It’s lovely, then, to find something to make for dinner that add bright color and spicy, smoky flavor to the room. This soup is just the ticket?

This recipe is adapted from one I learned at a cooking class in North Carolina. The base of the soup is composed of two fall market items that store quite well, so it’s just as easy to make in the winter as in late autumn.

Sweet potatoes and apples: such good friends these can be in dishes both sweet and savory! The sweet potatoes don’t need any special treatment before heading into the oven, and meanwhile, you can prepare your apples and other ingredients.

Once peeled and sliced, the apples are gently spiced with curry and coated with olive oil. They’ll join the potatoes for the last 15 minutes of roasting.

Next, the remaining ingredients come out to play. Here’s where things really get fun: a chipotle en adobo (just one, believe me, it will give PLENTY of spice), a few slices of nice, thick bacon, some garlic, onion, and pepper, and apple cider and chicken stock to give the soup some sweetness and some liquid. All of the above except the cider and stock are sauteed right in the stock pot and would probably be good enough to eat all on their own.

I mean seriously, SO GOOD. The smell is overwhelmingly delightful.

Meanwhile, your potatoes will be finishing up in the oven. One key to this soup really is a nice, long roast for the sweet potatoes. They’ll roast for a full hour, developing their sweetness, and will pop right out of their skins once they’ve cooled down a bit. Plus, we got everything else ready while they cooked, how efficient!

From there, it doesn’t take much to finish; dump the peeled potatoes and the apples in with the aromatics, add the stock and cider, and simmer for about 20 minutes before blending. I’ll put in my usual plug for an immersion blender at this point: who likes trying to transfer boiling hot soup from a giant pot to a tiny food processor to a different pot in multiple batches?

Once blended, dish up what is seriously the most vibrant soup I’ve ever tasted. Each component is equally important: the sweet apple cider nicely cuts the heat from the chipotle, the chipotle gives heat to the potatoes and apples, the potatoes and apples provide a filling and flavorful base, and best of all, the bacon lends its smoky, meaty flavor to the soup in all the right ways.

So if you, like me, are counting the days until the return of green trees, blue skies, and bright yellow flowers sprouting from every crack in the sidewalks, I encourage to stop counting long enough to enjoy this perfectly delightful soup. It really goes best with cold weather, and for many of us, we have several weeks of that left!

Spiced & Smoky Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from Durham Spirits Company

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (3-4 large)
3 small, tart apples
2 T olive oil, divided
1 tsp curry powder
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 chipotle en adobo, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 c apple cider
4 c chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash sweet potatoes and place on a baking sheet, leaving about a third of the baking sheet open (you’ll be adding the apples partway through). Roast for one hour. While the potatoes are roasting, peel, core, and slice the apples and place in a small bowl. Add 1 T olive oil and curry powder and mix well. Add the apples to the baking sheet for the last 15 minutes that the potatoes are roasting. Once the roasting is done, remove baking sheet from the oven and set aside until the potatoes are cool enough to handle. Once cool, slice into the skins, peel them off, and discard them.

While the potatoes are cooling, heat 1 T olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Roughly chop bacon and sauté in the pot. Add the onion, salt, and pepper and cook until onions are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the chipotle and the garlic and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add apple cider, chicken stock, apples, and the peeled potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree the soup using an immersion blender or a regular blender. Soup should be fairly thick. If you prefer a thinner soup, add a bit more chicken stock or apple cider.

Serve immediately. This also makes great leftovers.

Happy December, friends! I feel like the super-late date of Thanksgiving has caused December to sneak up on me even more rapidly than usual. For me, December usually equates to a significant uptick in baking, candy-making, and gift-crafting that keeps me in the kitchen late into the night breaking up toffee and tying ribbon around pretty little boxes of mulling spices before packing them gently in bubble wrap and shipping them to friends and family across the continent.

And as much as I might like to convince myself that I can survive on party mix, mini cheesecakes, and pomegranate salsa, I work really hard to make sure I also have some real food in my fridge to sustain me. Something, warm, easy to prepare after late nights of baking, and filling enough to get through the busy days. To keep cooking to a minimum, I often turn to soups.

I had a bit of a soup explosion last fall and posted A LOT of them on the site: Butternut Squash Soup, my Favorite Chili, Sweet Potato Soup, Colorado Cape Cod Chowder, and more. This year I’ve been repeating many of those soups, but I did discover a simple potato leek soup recipe that I HAD to share with you.

