STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

jettie · Kate Spade

Good Soup Recipes

littlebean · Kate Spade

This is a bit more of a stew than a soup, but it is my all time favorite!! It is SO good and healthy! Everyone always raves when they smell it cooking.

MOROCCAN CHICKPEA SOUP
2 cans of chickpeas
1 (35-oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion, finely chopped
1-2 stalks of celery
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 cup lentils
3/4 cup fine egg noodles
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Accompaniment: lemon wedges
Cook onion and celery in butter in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add turmeric, pepper, and cinnamon and cook, stirring, 3 minutes.
Stir in crushed tomatoes, 1/3 cup cilantro, chickpeas with reserved liquid, vegetable broth, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes.
Stir in pasta and cook, stirring, until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in parsley, remaining 1/3 cup cilantro, and salt to taste.
Makes 6 (main course) servings.

This is also a tasty one with lentils since you mentioned that you like them. I definitely like to include the kielbasa that they mention.

LENTIL AND BROWN RICE SOUP
Some soups genuinely do inspire a devotion akin to love, and this is one of them. In the cold of winter, when Gourmet editors ponder the matter of what soup to cook up in a steamy Saturday morning kitchen to provide comfort all weekend long, they decide with remarkable frequency to make the following one. Those in the know also add about a pound of smoked sausage; even the best can be made better.
5 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 cup brown rice
a 32- to 35-ounce can diced tomatoes
3 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried basil
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried orégano
1/4 teaspoon crumbled dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons cider vinegar, or to taste
In a heavy kettle combine the broth, 3 cups water, the lentils, the rice, the tomatoes, the carrots, the onion, the celery, the garlic, the basil, the orégano, the thyme, and the bay leaf, bring the liquid to a boil, and simmer the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the lentils and rice are tender. Stir in the parsley, the vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste and discard the bay leaf. The soup will be thick and will thicken as it stands. Thin the soup, if desired, with additional hot chicken broth or water.
Makes about 14 cups, serving 6 to 8.
Gourmet
January 1991

Both recipes are from Epicurious.com and are not at all difficult to make. Although it takes a while to stir them on the stove, they are so great when they are finished and you have enough soup to have for a number of lunches after the original dinner! That's what I always do and I think that they actually taste better the next day.

luckylily · Gucci

Oh, I love soup. I'd eat it every day if I could. I find most of my recipes on allrecipes.com or epicurious.com. Here are some of my favorites:

Creamy Mushroom Soup
http://soup.allrecipes.com/az/CrmyMshrmSp.asp

Roasted Garlic Soup
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/100669

Avgolemono
1/2 cup rice, 2 cups chicken stock, 1 cup water, add and cook 20 minutes till rice is fluffy

1/2 lb. chopped, cooked chicken, Add and heat to a slow boil, reduce and simmer for 20 min.

2 whole raw eggs, 1/4 cup lemon juice, combine and add 1 cup of the hot chicken stock to eggs and then stir all back into soup mixture

Garnish with parsley, serves 4-6

Turkey & Sweek Potato Chili
400 g extra lean turkey ground

1 tbsp canola oil

1 large onion chopped

2-3 garlic cloves minced

2 sweet potatoe's cubed

2 stalks celery chopped

5 large pepper's (red, yellow, green, orange) chopped

2-4 tbsp chili powder

1-2 tsp each, corriander, cumin, oregano

1/2-1 tsp red chili flakes

1 large can diced tomatoe's

1.5 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 can red kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 cup corn (optional)

1. brown turkey in oil, then add onion, garlic, celery, sweet potatoe's and cook on medium for about 5 min.

2. Add peppers and spices (add half the spices now if you are unsure of how spicey you like it) cook for an additional minute.

3. Add tomoatoe's, and broth. Cover and bring to a simmer stirring frequently, about 10 min.

4. Once at a simmer uncover, add rinsed beans, and cook about 20 min till yams are soft and sauce is thickened. Add rest of spices if you like at this point and corn. You can also cheat and use a chili spice packet from the store.

I haven't tried this one yet, but I think it sounds yummy.
Avocado Soup w/ Chicken - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/avocado-soup-with-chicken-and-lime/detail.aspx

lynnie · Chanel

my mom makes the BEST lentil soup in the world. She's had the recipe for about 10 years and always gets compliments from random people when they try it (sisters ex bf was most recent one). our family actually fought over the last bowl when i went home for christmas. I'll get the recipe from her.

wicked · Coach

White bean soup

CREAMY WHITE BEAN AND CHORIZO SOUP
Since the beans need to soak overnight, be sure to begin one day ahead. Spicy Italian sausage is a good substitute for the chorizo.

1 pound dried cannellini or Great Northern beans (generous 2 cups)

8 cups water
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves; 1 smashed, 2 chopped
1 large fresh rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf

1 large onion, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large celery stalk, coarsely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme, divided
4 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth

1 pound fresh chorizo link sausages, casings removed

1/4 cup whipping cream

Place beans in heavy large saucepan. Add enough water to pan to cover beans by 4 inches. Let beans soak overnight at room temperature.

