Soup For The Winter Season
I’m a big fan of soup anytime a year, but I REALLY love it during the winter months when the temperature drops. I always associate soup with self-care because it reminds me of times when I was growing up and my mother made me her delicious homemade soup when I wasn’t feeling well. I did the same things for my kids and Bruce when they were feeling under the weather as well. But aside from the nostalgia, soup is often a one-pot meal and I’m not going to lie y’all….I love the convenience of it!
I’ve assembled my top three favorite soup recipes. Two are from published chefs and the third is from my mother, Ginger and her friends!
Lentil Vegetable Soup
Recipe and text from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, by Ina Garten
Photo Credit: The Food Network
The first recipe was introduced to me by my dear friend Teri and is from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten. This is a delicious and hearty winter soup that gets a lot of its flavor and texture from French lentils. They are the small green ones that are available from specialty food stores or by mail order. French lentils make this soup taste fresher and less starchy than the traditional American ones.
My relationship with lentil soup began when my friend Teri brought two containers of it over after I had to have gum surgery. I won’t go into details about the actual surgery. Just know it was pretty awful. Teri bringing over the soup was such a nice gesture and one that I’ll never forget because we had just moved to LA and it showed me that someone cared. What I’ve realized over the years is this; when you’re not feeling well, soup is always soothing. If you have a cold, just had surgery or just want a bit of cozy because it’s cold outside soup is definitely the answer. It really makes anything feel better sort of like a great big hug. I just made a big pot of lentil soup the other day and we absolutely loved it. If you’re serving it for a meal, get containers ready as you’ll for sure have some left over that you can freeze to hold you through winter.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients:
1 pound French green lentils
4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large onions)
4 cups chopped leeks, white part only (2 leeks)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1/4 cup good olive oil, plus additional for drizzling on top
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups medium-diced celery (8 stalks)
3 cups medium-diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)
3 quarts chicken stock
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method:
In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain. In a large stockpot on medium heat, sauté onions, leeks and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender. Add the celery and carrots and sauté for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Check the seasonings. Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan.
Soup Necessities For Your Kitchen
Minestrone with Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage and Tortellini
Recipe and text from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins with Sarah Leah Chase
I tasted this unforgettable minestrone soup for the first time at my friend Teri’s house several years ago (I guess you could say that Teri is my soup guru!), and I have to say it’s one of those dishes that is truly memorable. It’s a hearty soup that can easily be served as a one bowl meal. Teri swears that the secret ingredient, parmesan cheese rind, is what sets itself apart from any other minestrone. To make this soup vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead of chicken stock and Impossible sausage instead of turkey sausage. This recipe is not recommended for a vegan soup because the parmesan cheese cooking in it for 3 hours is what makes it so great.
Yield: 10 to 12 portions
Ingredients:
1/3 cup best-quality olive oil
1 large yellow onion, cut into thin rings
4 large carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
1 fennel bulb, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded,
and cut into 1/2-inch squares
3 medium-size zucchini, diced
1 1/2 cups diagonally sliced green beans
1 medium-size green cabbage, shredded
5 cups chicken stock
5 cups water
1 can (35 ounces) Italian plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Outer rind of a 2-inch chunk of
Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 1/2 cups canned cannellini [or other
white beans] drained
1 pound cheese-stuffed tortellini
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, pan fried, drained and sliced
Freshly grated Fontina cheese
Method:
Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the carrots and sauté 2 to 3 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add the fennel, potatoes, green pepper, zucchini, and green beans, sautéing each vegetable 2 to 3 minutes before adding the next. Whenall the vegetables have been added to the pot, stir in the cabbage and cook 5 minutes more.
Add the stock, water, tomatoes with their juice, oregano, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Bury the Parmesan rind in the middle of the soup. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer covered over low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The soup will be very thick.
Fifteen minutes before serving, stir in the cannellini beans and the tortellini. Raise the heat to cook the tortellini, but stir the soup occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Just before serving, stir in the sausage.Ladle the minestrone into shallow pasta bowls and garnish lavishly with Fontina.
Ginger + Friend’s - Skinny Minnie Tortilla Soup
My Mom, Ginger, surprising me here in Los Angeles for my 60th Birthday!
This tortilla soup recipe is from my mom and her gal pals, and being a gal from Texas myself, it’s one of my absolute favorites. It’s delicious, it’s easy and it’s always a hit! Every time I’ve ever served it, everyone has loved it.
As you will see this is mostly a canned food-based recipe. It’s a super easy, no-brainer recipe...sometime we all need one of those. However, if you’re a very health conscious person in regards to preservatives, I suggest buying brands such as Eden Food to use in this recipe. (No disrespect to the The Green Giant). You can find these organic canned vegetables from Eden Food at your local Whole Foods.
Ingredients:
1 can kernel corn and juice
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
2 cans fat free chicken broth
1 can fat free refried beans
2 or more chicken breasts
1 cup chunky salsa
2 cups mild cheddar cheese, shredded
tortilla chips
Sliced green onions or chopped purple onions, optional
Method:
Poach the chicken breasts and set aside. Bring the first 6 ingredients to a boil over medium heat. Cook until the refried beans are melted.
Add 1 cup of shredded mild cheddar cheese to the mixture. Stir occasionally until the cheese is melted. Slice the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and put aside.
To serve:
Put a handful of crushed chips and cheese in the bottom of each soup bowl.
Add some chicken.
Add the soup and top with more chips and cheese.
Optional: you can garnish the top with either a few sliced green onions, chopped purple onions or sliced avocado.
When You Don’t Have Time For Homemade Soup
If you live in LA you need to know about The Gourmet Soup Kitchen. They sell over 30 natural vegetarian soups with flavor combinations from different cuisines such as Italian, Asian, Indian and American. Their “goal is to make eating healthy, easy and delicious for everyone.” Check out their website for the address of their retail location. Almost too good to be true if you’re a soup lover! You will also find them at their booth at The Brentwood Farmers Market, The Pacific Palisades Farmers Market, The Larchmont Farmers Market and The Studio City Farmers Market.
Enjoy my fellow soup lovers !
xx Barbara