Like so many soups, this one has fairly humble components: potatoes, leeks, and an onion make up the base, and a little butter, salt, pepper, and cream bring it all together.

The potatoes and onions get a rough chop, and the leeks should be cut in slivered rounds, then rinsed to remove any dirt hiding between the layers. If you’ve not cooked with leeks before — I hadn’t until a year or so ago — I highly recommend them. They are sweet and bright, rather like a green onion in flavor, and the play so nicely with the potatoes and onions that I didn’t even use chicken stock at risk of masking their flavor.

Once everything is chopped, it all heaps into a pot for a little less than an hour to cook to softness.

Then, in keeping with my favorite soup tradition, it’s all whirled together with an immersion blender. You can also work in batches using a food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender.

Once it is seasoned to taste, the soup is very thick: you may feel the need to add more water or even some milk to loosen it up a bit. But I rather like it thick, as it is almost almost like eating mashed potatoes for lunch every day for a week. Not a bad thing, in my book.

Potato Leek Soup
Adapted from The Pleasures of Cooking for One

Makes 4-6 meal servings, 8-10 sides

2 T butter
3-4 leeks
1 medium onion
about 3 pounds yellow potatoes
6 cups water
1 tsp black pepper
1 T kosher salt
1/4 c heavy cream
sour cream to garnish
green onions to garnish

Trim the dark green tops off the leeks. Chop up the white and light green parts of the leeks and place them in a bowl of water. This will allow any dirt to fall to the bottom; the leeks will float at the top. Remove the leeks to colander and set aside. Peel and chop the onion and potatoes.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes until they have softened. Add the leeks and potatoes and allow them to sweat for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water, the pepper, and about half of the salt and bring to a boil. Cook at a low boil for about 40 minutes, covered with a lid that is slightly askew. Once the potatoes are very tender, remove from the heat. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. You can also transfer in batches to a food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add a bit more hot water.

Stir in the cream and taste, add more salt as needed. Serve hot, garnished with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped green onion.

This soup reheats very well and makes excellent leftovers.

Let me begin by saying that I realize the title of this post doesn’t make sense. Colorado is home to neither capes nor cod. I know.

I also know that I cooked this meal in North Carolina and cooked this meal using East Coast cod.

In addition, I have no idea what chowder from Cape Cod actual tastes like. No idea what the recipe is. So despite the fact that both my mom and grandma have been making “Cape Cod Chowder” (as is written in my grandma’s hand on a splattered recipe card) to ward off the chill of January in Colorado for my entire life, I couldn’t really call it that for fear of the wrath of proper Cape Cod residents with their own opinions on what is or is not Cape Cod Chowder.

It’s rather dizzying.

But I adore this soup. I look forward, each winter, to the stick-to-your-bones warmth provided by this hearty meal composed of relatively simple ingredients.

As most good soups do, this one starts with an onion, chopped up and sautéed in a bit of butter. The onion is followed by a pile of potatoes, some seasoning, and water.

After the potatoes have simmered and softened for a few minutes, a filet of fresh cod is added to the pot to steam atop the hot potatoes and onions before adding corn and evaporated milk.

Now for full disclosure, I must confess: I don’t particularly care for fish. In fact the first few times I flexed my post-adolescent cooking muscles in my tiny apartment kitchen, I defiantly excluded the cod from this chowder and added extra potatoes. However, in an effort to try to eat more fish and to give you a recipe with some semblance of balance, I gave it a shot again. Do I still guiltily prefer this soup without cod You bet. But I feel like I’m doing a good thing for my body by keeping it in the recipe.

This meal can be done, start to finish, in less than an hour. It makes fabulous leftovers and freezes pretty well, so a large batch can last you for quite some time. And if you’re like me, you can leave the fish out. If you like fish, you can add more.

And even if you live on Cape Cod, you can still make this and protect your chowder heritage. Because this is Colorado Cape Cod Chowder from a North Carolina food blogger.

Make sense?

