothing comfort food. I emailed my mom asking for her chicken noodle soup recipe I loved growing up, expecting it to be an easy, throw-together kind of recipe.

Oh how wrong I was.

I had no idea my mom’s (well, grandma’s) recipe entailed making your own stock, cooling it overnight, cooking more vegetables the next day, cooking the egg noodles, etc. For an average weekend this would be no big deal, but the idea of doing all that work feverish and sick was just a big no. So the email sat dormant, until I realized I would be cooking my favorite roast chicken and thus have the carcass to make stock (bing!). Since I usually eat a leg and a little breast when I roast a whole chicken, and then do whatever with the leftovers, it felt like the perfect opportunity to eat a bit of roast chicken, and then use the rest of the delicious meat (plus the carcass) to make the ultimate chicken noodle soup.

Some people would call the list of ingredients and recipe pretty pedestrian – but as the saying goes, simplicity is the sign of perfection. The flavor of the stock is superb, and cooking the vegetables separately the next day really adds a nice layer. Although my mom has always served egg noodles with her soup, you can really use any short pasta. Either way, this dish is simple, but time consuming – something I find in most soups I love.

Stock veg!

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Cooking for one can be tricky.  Most people I know who live by themselves end up snacking for dinner simply because the idea of making a recipe that serves four is either too expensive, time-consuming, or they worry about having leftovers.

I’m not afraid to have a week’s worth of a certain dish around or spend hours making something, but more than often I like to whip things together for dinner 3 out of 5 weeknights, usually fitting the breakfast taco or wedge salad bill. But then you can find recipes like this which gives us singular cooks all hope.

I’ve had this recipe sitting around a bit because not only was it sold as a 15-minute soup, it was designated a “Cooking for One” recipe in Everyday Food, which naturally caught my eye. Throw in the fact I’ve eaten conference food, Lunchables, and far too much Diet Coke in the past few days… well, let’s just say I was craving something vegetable-packed, healthy, and satisfying.

One last thing – I’m in the running at Bon Appetit’s Blog Envy Bake Off for my chocolate pumpkin cheesecake squares and would send thousands of hugs and kisses out if you could take a few seconds to go vote for me and all the other fantastic blogs and recipes listed. It’s a really fun contest with so many great entries, I’m just excited to see my blog amongst them. You do have to register to vote, but trust me – it’s worth it!

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