Soup is often relegated to something you eat when sick, but it’s a culinary powerhouse that delivers daily, whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
In many countries, soup is a common and recommended start to the day, be it congee (rice porridge) in China or a bowl of miso soup alongside grilled fish and rice in Japan. At lunch, the meditative nature of sipping soup spoonful by spoonful is good in our American grind culture. I love making soup for dinner because the leftovers sustain me for lunches and snacks for days to come — something I am most thankful for after the past year of endless cooking for my family of four. While I am a year-round soup lover (even in Atlanta summers), we are now in prime soup season.
There was always soup on the stove when I was a child, so I learned the basics at a young age. And, once you have the basics, riffs are inevitable and fun. Exploration and the challenge of using up ingredients can lead to some beautiful creations. That’s how I arrived at these three soup recipes.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Since my family is from Mexico, my mom’s chicken soup wasn’t chicken noodle (unless it was fideos from the Knorr bag), but more of a hearty style loaded with big chunks of vegetables and chicken, and heavy on the toppings. My version leaves out the chayote (a type of squash) my mom included, because my kids don’t like it. The toppings for this soup are an ingredient and not an accoutrement. The quantity of onions, cilantro and chopped jalapenos this recipe calls for may surprise. For instance, in this soup, the onions are added at the end rather than the beginning and soften in the stock’s heat after you plate it. The lime brightens the salinity, the cilantro adds much needed greenery, and the chiles’ heat makes this soup powerful enough to clear your sinuses.
The grated Parmesan adds creaminess and a fresh note to echo the Parmesan rind-flavored broth in the minestrone.
In the shiitake soup, the toppings are once again a large component meant to be mixed in and “cooked” as you eat as you do with the beef while eating pho.
The base for the minestrone and gingery shiitake wild rice soups rely on developing umami, which lends complexity to any broth. Adding a Parmesan rind to the bean broth gives it a richness layer that rounds out the bean broth and aromatics in the recipe. Cooks have employed mIso for generations to add an unmatched umami bomb to anything it touches. And, while it is lovely as a marinade for fish, I love it best as soup. When miso is paired with earthy wild rice and local shiitakes and ginger, the soup tastes like it cooked all day, but it only takes 30 minutes to come together.
Since all of our 2020 holidays are reimagined and pared-down, the soup might be the warm hug you need to give yourself and those you love. Since more people are staying home, you can even freeze it in large restaurant plastic containers to stock up for the chilly days ahead. An even better idea for those stumped on what to gift friends is to give them soup. Who says holiday treats need to be sweet? Soup soothing might be the thing we all need this holiday season.
RECIPES
As the temperatures drop, soup can warm and comfort us. Instead of reaching for a can of chicken noodle, try one of these recipes and let your creativity add to the flavors.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Minestrone Soup
The beauty of this soup is its versatility and the Parmesan broth. You can use any type of dried bean and or green in this soup. If you don’t have time to make dried beans, just add your favorite canned beans and their liquid to chicken stock instead. And feel free to add any sad vegetables that need to be used. They melt into the soup and coat the accompanying whole-wheat pasta beautifully. Serve this with crusty bread; use it to sop up the soup or tear it into makeshift croutons as you eat.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Shiitake Mushroom, Wild Rice, Ginger and Miso Soup
One of the great things about this soup is that it can be modified to fit your hunger level. If this vegetarian soup is not hearty enough for dinner, add shredded chicken breast, cubes of firm tofu or a poached egg at the very end of the cooking to give it some heft. You can add more miso if it is not salty enough, but wait to add salt until the very end and make sure all of the miso is incorporated before doing so.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Mexican Chicken Soup
This is a version of the soup my mom used to make me as a child. It is missing a few components that she used to add, such as chayote in the soup and Mexican rice served on the side. Sometimes I add both to make this even more filling during the colder winter months. When I have time, I make a double bone broth by cooking chicken bones in homemade or pre-bought chicken stock in my pressure cooker. The extra step makes such a difference when you are serving such a light broth. This soup is heavy on the toppings, which are more like ingredients than accoutrements and needed to achieve a balance of flavors.
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