Colorado Cape Cod Chowder
Adapted slightly from a family recipe

3 T unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced (should yield about 2 cups)
2 lbs potatoes, peeled cut into 1″ cubes
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 bay leaves
2 c water
12 oz fresh or frozen cod, cut into 1″ cubes
two 15-oz cans corn with liquid
one 12-0z can evaporated milk (I used 2%, but you can use regular as well)

Dice onion and peel potatoes. Melt butter over medium heat in a large pot. Add onions and sauté for about 5 minutes until onions are soft. While the onions are cooking, cut potatoes into one-inch cubes. After the onions have softened, add potatoes, salt, pepper, basil, bay leaves, and water to the pot and stir well. Cover the pot and increase heat to medium-high. Cook for about 15 minutes.

While the potatoes cook, cut the cod into one-inch cubes. After 15 minutes, you should be able to easily stab the potatoes with fork, but they should not be totally soft. Place cod on top of the potatoes, not stirring, and re-cover the pot. Cook for an additional 10 minutes until the cod flakes easily with a fork. Add the corn and evaporated milk and stir well. Cover and bring just to boiling.

Remove from heat and remove lid. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

I’ve talked rather a lot in the last few months about the wedding in early October for which I traveled across the continent, stood up as a bridesmaid, and baked the groom’s cake & wedding cake. What I haven’t talked quite so much about is the wedding I attended the week after as, quite blissfully, simply a guest.

Just a few short days after I returned from my whirlwind week in Colorado, Brad and I headed north to Washington DC for wedding #2. Though we stayed in the city with a friend who was also on the guest list, the ceremony itself was about an hour outside the city at a quaint little vineyard nestled in the rolling hills of Northern Virginia. It was a beautiful, clear evening, though the chill of autumn had definitely arrived. And while the wedding party raced against the sun to capture all their photos, the rest of us took advantage of the occasional & delicious delivery of appetizers throughout the cocktail hour.

Our favorite Shot glasses full of brilliant orange sweet potato soup. Since we were shamelessly stalking the catering staff for more and subsequently tilting each glass back to drain every last drop, I knew I must try to recreate it at home.

This soup is another super-thick, veggie-packed, warm and filling delight. Its the latest installment of my recent obsession with soups (I’ve made no less than five large batches of soup this fall) and it’s certainly one I’ll make again. It begins, of course, with sweet potatoes, and is supported by a smattering of other vegetables.

We also add in some lovely savory liquids to make this more like soup and less like chopped vegetables. I used vegetable stock for this to make it vegetarian, but you can swap it out for chicken stock if you prefer. And don’t skimp on the maple syrup. It lends a deep, sultry sweetness to this soup that whispers of the classic sweet potatoes & marshmallows.

After the soup is cooked, it’s blender time again! You can, of course, use an immersion blender instead if your kitchen is blessed with such a device. A food processor should also do the trick. You could also probably get there with a potato masher, though you’ll likely work up a sweat along the way. Just get those veggies smooth!

The result is a simple, luscious soup that can either play the role of humble luncheon or schmancy party treat. Who’d have thought?

Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from Simply Recipes

2 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 leek, sliced (white and light green parts only)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4 lbs (28 oz) sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-2″ pieces
4 c vegetable broth
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
3 T maple syrup
1 c half and half
chives, chopped to garnish

Chop all vegetables before beginning to cook. Heat butter in a large pot (at least 4 quarts) until melted over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes until onions begin to soften. Add leeks & celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 3 minutes more. Add sweet potatoes, vegetable broth, cinnamon stick, all the spices, and the maple syrup and stir until combined. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Once the soup begins to boil, simmer uncovered on medium for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Working in batches, transfer soup to a blender (include a scoop or two of the broth in each batch!) and blend. Once all soup has been blended, transfer back to the pot and place over medium-low heat. Add half and half and stir well. Season to taste with additional salt & pepper if desired.

Serve hot, garnished with chives if you like.

This Halloween is a bit odd for a huge swath of the U.S. A deep cold has arrived much earlier than normal due, in major part, to the massive storm that walloped the Eastern seaboard early this week and continues to wreak havoc as it churns slowly west. Durham was spared much of the power of the storm, but for many cities with transit systems shut down, widespread power outages, hugely destructive flooding, fires, and heavy snows, it is a bit of an understatement to suppose that many a trick-or-treater’s plans have been marred or cancelled all together.

This chili, based on my mom & dad’s recipe, is normally something I strongly associate with winter. I didn’t particularly care for it much as a kid, and yet there was nothing I wanted more after a day outside in the snow. Thick, warm, and hearty, I’ve come to favor it earlier and earlier in the season every year.

This year, for the first time, I was able to use my own home-canned tomato sauce to make chili. After my initial panic over the work it took to produce such goods, I now have firmly committed to making this every year.

