Soup Season: Top Five Recipes
We are about to have our first rain storm of the season.
And I’m not sure there’s a more comforting food than a bowl of soup. It’s warm, healthy, healing, familiar — and a dash of magic. It just makes you feel so damn good. I can still taste the salty tang of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle of childhood. And I’ll never forget my first bowl of pho on a misty New Year’s Day in San Francisco. The soup’s magic just works its way from your stomach to your soul to the marrow of your bones. What a feeling.
What a delight to share my five favorite soup recipes…
This first one is mine, tweaked over the years and the other four are adapted from New York Times Cooking.
(Chicken) Tortilla Soup
I was a vegetarian for twenty years, so the chicken here is optional and added at the end. This soup is best served with all the accoutrements and totally customizable based on what’s in your kitchen.
Ingredients
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 Tbsp canned chipotle in adobo or green chiles, chopped (optional — adds gentle heat and depth)
½ jalapeño, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp cumin
2 zucchini, quartered and sliced
½ cup frozen corn
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed (or any beans you have on hand)
1 (24 oz) can pureed tomatoes
4½ cups (36 oz) vegetable or chicken broth
Juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, sliced (for serving)
Yogurt or sour cream (for serving)
Fresh cilantro (for serving)
Tortilla chips (for serving)
Optional: cooked shredded chicken, added at the end.
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
Add onion, celery, and carrots. Cook until softened, about 5–7 minutes.
Stir in cumin, salt, and pepper; cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add Aleppo peppers, jalapeño, and garlic. Stir and cook another 1–2 minutes.
Add zucchini, corn, beans, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a simmer.
Simmer uncovered for 20–25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Add the lime juice and stir in shredded chicken if using.
Serve hot, topped with avocado, a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, and plenty of cilantro.
Add evoo to deep soup pot on medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook until soft. Add cumin, salt, pepper, stir for 1 minute. Add peppers, garlic. Stir again until fragrent. Add squash, corn, beans, tomatoes and other veggies. Add three cups of broth.
Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut & Turmeric
Originally from New York Times, by Alison Roman
Spiced chickpeas are crisped in olive oil, then simmered in a garlicky coconut milk for an insanely creamy, basically-good-for-you stew that evokes stews found in South India and parts of the Caribbean. While the chickpeas alone would be good as a side dish, they are further simmered with stock, bolstered with dark, leafy greens of your choosing and finished with a handful of fresh mint. When shopping, be sure to avoid low-fat coconut milk, coconut milk meant for drinking or cream of coconut: All are very different and would not be suitable here.
Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for serving
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 (2-inch) piece ginger, finely chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper
1½ teaspoons ground turmeric, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 (15-ounce) cans full-fat coconut milk
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 bunch Swiss chard, kale or collard greens, stems removed, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup mint leaves, for serving
Yogurt, for serving (optional)
Toasted pita, lavash or other flatbread, for serving (optional)
Preparation
Heat ¼ cup oil in a large pot over medium. Add garlic, onion and ginger. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally until onion is translucent and starts to brown a little at the edges, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add 1½ teaspoons turmeric, 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, and the chickpeas, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, so the chickpeas sizzle and fry a bit in the spices and oil, until they’ve started to break down and get a little browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove about a cup of chickpeas and set aside for garnish.
Using a wooden spoon or spatula, further crush the remaining chickpeas slightly to release their starchy insides. (This will help thicken the stew.) Add coconut milk and stock, and season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer, scraping up any bits that have formed on the bottom of the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until stew has thickened, 30 to 35 minutes. (Taste a chickpea or two, not just the liquid, to make sure they have simmered long enough to be as delicious as possible.) If after 30 to 35 minutes, you want the stew a bit thicker, keep simmering until you've reached your desired consistency. Determining perfect stew thickness is a personal journey!
Add greens and stir, making sure they’re submerged in the liquid. Cook until they wilt and soften, 3 to 7 minutes, depending on what you’re using. (Swiss chard and spinach will wilt and soften much faster than kale or collard greens.) Season again with salt and pepper.
Divide among bowls and top with mint, reserved chickpeas, a sprinkle of red-pepper flakes and a good drizzle of olive oil. Serve alongside yogurt and toasted pita if using; dust the yogurt with turmeric if you'd like.
Lemony Chicken-Feta Meatball Soup With Spinach
Originally from New York Times Cooking, by Yasmin Fahr
Some might be suspicious of the rolled oats called for in this recipe, but used in place of breadcrumbs, they help create a light and tender chicken meatball. A half-cup more is simmered in the broth, which thickens it and provides a pleasant texture. The meatballs, made with ground chicken, feta and fresh dill, swim in a lemony, spinach-filled broth that’s comforting and light, perfect for lunch or dinner. Serve any leftovers with a fresh squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the soup.
Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
1 ound ground chicken or turkey, preferably dark meat
½ cup crumbled feta
¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 small red onion, halved (½ diced, and ½ grated, then squeezed with a paper towel to remove excess liquid)
⅓ packed cup fresh dill leaves and fine stems, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
4 packed cups baby spinach (about 5 ounces)
2 lemons (1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges for serving)
Preparation
In a medium bowl, add the chicken, feta, ¼ cup oats, the grated onion, most of the dill (reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish), the cumin, ½ teaspoon turmeric and 1 teaspoon salt. Gently combine without squeezing too hard or overworking the meat. Lightly wet your palms and shape the meat into small balls, a little smaller than the size of a golf ball, about 1½ inches. (You will have approximately 25 balls.)
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or wide pot over medium until shimmering. Add the diced onion, season with salt, and cook until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon turmeric and the red-pepper flakes, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Push the onions to the sides as best you can, then add the meatballs. (They will be close together, and that’s OK.) Cook until browned on two sides, 5 to 7 minutes total.
Pour in the broth and remaining ½ cup oats, then gently tilt the pot to the right and left to distribute the oats and broth without disturbing the meatballs. Bring to a gentle boil, then immediately reduce the heat to maintain an active simmer. Season with salt. Cook, gently stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom, until the oats have softened and the meatballs are cooked through, about 4 minutes more.
Stir in the spinach and lemon juice until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes more. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Spoon into bowls, top with pepper and the remaining dill. Serve with lemon wedges.
Red Lentil Soup
Originally on New York Times, by Melissa Clark
This is a lentil soup that defies expectations of what lentil soup can be. Based on a Turkish lentil soup, mercimek corbasi, it is light, spicy and a bold red color (no murky brown here): a revelatory dish that takes less than an hour to make. The cooking is painless. Sauté onion and garlic in oil, then stir in tomato paste, cumin and chile powder and cook a few minutes more to intensify flavor. Add broth, water, red lentils (which cook faster than their green or black counterparts) and diced carrot, and simmer for 30 minutes. Purée half the mixture and return it to the pot for a soup that strikes the balance between chunky and pleasingly smooth. A hit of lemon juice adds an up note that offsets the deep cumin and chile flavors.
Ingredients
Yield: 4 servings
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and black pepper
Pinch of chili powder or ground cayenne, plus more to taste
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup red lentils
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of ½ lemon, more to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation
In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste, cumin, ¼ teaspoons each salt and black pepper and the chili powder, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.
Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partly cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.
Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup, then add it back to pot. The soup should be somewhat chunky.
Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder, if desired.
White Bean & Chard Stew
Original from Smitten Kitchen
This hearty and nourishing stew from Smitten Kitchen blends creamy white beans with vibrant chard (or your favorite leafy green), simmered in a base of rich tomato purée and a splash of white wine, then finished with a little sherry vinegar for brightness. It’s the kind of dish that feels both rustic and refined—ideal for a chilly evening when you want something simple, wholesome and soul-soothing. The optional touch of a poached egg or a slice of garlic-rubbed toasted bread elevates it into something quiet but special.
Ingredients
1 pound Swiss chard (can also swap kale, spinach or another green), ribs and stems removed and cleaned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup (5 1/4 ounces) chopped carrots
1 cup (5 ounces) chopped celery
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) chopped shallots, about 4 medium
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
2 15-ounce cans (or about 3 3/4 cups) white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups (or more to taste) vegetable broth
1 cup pureed tomatoes (from a can/carton/your jarred summer supply)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Preparation
Toasted bread slices, poached eggs (tutorial), chopped herbs such as tarragon, parsley or chives or grated Parmesan or Romano to serve (optional)
Bring medium pot of salted water to boil. Cook chard (or any heavier green; no need to precook baby spinach) for one minute, then drain and squeeze out as much extra water as possible. Coarsely chop chard. [Deb note: These days I just thinly slice and add the uncooked greens directly to the stew, letting them wilt and cook in it. It can take 5 to 10 minutes, instead of just 5.]
Wipe out medium pot to dry it, and heat olive oil over medium. Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes. Barber warns not to brown them but I didn’t mind a light golden color on them. Add wine (scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pot) and cook it until it reduced by three-fourths. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Serve as is drizzled with sherry vinegar. Or you can ladle the stew over thick piece of toasted country bread or baguette that has been rubbed lightly with half a clove of garlic, top that with a poached egg and a few drops of sherry vinegar and/or some grated cheese.