Drain and rinse beans; return to same saucepan. Add 8 cups water, 1 tablespoon oil, smashed garlic clove, rosemary, and bay leaf. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer until beans are just tender, 1 to 11/2 hours. Season to taste with salt. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cool slightly, cover, and chill.)

Drain beans, reserving cooking liquid. Discard rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to soften, about 10 minutes. Add chopped garlic and 1 teaspoon thyme; sauté 2 minutes. Add 2 cups reserved bean cooking liquid, 4 cups chicken broth, and beans. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Cool soup 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté chorizo in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up lumps with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to paper towels to drain.

Using slotted spoon, remove 1 1/2 cups bean mixture from soup; reserve. Working in batches, puree remaining soup in blender until smooth. Return puree to pot. Stir in reserved whole-bean mixture, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, chorizo, and cream. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cold. Cover and keep chilled.) Rewarm soup over medium heat, thinning with more broth if desired. Season with salt and pepper. Divide soup among bowls and serve.

Makes 6 main-course servings.

This recipe was in the Feb. 2006 issue of Bon Appetit, it's really cheap and easy to make and it is so yummy and has tons of fiber.

I omit the rosemary, bayleaf, celery and whipping cream. I use 1 tsp dried thyme instead of fresh and I use a half pound of turkey kielbasa (you could also use bacon) instead of chorizo. If you're vegetarian you can omit the meat all together, as the soup is quite tasty on its own. Enjoy!

P.S. If you want a shortcut- Instead of soaking the beans overnight, cover the beans with 8-cups water, boil for 2 min., then simmer for an hour.

luckylily · Gucci

Wicked - That white bean soup sounds delicious. I think I'll try that one next. I love white beans and I'm always trying to find recipes with them. I also love soups that need to be pureed because I like the health benefits of celery, carrots, etc, but I don't like soup w/ lots of chuncky vegetables.

Elle · Hermes

I really like making soups because they're so super quick.

Pumpkin and black bean soup

Olive Oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cans (about 6C) broth
1 - 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes w/juice
2 - 15 ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 small or 1 large can(s) pumpkin puree
1 small bag frozen corn kernels
1T curry powder, 1.5 t cumin, .5 t cayenne pepper, salt

Preheat a soup pot w/olive oil, saute onion for 5 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, beans, corn, and pumpkin to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in spices. Simmer 5 minutes more. Serve w/crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, whatever!

Sometimes I add chicken to this, too. I also add chopped garlic in when I saute the onion, and usually buy the diced tomatoes w/onions/chiles/spices already added, just for anothe layer of flavor. If you don't add chicken and use vegetable broth, the soup is also vegan/vegetarian . You can't taste the pumpkin in the broth when it's done - it just gives it alot of body and heartiness, not to mention quite a few veggie servings.

Zuppa Toscana

3 med-large russet potatoes (just the regular baking potatoes), sliced about 1/8 thick
1 bunch Kale, washed and chopped
1 lb bulk sausage, low fat if you can find it (you can sub veggie sausage crumbles here instead if you want. I like the Gimme Lean! brand myself)
3 cans/6 C broth or stock
1 T italian seasoning
1 C ff milk

Brown sausage w/italian seasoning in a bit of olive oil. When brown, (drain off fat if the sausage released alot) and add stock, bring up to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and add potatoes and Kale, simmer for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Add milk, stir to combine, and turn off heat. Serve w/ crusty bread and salad.

Yup, totally stole it from Olive Garden .

jettie · Kate Spade

Wow, so many great suggestions. I can't wait to try these out!

needsfashionadvice · Kate Spade

Littlebean- That lentil and brown rice soup is so yummy! I added smoked turkey sausage to keep it healthy and OMG, I love it.

littlebean · Kate Spade

Oooh, I'm so glad that it turned out well, needsfashionadvice! I need to make that again soon myself. mmm

Suasoria · Chanel

Ooh, I have another Avgolemono recipe that's really good - not as meal-like as Luckylily's but delicious as a first course. It's from a Greek cafe in Hollywood that sadly went out of business, but this recipe survives! (Adapted for home use)

3 cans of vegetable broth (At Joseph's Cafe, they used chicken, but I'm a vegetarian and I don't feel vegetable broth is a sacrifice)
1/4 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Juice and zest of a midsized lemon
2 teaspoons fresh dill - or use 1 of dried also with no sacrifice
Ground pepper as needed

Bring the stock and rice to a boil, then turn down the heat and cover for 20 minutes or so. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer more, but do NOT let it boil again or the yogurt will get strange. Feel free to add some water at the end if it needs to be thinner.

For Jettie, this is one you may like. It's an old peasant recipe from Tuscany courtesy of a friend's family. It's very open-ended as these old-school recipes tend to be!

Ceci Bean & Tomato Soup

Saute a chopped onion and maybe some shallots and definitely some minced garlic in olive oil.

Add some tomato product. The Pomi chopped tomato in the box is by far the best.

