April showers bring May flowers. I have to keep reminding myself of that when it rains all day long. And in between moments of crazy rain and sun peeking through clouds, I want to sit at my kitchen table reading a magazine & eating a bowl of soup. This fantasy includes a hunk of garlic bread, as most fantasies do.
One of my go-to soups is this Sausage Soup I made years ago. I’ve probably made it as many times as I’ve seen The Royal Tenenbaums (which is A LOT). When I was flipping through one of my old Everyday Food Magazines (sniff sniff! So sad they shut down) I found this recipe and realized I had all of the ingredients at my disposal.
It’s like having a bowl of pasta, a bowl of soup, and a salad all in one. Carbs, meat, greens, SUPER FOODS and dairy all in one dish. It might soon replace my old standby. We’ll see about that.
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We woke up yesterday morning without power. It was a bright sunny morning here in California and it seemed a little silly to not have power. In my life, power outages are usually associated with massive storms or some planned street work. It’s always a reminder how frequent I take power for granted. My brain expects the light to go on when I turn on the switch, and yesterday I got a rude awakening when I went to do dishes and the garbage disposal didn’t work… I had a bunch of mushrooms & strawberries in there from the night before. Oof.
Since I was banned from oven usage, I decided to turn the stove on and make soup. This Lemony Chicken & Orzo Soup from the latest Bon Appetit magazine is perfect for the weather we’re having here in the Bay Area. We’re having the kind of weather that requires a light sweater and if the sun is just right, a little skin will make an appearance. It’s the type of weather that makes you want a light soup to take the chill off the cool breeze. This soup will do just that. It’s simple ingredients come together for a light/vibrant flavor combination. Lemon + Dill are flavor powerhouses! It’s what I’m taking to work this week for lunch.
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My horoscope keeps telling me that this is the time to start creating new/healthy eating & exercising habits and since it’s the new year, I’ll be more motivated to do so. Should I listen to my horoscope or do I think it’s trying to get me to buy a gym membership? I bet Leos aren’t the only ones getting this horoscope. You can never tell with these apps anymore!
It’s been awhile since I made a new soup. Perhaps I could tell the horoscope writing people to include “make some good soup” into our daily horoscope? That would be a good habit, wouldn’t it? If I could write horoscopes, I’d tell Geminis to make up their mind on what soup to make. I’d tell Capricorns to get out of their food comfort zones and try something new! A Leo must go to the newest/hippest restaurant known for its soup and a Pisces should not just be focused on what the place setting looks like around the soup, but should make sure it actually tastes good. Flavor is important!
But you never know, I could be giving the wrong horoscope to the wrong sign. It’s all a matter of interpretation, isn’t it? What I do know is that this soup I made to set my body straight this January is a keeper. It’s the first soup I’ve made with cashew cream and it definitely won’t be the last. It’s vegan, gluten-free, hearty, spicy and packed with flavor. The texture is smooth & creamy and it will most definitely fill you up. My carb brain thought I needed some bread to accompany it, but I was fine without. That should tell you something!
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It’s a shame the Soup Nazi went out of business because he would have had a real hit with this Creamy Carrot Soup. I have no doubt, he would have charged $5 for a slice of my garlic bread and only exceptional customers who made absolutely no sounds got two slices. If Kramer was around, he’d probably add a dollop of parsley oil on top of his soup; they were tight like that.
I love the creamy/sweet/savory combination of this carrot soup. It’s both hearty & llight and the addition of parsley oil helps round out the flavor.
Soup for me, soup for you, SOUP FOR EVERYONE!
Man, I miss Seinfeld and my friend James who gave me this sweet little recipe!
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Think of soup like your favorite old sweater. It’s warm & comforting and with different accessories and separates, you can create several different outfits out of your old standby. For the past two years I’ve been obsessed with white beans. I’ve made different variations of this soup with similar flavor profiles. There’s the Tuscan Ribollita that uses white beans, bread, kale & pancetta. There’s my favorite soup ever, Sausage White Bean Soup and most recently my mom’s Pasta Fagioli Soup that also uses sage, pancetta and white beans. Never have I made a soup that purees white beans so they make the base of a soup. This is also the first time I’ve baked prosciutto in the oven and created shards out of them! I liken these little adjustments to putting your sweater over a hot new dress and sealing the deal with a fabulously fancy red scarf.
