Soup Weather

October 28, 2024 /

Back in July, Tobia hosted the Cool Bloggers Summer Salad Challenge, in which she challenged herself (and us) to eat more salads. It was fun to see people sharing salad recipes on their blogs, and also fun to try some of them for myself. Now that we’re easing into soup weather, and it’s feeling like Fall in the northern hemisphere, I thought we could have a Cool Bloggers Autumn Soup Challenge, and share some favorite soup recipes. I think Winter Soup Challenge has a better ring to it somehow, but Winter is 2 months away. I don’t have any new soup recipes for you, but instead will share some of my favorites. Does chili count as soup? You will have to decide that for yourself. I say sure, why not. The beautiful photos are clearly not mine. The kind of blurry ones are.

Red Lentil Soup with Warm Spices

This recipe is so, so good. It’s really a delicious dal, made with red lentils and delicious spices. It’s thinner than a lot of dal recipes, though I guess you could eat it over rice if you wanted to. I like it as is, with some good bread on the side, but I usually cook some chicken for Ted to add to his. Don’t forget the spice infused butter at the end, it’s key. If you only take one recipe from this post, make it this one.

Ina Garten’s Winter Squash Soup

Ina Garten is having a moment right now, with her new memoir giving everyone all of the cozy feels. I know Nance agrees with me that this soup is delicious, and pretty easy to make as well. I like to roast the butternut squash, I think it takes it to the next level, as Ina would say. Also in this recipe is a can of pumpkin (not pie filling, obviously). I generally serve this soup with delicious bread, though I will also make some chicken for Ted to add to his to make it a little more hearty. If Maya is extra hungry, I’ll cook some fake chicken for her to add. I like it as is. If you only take one recipe from this post, make it this one.

Garlicky Spinach and Chickpea Soup

I have Suzanne to thank for this recipe. It’s warm and comforting and SO good. Again, I sometimes add chicken for Ted, too many beans don’t always agree with him. He loves them, they just don’t love him. So if I shred some cooked chicken thigh in there, it can help. I’m not convinced that either Ted or Maya love this recipe as much as I do, but I really really love it. I even like it cold the next day if I’m too lazy to heat it up. I guess since they don’t love it as much as I do, I won’t say ‘If you only take one recipe from this post, make it this one’, though of course I’m thinking it. Don’t forget the lemon at the end, it’s key.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Hey, this time I DID take the picture! This is my favorite Tomato Basil soup recipe, and it’s another from Ina Garten. You roast the tomatoes in the oven, which gives them a very tomatoey flavor, even in winter. For the canned tomatoes, I like to use Muir Glen fire roasted variety. Clearly this soup is grilled cheese worthy. I especially like it on a rainy day.

Split Pea and Ham Soup

Again, clearly my photo. I love split pea soup, and this is my favorite recipe, from the New Basics Cookbook. It includes lots of veggies, including spinach, carrots, and onions. Ted loves this recipe. Maya is vegetarian and there’s no easy way to make that work, so she just has something else when I make this. Maybe some vegetarian chili from the freezer. I used to make this and bring it to my Great Aunt Flo when she was still living at home.

Lentil Soup

Speaking of Aunt Flo, Ina Garten’s lentil soup was her absolute favorite. I add a bunch of spinach to mine, as you can see in the picture above. Seems like Ina is my go-to for soup, doesn’t it? This soup is delicious, and is finished with a bit of vinegar, a bit of olive oil, and a bit of Parmesan cheese. You could even cook it with a rind of Parmesan cheese in it if you were so inclined. I’ve seen Ina make this soup two ways, both with sausage and without. I prefer it without, though when I make it I generally cook some for Ted to add to his.

Ribollita

Speaking of cooking with a rind of Parmesan cheese, I love this recipe for a Tuscan style (mostly) vegetable soup, Ribollita. The picture above is from the newspaper article I read that inspired me way back in 2010, though I didn’t use their recipe, I used Giada’s from Food Network (I used to love Food Network when they ran cooking shows instead of food competitions. The only food competition show I like is Bake Off.). This was back when we still got a physical paper. Now we’re online only. I miss the newspaper sometimes. Anyway, I love this soup, I love the smell of the Herbs de Provence and the cheese bubbling away. It has a little bit of meat in it, and between that (for Maya) and the bread (for Ted), this soup has fallen off of my radar. I’ll bet I could make it and just omit the meat, or add it at the end for those who want it.

This cartoon is me adding spinach to my soup. If the recipe calls for a cup, I just throw in a whole bag. I should probably buy a bunch of spinach and not the bags, but I like the baby spinach more.

This post is becoming unwieldy, so I’m lumping my favorite chili recipes together with no picture. My favorites are the Black Bean Chili from the Greens Cookbook, a Turkey Chili made with ground turkey (sub in fake chicken for Maya) and soy sauce, and Leftover Turkey Chili, made with leftovers from a roast turkey.

Would you like to join me, and post some of your favorite soup recipes? If you’re looking for some NaBloPoMo blog fodder, you could post a soup recipe every week if you’re so inclined. Or you could take the lazy way like I did, and link to several past posts. No rules, just soup.

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