Perhaps most importantly, this chili comes together quickly. With nothing more than an onion to chop, it’s a great thing to whip up when you need a filling dinner for a crowd fast. And you can adjust it exactly to your liking. Too hot Leave out the cayenne. Not hot enough Dice up a jalapeño or two and toss those in, as well.You can top it off with cheddar and sour cream, serve it with cornbread or crackers or biscuits, or just eat it plain.

So if you still have power and want to use up some of those canned goods you bought to ride out the worst of Sandy, make a big batch of this and invite your neighbors whose homes are still dark. There’s nothing better than sharing a good, hot meal with the people you care about.

To those of you in the path of the storm, I’m thinking of you and sending all the warm, dry thoughts I can in your direction.

Favorite Chili
Adapted from our family recipe

Update: I now only use one can of pinto beans instead of two. I’ve updated the recipe below to reflect this. However, if you like lots of beans in your chili, I’d add a second can of pintos.

2 tsp canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
30 oz tomato sauce
15 oz can pinto beans, with juices
15 oz can kidney beans, with juices
4 tsp chili powder
4 tsp cumin
3 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes until onions soften. Add ground beef. Season with salt & pepper, adding more to taste if desired, and cook until meat begins to brown and is cooked through. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat slightly so that chili is at an active simmer and cook for 20 minutes covered. Remove the lid and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste and add water if you find the chili is too thick.

Serve warm, garnishing with cheddar cheese and sour cream if desired. It’s super-dreamy with cornbread, too!

With both colder weather and a bothersome chest cold arriving in the last couple of weeks, I’ve craved almost nothing but soup. I know many of you live in areas where it’s still a bit too balmy to day dream about tiny basins full of steaming soup, but bear with me. Your cooler weather will arrive soon enough, and when it does, you need to be ready to make this incredibly incredible soup featuring a vegetable almost as synonymous with autumn as king pumpkin: the butternut squash.

I won’t lie to you. Butternut squash is only something I’ve come to appreciate very, very recently. I don’t remember eating it much as a kid; we tended to favor summer squashes in my house. So when a friend brought me a bowl of butternut squash soup (in the worst days of my cold) I admit: I was a bit nervous. But after one spoonful, I became keenly aware that I may have been missing out on a vegetable that is practically given away at the farmers market, easy to store for long winters, and downright delicious.

But it doesn’t stop there. This soup is a medley of fall produce: carrots, potatoes, onions, and for fun, a couple of apples. Short of tossing some fallen leaves in there, it’s hard to get more autumnal than that.

This array of chopped produced is then simply tossed in a pot, simmered in chicken stock, and blended. I’ve steered away from blended soups in the past because I don’t have an immersion blender, but don’t worry if you also don’t have one. I ladled mine in batches into a regular, cheap-ass blender from Target and it worked swimmingly. A food processor would also work well. Once it’s blended, you’re just a few fall spices away from one awesome dinner.

Chock full of produce, creamy without any cream, and simply bursting with fall flavor, I positively insist you make some. Don’t think you like butternut squash Neither did I. Now I’m eating it for lunch every day for the rest of the week, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Butternut Squash Soup
Adapted from All Recipes & Monica B.

Makes about 18 cups, enough for 9 servings (leftovers, baby!)

2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
3 medium potatoes, cubed
2 tart apples, peeled, cored, & chopped
1/4 c butter
2 quarts chicken stock (or enough to cover vegetables in the pot)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
sour cream to garnish

Chop squash, onion, carrots, potatoes, and apples into pieces 1-2 inches in size. To peel the squash, chop off 1/2″ of the bottom and 1/2″ of the top. Use a vegetable peeler to peel away the skin, which may take several passes, until the pale skin has been removed. Then, stand the squash on its end and slice it down the middle, leaving two halves. Scoop out the seeds on each half before slicing the halves into strips and ultimately into cubes.

In a large pot (I use an 8-quart one), melt butter over medium heat. Add all chopped ingredients to the pot and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring regularly. Pour in the chicken stock, using enough to cover the vegetables. Increase heat to high until the mixture comes to a boil, then cover and reduce to medium. Allow to simmer for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove the pot from the heat and ladle out about 2 cups of stock and set aside. If you have an immersion blender, blend the mixture until it is smooth and creamy. If you don’t, ladle it in batches into a blender or food processor, making sure that you have a couple of good ladles full of liquid in each batch. Blend until smooth and pour into a second pot until the whole mixture has been blended. Add as much of the remaining broth as you like to reach your desired consistency (I used about a cup).

