When I get an idea in my head, it’s hard to get it out.  The first is that when I saw these bowls in Crate and Barrel, I knew I needed to make a soup worthy of eating from them.  The second is that when I heard New York was getting 7 to 12 inches of snow tonight, my family needed to eat soup.  Something hearty.  Something creamy.  Something that wouldn’t make me feel like I needed to go out and buy new pants tomorrow.

Baked potato soup.  Bowl worthy?  Check.  Hearty?  Check.  Creamy?  Check.  No new pants required?  Check.  I think.

Baked Potato Soup

Makes ~6 servings

I adapted this soup from this recipe on All Recipes, but I omitted much of the butter, all of the half and half cream and the cheddar cheese.  Amazingly, the soup was still very rich and creamy.  

Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes
2 tablespoons butter or olivio
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 green chili, diced
1/2 cup broccoli, chopped into florets without stem
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 cups milk
1 cup vegetable broth

1. Poke holes in the potatoes, wrap them in a paper towel and microwave for about 10 minutes until soft.  Allow to cool.

2. Put the butter/olivio in a stock pot on medium heat.  Add a generous swirl of olive oil.  Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until glassy.

3. Add the green chili and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Stir in the flour and cook for thirty seconds to a minute.

5. Slowly whisk in the milk and then the vegetable broth.  Continue cooking on medium low, stirring occassionally to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn.  The soup will start to thicken.

6. In a separate skillet, saute the broccoli in olive oil until browned.

7. Cut the potatoes in half.  Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.

8. Add the potatoes (in chunks) and the broccoli to the pot.  Continue cooking on medium low for another 8-10 minutes.

9. Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.  I used 2 teaspoons salt, a sprinkle of black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne, and my soup had a nice kick to it.

It gets dark early.  My light fall coat is not really cutting it.  And I should be wearing a scarf.  But I’m in denial that the seasons are changing.  I mean, I know summer is over.  Right?  It’s over.  I know.  It’s over.  But the 48 degree weather outside is practically (by my definition) “winter” and I’m not so ready for that. I am, however, very ready for the lush leafy green bundles of kale, swiss chard, spinach and collard greens that I saw at the farmers market.  Once the greens come out, I develop this itch for making stone soups.

Stone soups?  Don’t you remember that book from elementary school?  It’s the story about two hungry travelers who trick the villagers into donating ingredients to their “stone” soup.   A little bit of carrot.  A few potatoes.  A fistful of seasoning.  One bundle of leafy greens.  An onion.  A cupful of creamy beans.  Topped off with some crusty bread.  Stone soup.  Also known as, a clean out your fridge and pantry recipe.

One of the few upsides to winter (ok it’s really just fall) is that it gives me a good excuse to make a vat of warming stone soup.

Stone Soup
About 6 Servings

A beautiful whole habanero pepper adds smoky heat to this soup.  Perfect for blustery weather.  A leftover rind of parmesan cheese would be great thrown in with the broth in step 4.   I didn’t have any lurking in the freezer, so I sprinkled parmesan on top instead.  Also, I didn’t have any “good” leftover bread for making the croutons you see in the picture.  So I just used the white Pepperidge Farm bread that I keep on hand.  And it was a delicious topping.  For the beans, I used Rancho Gordo Mayacoba Beans.  They are white and creamy but hold their shape with some bite and chew.  Canellini beans or another white bean would be a good substitute.

1 yellow onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium size potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 Tofurkey sausage links, quartered (optional)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 bunch kale, washed and chopped
1-2 cups white beans, (if dried beans soaked overnight)
3-4 cups vegetable broth (I prefer low sodium)
1 habanero pepper
Salt to taste

Breadcrumbs:
Olive oil
Cubed pieces of bread with crust cut off
Sprinkle of salt and grated parmesan cheese

1. In a large stockpot, heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and glassy.  Don’t let the onions brown.
2. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook about 5-8 minutes until softened.  Add the tofurkey sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes if using.  Sprinkle in the Italian seasoning.
3. Add the  kale and cook for about 5 minutes or until wilted.
4. Add the broth and white beans.*  Add the habanero pepper.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until the beans are soft.
5. Salt to taste.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve with toasted breadcrumbs or crusty bread.

The whole habanero will continue seeping a smoky, hot flavor into the soup while you store the leftovers, so if you want to limit the heat, remove the habanero before storing the leftovers.

*At this point, before adding the habanero pepper and salt, I removed some of the soup and pureed it for the baby.  She loved it!  I also freezed some in her ice cube trays for later.

To make the breadcrumbs:
1. Heat about a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a skillet.  Add the breadcrumbs in one layer and coat with the oil
2. Sprinkle with salt and parmesan cheese.
3. Toast until golden.  Splash with a little more olive oil if needed for extra crunch and sizzle.

I picked up an awful cold (though I suppose there are no pleasant colds?) from somewhere or someone last week.  It’s the kind that comes with a sore throat (as in, it hurts to swallow), hacking cough and stuffy nose.  I’ve been popping enough cough drops and sore throat lozenges to make my dentist grimace.  My teeth are starting to hurt from the hot salt water gargles.  It’s been causing me to crave hot soup – the kind of soup that’s hot enough to melt away congestion and re-energize me.

This craving has translated into lentil soups.  They are easy to make, require very few ingredients yet have layers of flavor and fill you up with protein.  I made this Red Lentil and Smashed Garlic Soup the night before while I was making seitan tacos.  It was a real treat to open up fridge the next day and warm up a bowl of this soup for lunch.

Red lentils are the result of skinning and splitting masoor, a greenish-brown disc shaped lentil.  These lentils boil and fall apart easily because they have been skinned and split.  This is a real plus because there’s no pre-soaking required, which means no pre-planning required (something I’m always bad about but particularly bad about when sick).  As you can see from the picture, they become a brownish, yellow color when cooked.