On a cold January night, a bowl
of hot soup is a wonderful, warming meal. Even in the Sunbelt
and other areas where January is pleasant, soup can provide
an easy and delicious dinner.
Soups are “souper” meals almost
by themselves. Soups are easy to prepare, economical, nutritious,
and flexible in the amount of cooking time required. Soup
can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator or frozen for
a night when there’s no time for cooking.
The aroma of soup simmering on
the stove draws family members to the kitchen, eagerly waiting
for the call of “soup’s on.” Served with hearty rolls or breads
or a green salad, soup is satisfying.
Our family enjoys a Monday night
soup tradition from September to May. With Sunday dinner usually
a feast, soup the following night allows the cook and the
diners a nice change. It’s been fun to try out various recipes
and acquire some new favorites, such as Butternut Squash Soup
and Hearty Bean Soup.
Most general cookbooks have a
soup section with basic instructions for soup making and recipes
that appeal to most people, such as chili, chicken noodle
soup, and beef stew. Specialized soup cookbooks offer more
exotic fare, with sometimes quite unusual ingredients. A soup
cookbook I was given includes recipes for Chinese Mixed Vegetable
Soup, calling for “dried tree ears,” and Squab Soup, specifying
“4 squabs, preferably with livers, lungs, and hearts.” So
far I’ve resisted making these soups, and my grocery store
doesn’t stock such ingredients on its shelves.
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Put hot soup in a pretty or fun soup tureen and set it on
the table. Family members can ladle the amount of soup they
would like.
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Be adventurous and try new soup recipes.
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Collect interesting soup mugs in your travels and serve soup
to your family in them.
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Serve soup in special holiday soup bowls — pumpkin-shaped
for Halloween, snowman-adorned for Christmas.
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Purchase bread bowls at a bakery and serve thicker soups in
them. (Thin soups will leak through the bowls.)
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Make a double batch of soup, then deliver the extra portion
to someone in need.
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Make sure your kitchen is equipped with a good quality and
large enough soup pot.
The following are a few “quotable
quotes” on the subject of soup:
“Soup, chili, pot roast, and
other hearty one-dish meals that go together with ease but
that require hours of simmering are the home cook’s best friend
during the winter.
“Wonderful smells fill the house
as the soup, stew, or chili bubbles away — hours of free advertising
for the cook that practically guarantees perfect attendance
at the dinner table, to say nothing of hearty appetites.
Doris Christopher, Come to the Table: A Celebration of
Family Life (New York: Warner Books, 1999), 72.
My grandmother came from Denmark
with her family when she was nine years old. She didn’t remember
a lot about Danish ways, but she did pass along her mother’s
recipe for Danish soup with dumplings. My mother, Ada Petersen
Jensen, made it frequently, and it is one of my favorite childhood
memories. It was especially good on those icy Idaho days when
we rode home from school in an unheated bus. My mother had
it simmering on the old coal stove when we came shivering
in. There were few joys to match slurping down that good soup
in Mother’s warm and fragrant kitchen where geraniums bloomed
profusely on the windowsills year round. I have served it
to my own family over the years. Now, when my Jewish son-in-law
visits, he almost always asks for “that soup.“
Lael Littke, quoted in Elaine Cannon, Five-Star Recipes
(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002), 42.
Nothing satisfies us quite like soup. Soup is perfect for
a winter day, it’s easy to make, and it’s usually low in calories.
What could be better on a cold night than a hot bowl of soup?
Here a few of our favorite soups
that are easy to prepare and delicious.
Southwest Chili
This soup can also be cooked
in a slow cooker. Brown ground beef before adding other ingredients.
Cook on low heat 6 to 8 hours or high heat 3 to 4 hours.
2 pound ground beef
1 green pepper, diced
2 cup chopped onion
3 cups water
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, with liquid
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, with liquid
1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes and green chilies, with liquid
1 teaspoon chili powder
(more, if desired)
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon pepper
Flour tortillas
Grated Monterrey Jack cheese
In a large soup pot, brown ground
beef. Remove from pan and drain all but a small amount of
grease. Saute green pepper and onion until soft. Return ground
beef to pot and add water, pinto beans, kidney beans, and
tomatoes. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Bring soup to a boil, reduce
heat, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. While soup is cooking,
warm tortillas in oven or microwave.
Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle
with cheese. Serve with tortillas for dipping.
Serves 6 to 8.
Sopa
de Tortilla con Naranja
¼
cup oil
8 small or 4 large corn
tortillas cut in ½-inch strips or corn chips
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, thinly
sliced
2½ cups chicken broth,
canned or homemade
1½ cups orange juice
1½ cups tomato sauce
1 (4-ounce) can chopped
mild green chiles
1 tablespoon chopped fresh
cilantro (no substitutions)
3 carrots, sliced
1 pound boneless, skinless
chicken breasts, cut into strips
Grated Monterey Jack cheese
In
a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat oil and fry tortillas
over medium heat until lightly browned and crisp. Remove to
a paper towel and drain. (Corn chips may be substituted.)
In
the same pot, sauté onion, garlic, and celery. Stir in broth,
orange juice, tomato sauce, chiles, cilantro, and carrots.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are tender. Add
uncooked chicken strips and simmer, uncovered for about 8
minutes, stirring occasionally, just until chicken is done.
Do not boil.
To
serve, placed toasted tortillas (or chips) in large soup bowls.
Ladle soup over tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese.
Serves
4.
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
1 (6-ounce) package Uncle Ben’s
Long Grain and Wild Rice
3 (14-ounce) cans chicken
broth
1 small onion, chopped
2 to 3 carrots, sliced
3 to 4 ribs celery, sliced
one-third cup butter
one-third cup flour
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk or half-and-half
1 to 2 chicken breasts,
cooked and cubed
4 to 6 slices bacon, cooked
and crumbled
Cook rice according to package
directions. In a large soup pot or saucepan, cook onions,
carrots, and celery in chicken broth until tender. In a medium
saucepan, melt butter and add flour, stirring until a smooth
paste is formed. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly until
sauce is thickened.
Add white sauce to broth and
vegetables, stirring until smooth. Add chicken and rice. Cook
until soup is hot, but not boiling. Add bacon just before
serving
Serves 4 to 6.