Add some light stock, broth, or even water - this is a peasant food so it's typically made with water. I like vegetable broth for the richer flavor. Probably four cups or so - just play around with it.

With a food mill (the kind with a crank), grind in garbanzo beans. Maybe two regular cans or one large-sized can or jar. If you have a stick blender you can try that instead. The goal is for the beans to be not finely ground but somewhat thick, "mealy" and almost chunky, not a smooth puree. In the old days this was done with a mortar and pestle. I don't endorse that. Rosemary is excellent to grind in at this stage.

When it's cooked together reasonably well, add salt and pepper as you like before serving. The longer it cooks the thicker and tastier it should get. You may want more tomato, or even a few handfuls of kale or spinach at the end depending on your preferences. There's no reason you can't do this same thing with white beans (sage is typical with white beans) - it will be different in texture, but probably still delicious.

The traditional way to plate this is to put a chunk of stale dry bread in the bottom of a shallow soup bowl and ladle the soup over it. When the liquid is gone, eat the bread. Or you can throw in croutons for a more upscale version.

Despite its humble origins, this is really an elegant, silky soup with a great golden color, so for guests I'd dress it with a handful of chopped parsely and some red pepper flakes.

lynnie · Chanel

My dad just emailed me this:

LENTIL SOUP SERVES 6

INGREDIENTS

½ lb. (1.5 cups) lentils

4 bacon slices (cut into sm. pieces)

1 cup chopped leek (or 1 bunch green onion)

½ cup chopped onion

¾ cup chopped carrot

¾ cup chopped green pepper

1 lb. can diced tomatoes (or 2 fresh chopped tomatoes)

FOR SAUCE,

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

1 can (10 ½ oz.) condensed beef bouillon, undiluted (Campbell’s)

2 tsp. salt

2½ Tbsp. red wine vinegar

2½ tsp. sugar

PROCEDURE

In lg. kettle, put lentils in 6 cups cold water; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 1 hr.
Meanwhile, sauté bacon in lg. skillet until crisp.
To bacon in skillet, add leek (or green onion), onion, carrot, gr. pepper. Sauté over low heat about 5 min. Add tomato to skillet; bring to boil. Combine with lentils in kettle.
Melt butter in same skillet; remove from heat. Stir in flour ‘til smooth; gradually stir in bouillon. Add salt, vinegar and sugar; bring to boiling point while stirring.
Pour into lentils; cook over low heat; stirring often, for 30 min.

It is AMAZING.

fashionista L · Coach

You guys have great ideas! I can't wait to try some out!!

clothes_horse · Dooney & Bourke

try this soup, my family and i just LOVE it! you'll need a blender or food processor.

CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP

1 c. chopped onion

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced

1 medium summer squash, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp ground pepper, or to taste

1 pinch turmeric (this can be omitted safely)

2 c. vegetable stock

1 c. buttermilk or milk (i use skim and it turns out great)

1 c. grated cheddar cheese

salt, to taste

saute onions in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to soften. stir in potatoes, carrots, squash, black pepper and turmeric. add the stock and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the veggies are soft. stir in the milk and the cheese. puree the soup in a blender or food processor. gently reheat. add salt to taste and serve. makes 4-6 servings.

i like to make cornbread muffins when i make this soup, that way i have something to dip.

hope you like it!

Suasoria · Chanel

I talked to another Italian friend (we stick together) and he offered this variation on the Ceci bean $ tomato soup from his family:

Here's how I've been making it lately. I never use onion or shallots or anything like that.

First, I saute a large piece of crushed garlic in olive oil, but remove it before it becomes brown. Then I turn off the fire and WAIT FOR IT TO COOL before doing anything else. While I'm waiting, I chop a tablespoon or two (depending on # of people) of rosemary as finely as I can. I add it to the oil when it's almost cool. (Ideally, the rosemary should sort of simmer for a second or two before dying out.)

I take a "muli", one of those hand mills you suspend over the pot, and pour a can of chickpeas in, liquid and all, and start grinding the beans into the pot. And grinding, and grinding. And grinding. After a few cans of this, there's enough soup in there to turn the fire back on to its lowest setting; you should start to get a lazy bubble or two, but that's about it.

At that point, I add some chopped tomato, or tomato sauce, or whatever's handy. I don't put in too much, I don't want to turn the soup red. At our last party, I used 8 15-oz. cans of chickpeas and about 2 cups of chopped tomatoes. For just us three, I use 4 cans and maybe a cup or less of tomato.

I add a little liquid as I go, and when all the cans are done, I might add a cup of water, maybe even two if it's way too thick. I also add vegetarian bouillon cubes (make sure there's no MSG in your brand) according to how much liquid you've put in (bean liquid included). Taste and correct for salt and pepper. I've raised the fire by now, because the soup's all in there now, then I bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low or lower, and cook for 15 minutes. I stir from time to time, because the chickpea puree really wants to stick to the bottom.

Using the handmill is where all the work is. I do it because I like the texture. If you want to make your life far easier, just puree the beans with whatever blender you use, I think it's just as tasty that way and much quicker.

-- end instruction --

So there you have another take on the same classic.