Add the seasonings to the pot and adjust to taste. I recommend starting with about half of all the measurements and adding more as desired. The measurements above reflect what I use and love.

Spoon one dollop of sour cream onto the top of each bowl just before serving. This soup makes fabulous leftovers and freezes well.

Spring has most definitely sprung in North Carolina. And from the looks of Facebook statuses from friends across the country, it has sprung in many other places, too. It’s a time for swapping socks for flip flops, coats for t-shirts, and huddling in a blanket for lounging on the balcony.

But I also love the rainstorms. The thunderheads that roll in over the afternoon and burst into lighting and rain as night falls.

These nights call for cozy. These nights call for soup.

Soup is pretty easy cooking. Some of my meals literally seem to use every one of the dishes in my kitchen, but soup pot’s got my back. It’s totally cool with me spending the rest of the evening watching West Wing instead of cleaning up from dinner. The cutting board, on the other hand, gets quite a workout.

I first fell in love with broccoli cheddar soup when friends introduced me to Panera in college, and I’ve been trying to find a satisfactory homemade version. This is, by far, the closest thing I’ve found, and may even be better.

For one, it’s chock full of veggies. The last of my winter broccoli, almost the last onion (I think I still have one more), and a bunch of carrots that are actually still flourishing here.

And the cheeeeeese, oh the cheese! I found a block of super sharp — not extra, not sharp, super sharp — cheddar at the co-op, and I couldn’t resist giving it a try in this soup. Boy-o. What a win. And just for fun, MORE cheddar. Sharp and white. Amazeface.

And here we are. A great meal to transition out of winter and into spring. Plus, another hunted recipe that can be quickly and succinctly crossed off my list!

Such are the simple pleasures.

Double Cheddar Broccoli Soup
Adapted from Mangio da Sola

3 T butter
3/4 c onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c flour
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c heavy cream
2 c chicken stock
8 oz fresh broccoli, chopped into small florets
2-3 medium carrots, chopped into thin slivers about 1″ long (about 1 cup)
6 oz super sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 oz sharp white cheddar, grated
salt and pepper to taste
dash of cayenne pepper

Chop all vegetables and set aside. In large pot, heat butter over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic until onions soften. Add the flour and stir quickly until combined. Add milk, cream, and chicken stock and heat just until boiling.

Add broccoli and carrots and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in cheeses and let simmer for an additional 5 minutes. season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Serve immediately.

Yesterday was dreary. And lazy. I got up at 11:30 and did approximately nothing until 4:30. Nothing. It. Was. Glorious. Lazy days like this come rarely. I can normally talk myself into doing something moderately productive, even on the weekends: errands, cooking projects, editing photos, planting seeds, writing posts. But yesterday, for five surprising hours, nothing.

I crave soup on days like yesterday. Something warm, something filling, something that simmer and bubbles on the stove while the gray sky presses down outside. I have some old standbys, yes, but my friend Sara brought this one to my attention a while back, and let me tell you: it’s perfect for a dreary, lazy day because it’s super easy and comfort food to the max.

There’s really not much to it. Potatoes, some nice sharp cheddar, milk, chicken broth (which could easily be swapped out for vegetable broth, I imagine), a little onion, some seasoning, and pretty little scallions for a garnish.

Soooo comfort food Check. Now how does it help with the lazy part Well, once the potatoes and onion are chopped and the cheese is grated, this is so fast and so low maintenance.

In fact it’s so easy, I just really don’t think there’s anything more to say about it.

Today, it’s back to work, but I’m daydreaming of the next lazy day that finds it’s way into my schedule.

Potato Cheddar Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light

Makes about 5 cups

1 T butter
1 c onion, diced
2 1/2 T all-purpose flour
3 c red potato, cubed into 1/2″ inch pieces
1 1/4 c milk
1 1/4 c chicken broth
1/2 c water
1/8 tsp salt (more to taste if you’re using low-sodium broth)
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2-3 scallions (greens only), chopped as a garnish

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender. Add flour and stir until evenly combined. Add potato, milk, chicken broth, water, salt, and pepper and mix well. Bring pot to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove pan from heat and immediately add cayenne, garlic, and cheddar. Stir briskly until cheese is melted. Adjust seasoning as desired.

