By Ari, on May 17th, 2013%
You guys, it got up to 80 degrees yesterday. I’ve been telling my hubby for weeks to put the AC units back in, and finally, finally last night he did it! This was just as much for his benefit as it was mine. It’s the only way he could get me to stop complaining.
This is a turning point for us. We’ve been grilling for the past two months or so (we were overly ambitious and debuted our grill for the first time this season as soon as it hit, what, 50?), but this is the beginning of lighter, feel-good eating. Grilled veggies, salads, things that make you feel good in the summer. While soups, stews, and chili have become fall and winter staples in our family, I’m not quite ready to give them up for the year. Solution? Cold soup!
Last spring I made a delicious vegan strawberry gazapacho. It was everything you’d hope it would be: refreshing, light, and above all else, simple. Soup in the springtime? Absolutely. (I should make this again for Ethan, I bet he’d love it!)
A few weeks ago I was flipping through channels and wound up on the Food Network. And there it was: an Italian vichyssoise. After watching maybe three minutes of the show, I made my grocery list and headed to the store to pick everything up. I’ll admit that I was a little intimidated going into this. When John was in college, I came up to visit him from Florida and remember his roommates attempting to make vichyssoise. An ambitious dish for a bunch of college kids, no? The end result was fantastic, but I recall one roommate in particular sitting over a ricer for a lengthy amount of time trying to make the world’s smoothest potato puree. It seemed far too labor intensive for me. Luckily, this recipe calls for the use of a blender (I use my handheld immersion blender when making soup — no transferring back and forth necessary!).
Continue reading Italian Vichyssoise
By Ari, on November 28th, 2012%
I am freezing. We’ve got the heat turned up to 73 F, I’m wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and socks (not to mention I’m bundled under a heavy comforter), and I’m still freezing. The only thing that can warm me up is a mug full of thick, rich hot chocolate… or this soup.
Well, any soup will do, but this happens to be the one I have heating up on the stove.
I’ve been on a slight healthy kick again. It has nothing to do with wanting to count calories and everything to do with attempting to fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. The leftover bag of Halloween candy isn’t helping. (I should probably just eat it all in one sitting so it’s out of the house, right?) This soup is loaded with veggies. And veggies are good for us. Carrots, spinach, squash, tomatoes, and…. pancetta. Okay, so that last one is neither a veggie nor healthy, but man does it turn this soup into something special!
Continue reading Winter Minestrone
By Ari, on November 2nd, 2012%
Does anyone else hate the smell of Yankee Candles? I’m not talking about just one scent. I abhor them all.
Continue reading Butternut Squash and Crab Soup
By Ari, on June 18th, 2012%
Every summer I go through this phase where I want to eat local, seasonal ingredients. I also try to cut back on meats, I limit my intake of cream, and vow to eat like that for as long possible. This gazpacho makes that easy. (Hamburgers and ice cream make that hard.)
This also happens to be vegetarian, vegan, raw, and gluten-free if you omit the bread (but I would never, ever suggest that unless you enjoy being sad — bread is my source of ultimate happiness).
Given the chef behind this recipe (Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park), it’s no surprise. Chef Humm has made a name for himself as a master of gastronomic fare in the last few years, but also excels at producing complex flavors from simple ingredients. No heavy machinery or fancy foods are needed to make this soup. It does benefit, however, from being served on an extra hot day. Fortunately (or not) for New England, we’ve got a few of those coming up later this week.
Continue reading Strawberry Gazpacho
By Ari, on April 12th, 2012%
While it might no longer look or feel like soup weather (is spring finally here to stay?!), this past week has been chilly. And what do you want when it’s cold outside?
Soup.
And grilled cheese. But mostly soup.
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked since early fall and can’t believe I’ve only now gotten around to it. The prep takes all of five minutes. Otherwise, an oven and a blender do all the dirty work.
No more excuses for buying tomato soup from a can. This is really simple to make. You can do this.
Continue reading Roasted Tomato Soup
By Ari, on March 5th, 2012%
Ribollita. Also known as Tuscan vegetable and bread soup. It’s hearty, it’s healthy, and it screams winter. Which is perfect, because Mother Nature clearly cannot make up her mind as to whether it’s winter or almost spring. (It’s currently 32 F here in NYC, but we’re supposed to get up to 65 F (!!!) on Thursday.)
This is the soup that almost didn’t exist. I was deterred by the mix of kale and cabbage and beans. Doesn’t sound like something hubby and I would like. But after eating comfort food non-stop for a week, we were in dire need of vegetables. Even though my track record with soups is iffy, I thought why not? Worst case scenario, we feed it to the dog.
Sorry, Jackson. No soup for you. Continue reading Ribollita
By Ari, on December 6th, 2011%
This just in: I made a delicious soup! (And it’s not matzah ball or chili!)
I was really beginning to doubt my soup-making abilities, guys. I told John earlier in the week that I was going to attempt another batch of soup. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Alright,” but what he really meant was, “Please don’t make me eat it.”
As I was prepping the ingredients, I had a feeling this would be good. It’s basically all the spices and accoutrements that I would use to make tacos. But in a soup.
The final verdict? Home run.
Hah! Take that, husband of mine. I’m taking this for lunch every day this week and you’re not getting any of it. No soup for you. Continue reading Chicken Tortilla Soup
By Ari, on December 14th, 2010%
I know for a fact that winter is here. Do you want to know how I know? Because yesterday it snowed. And then last night the snow melted a little, and ice froze on the ground. And today as I was walking to work I slipped on said ice, landed on both my knees (true story), and thought both my knee caps were broken.
Good news first: my kneecaps are not broken.
Bad news: I have two humongous bruises on my knees, and it is now painful to walk.
To sum up: I know that winter is now here because I have officially slipped on ice/snow/icy snow for the first time. Continue reading My Favorite Chili
By Ari, on August 26th, 2010%
Well of course the day I decide to visit my best friend in Pennsylvania I get sick. Sneezing, coughing, the works. It wasn’t so bad; at least I was well taken care of. The problem was that we had been planning to eat our way around the city, and now I couldn’t taste a thing. I resorted to soup, hot tea, and anything spicy to ease my sore throat and give my taste buds feeling again.
When I made it back home, I was still feeling under the weather. Time to bring out the big guns. I needed matzah ball soup.
Continue reading Matzah Ball Soup
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