Soups

Rich bean soups are classic winter comfort food. They are filling, healthy, and inexpensive, making them a worthy addition to the menu rotation. The downside to dried bean cookery is the time it takes to soak and then cook beans. Canned beans are a reasonable substitute, although they cost more than three times the price of their dried, bagged counterparts.

Sometimes the simplest recipes get overcomplicated as more and more versions are made. For this carrot-ginger soup, we decided to go back to the basics. With a combination of cooked carrots and carrot juice, we were able to get well-rounded, fresh carrot flavor. Using a mixture of ginger products, we were able to get bright, refreshing ginger flavor with a moderate kick of heat. Finally, for a smooth texture without the fuss of straining, we added a touch of baking soda to help break down the carrots and ginger, producing a silken creamy result. 

 

Any hearty, piquant soup with bits of ground or chopped beef could fairly be called a goulash. This all‐vegetable spin achieves a similar texture and flavor with fried crumbled firm tofu, along with ginger, garlic, chiles, and fermented black beans. If you don't have time to freeze or press the tofu, use it straight from the package; the texture will be a little less meaty, but cooking will help the extra moisture evaporate. For a more traditional take on the classic Eastern European goulash, see the variation.

This soup is incredibly easy to make. Simply sauté the onion, carrots, garlic, and ginger with the spices, toss it all in a blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend until creamy bliss results. The warm ginger and spices bring a little heat and intrigue to the soup, and the coconut milk adds to the creamy flavor and texture, making this soup taste decadent and full of depth.

Brrr, there's nothing like slurping up a large steamy bowl of soup when it's cold out. I roasted carrots for the soup and added in shallots, garlic ginger paste, warm spices (coriander, cumin, and cayenne), chicken stock, and some pumpkin puree to give the soup body and add another layer of flavor. A little honey and sherry vinegar for sweetness and acid, respectively, rounded the flavors out. I also made it a full meal by piling a bunch of grilled shrimp into each bowl for some extra protein.

Calling all vegetarians! This is by-far one of our most popular soups during the year. Our Asian Ginger Broth is a great, light soup that can be created to your likings with all the veggie toppings and any add-ons you want to include.

We offer sliced green onions, shredded carrots, chopped spinach, sliced mushrooms, wonton Strips and cubed tofu at our soup bar to mix in with the broth.

 You can prepare a red or yellow gazpacho (use yellow tomatoes and a yellow bell pepper). Keeping the skins on the tomatoes intact gives a deeper color, but if you prefer to peel them, blanch them for 1 minute in boiling water, cool them in an ice water bath, and peel off the skins.

For this version of corn chowder, we were looking for a recipe that would pack lots of corn flavor in every spoonful while still maintaining a satisfying, yet not too thick, chowder texture. Inspired by a recipe we found that juiced corn kernels, a trick that delivered pronounced corn flavor, we strained the scrapings and pulp from several cobs through a kitchen towel to get unadulterated corn juice (when we added the unstrained pulp to the pot, the soup curdled). This delivered the intense corn flavor we were after.

The license to call this nourishing one-dish meal a bouillabaisse comes with the generous pinch of saffron that is added to the broth. It is one of many humble, filling and comforting vegetable soups from Provence that are given that lofty title.

Modern Pasta Fagoili recipes use chicken or beef broth and a meat like pancetta or spicy sausage. I went the veggie route, using vegetable broth and 5 different types of vegetables: carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes and swiss chard. The beans make the soup hearty and filling regardless, so just use whatever you have on hand. My secret ingredient is Parmesan cheese rind, it gives the broth amazing flavor. Just add the rind of Parmesan cheese when cooking, then discard when serving. Unless of course you want to eat it, I always do, it tastes like a chewy cheese crouton.