When serving, top with a sprinkle of scallions.

I’ve been making a lot of soup lately. I crave it when it gets cold, when it gets cloudy, or when I just want to eat the embodiment of warmth and comfort.

Do you know the story of Stone Soup An old folk tale that varies from culture to culture, the story centers around a traveler who arrives in a small village seeking food. At every door he is turned away as the villagers attempt to protect their meager pantries. The traveler then asks, quite simply for a stone and a kettle so that he might prepare a delicious soup.

Curious, the villagers slowly emerge from their homes and begin to offer small ingredients that will improve the soup: a bunch of carrots, an ear of corn, some grains of pepper. In no time at all, a hearty, filling soup feeds not only the traveler but the entire village, and the modest contribution of each villager yields an excellent meal for everyone.

We used to celebrate this tale of generosity at my childhood church once a year at a Stone Soup Sunday potluck, and to this day, veggie-filled meaty soups remind me of the story. And though this particular soup was not built with ingredients from my neighbors (and a rock in the bottom of the pot), it was still warm and comforting and everything I want soup to be.

Including days and days of warm-and-comforting-and-everything-I-want-soup-to-be leftovers. Hallelujah.

What is your favorite soup I’m looking for more to try…

Vegetable Beef Soup
Loosely based on this recipe from All Recipes

1 1/2 c carrots
1 1/2 c mushrooms
2 c celery
1 1/2 c green beans
1 1/2 c onion
4 c potatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 can corn, drained
1 lb chuck steak, chopped into bite-size chunks

1 T oil
2 T worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tps ground mustard
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 c tomato paste
8 C beef broth
salt & pepper to taste
asiago cheese rind (optional)

Heat oil in a large pot, no smaller than 6 quarts. Add chopped chuck steak to pan and season lightly with salt & pepper. Add worchestershire sauce and cook until meat is browned. Add onions and garlic and saute until softened.

Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT mushrooms and stir throughly. Cover and increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and boil for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Add mushrooms and cheese rind (if using) and boil for 5 minutes more.

Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes before serving, removing the remaining rind and the bay leaves if you can find them. Serve with yummy bread!

I hate getting sick. Stuffy head and achy muscles and sore throat. No fun.

Less fun two weeks after seeing Contagion. No joke. Have you seen that movie Scary.

But as much as being sick makes me not want to cook, I crave soup like crazy when I have a cold.

And there’s nothing quite like homemade chicken noodle soup.

Sans chicken.

I don’t want to mislead you. This soup has lots of chicken stock, yes, but no chicken meat. Why Because I don’t like it in there. I don’t know why. Never have. My mom used to strain chicken noodle soup so that the little pinkish chicken pieces got caught in the strainer and I was left with warm, savory broth. Am I the only one?

So I’ve avoided getting chicken noodle soup at restaurants for years and picked around the meat in cans of it from the store. I actually don’t know what took me so long to come around to making it myself to be in complete control of its ingredients.

I’m glad I did. Because this. Oh, this. A soup of my dreams. Full of vegetables I like, noodles in whatever shape I want, and no. pinkish. chicken.

I won’t judge you if you do like chicken in your chicken noodle soup. Add it in there if you wish!

Here’s to hoping that next time I make this, I won’t have the plague.

(Chicken) Noodle Soup
Adapted from All Recipes

Makes about 8 one-cup servings, 4-5 servings if you serve larger portions

A Noodle Note: Every time, and I mean EVERY time, I make soup I always underestimate how swollen the noodles will become. I made this soup with two cups of cut spaghetti, which was fairly perfect for immediate consumption. As leftovers, however, there was almost no broth left. I think next time I will cut down to one cup, and I would encourage you to do the same if you like a soupy soup.

3 T butter
1 c onion
1 1/2 c celery
5 cloves garlic
1 c carrots
1 c peas
8 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 T dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1-2 c cut spaghetti (or your favorite tiny pasta)

Dice onion & chop up celery, garlic, and carrots. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and celery and sauté until onions soften. Add garlic, carrots, peas, chicken stock, marjoram, pepper, parsley, and bay leaf. Turn heat to high and cover. Once soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add cut spaghetti and simmer for 7-8 more minutes or until pasta is cooked through.

Remove from heat and let soup sit for 4-5 minutes so you don’t burn your mouth off.

Enjoy!