When you puree white beans in soup, magic happens. It’s as if you added a cup of silky heavy cream…And those crispy Proscuitto shards? Scrumptious! I think most of them bypassed the soup and went directly into our mouths.
Hello White Bean Soup, you’re like an awesome new outfit in my repertoire.
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I’d like to introduce you to my mom’s famous (to our family) Pasta Fagioli soup. During the winter, my mom makes this soup like it’s going out of style. Over the years, she’s learned a few things while making this soup: always make a double batch & it’s nice to add more pancetta. The double batch thing is important because she can pull some out of the freezer on a whim for my dad or she can be prepared for when my brother comes home from New York and raids her fridge (he inhales this soup, even when it’s cold!).
For years I was reluctant to try this soup; I don’t know why. I guess have weird issues with hot tomatoes and the thought having beans with pasta kinda weirded me. I dunno!
One day last year I was hanging out at my parents house and my mom convinced me to some. Let me tell you I how dumb I felt for wasting many years of my eating career without this soup. It was AH-MAZING. I am a changed woman.
This is one of those recipes that instantly becomes a staple in your life. You’ll go on auto pilot when you’re grocery shopping and always buy the ingredients so you’re never too far from a batch of this soup. Heck! You might even have some stocked in your freezer for a moment’s notice like my mom.
It’s hearty, comforting and pleases all the men in my life; I like that in a soup.
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After making FOUR soups this week, I’ve got tons of leftovers in the fridge & freezer! Today, a big bowl of Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup warmed up my afternoon. It’s so nice to just work through the leftovers on a lazy Sunday. Since I don’t have any fridge space left for a new soup today, here’s a little roundup of soups from the past! Enjoy!
Trader Joe’s Tomato Roasted Red Pepper Soup I always keep this in my pantry!
Mexican Chicken Soup This soup is great for ANY kind of weather.
Sausage & White Bean Soup This soup changed my life! I always have the ingredients on hand for it!
Curry Zucchini Soup I love this soup. Especially because my mom always makes it on Christmas.
Sweet Potato & Chipotle Soup Smooth! Creamy! Spicy! Easy! A good tortilla chip vehicle.
Tuscan Ribollita The most incredibly hearty soup in my arsenal!
Vegetable Minestrone – I call this “Clean out your Fridge, Soup!” I make a batch of this almost weekly.
Curried Butternut Squash Soup So incredibly creamy, without the cream!
Creamy Mushroom Soup You might have the power to change someone into a mushroom lover with this one!
Here are the soups I accomplished this week:
Vegetable Lentil Soup
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Curried Squash & Red Lentil Soup with Cilantro Oil
Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup
Wow. That’s kind of a lot! Are you totally souped out now?! Don’t worry next week is gonna be filled with crafts, holiday treats and some more things to cross off my 31 comes before 32 list.
This soup has Sunday Afternoon written all over it. When it’s cold outside, and you want your belly full of greens, meat & potatoes, THIS is the soup you should turn to. It’s also one of those soups that gets better the second day, when the flavors meld together. I love that! The overnight stay in the fridge brings out more than you could have possibly anticipated!
Sausage AND Kale? I think this soup really has MY name written all over it.
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This soup introduced me to two things: Red Lentils & Cilantro Oil. I learned that red lentils are super deceptive. They don’t really stay Red or keep their lentil shape when cooked. However, they do thicken up a soup and add extra fiber & texture. I like that. Cilantro Oil? It’s my new favorite thing! It’s a crucial component to this dish and it is INSANELY good when paired with my Killer Garlic Bread. Casey and I tested out a shameful amount of pieces with it! How could the garlic bread be anymore enticing??!! Cilantro oil! The best part is that it’s easy to make and such a fancy little accompaniment. The soup instantly elevates to fancy status because of that special green oil. Who knew?
OK back to the soup. I’m usually skeptical of soups that have water as the base instead of chicken or vegetable stock. This soup shocked me. There was simply no need for stock because the curry and ginger packed the flavor punch it needed. The squeeze of lemon at the very end adds the slightest tang and beautifully balances the sweetness of the butternut squash. And let’s talk about the butternut squash for a second. It’s creamy! The way it squishes between your tongue and the roof of your mouth? Lovely! I spent a good 15 minutes sampling that feeling with each cube. Please try it and tell me I’m not weird. Ok umm I’m feeling self conscious now. Go make this soup!
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