It’s Soup-er Weather

Carrot Miso Soup from the great cooking website Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com

So it’s officially happened. Winter is almost here. Although I somewhat dread the darker days of winter, they bring with them cause to rejoice—winter is perfect soup making weather. This past weekend I made my first soup of the season, a creamy potato-garlic concoction, inspired by a recipe from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I have waxed poetic about this book before, but I like it so much that I don’t mind repeating myself; this is not just a cookbook for vegetarians. It’s a great, straightforward cookbook with simple, delicious recipes.

Since we’re talking soup, there are a few terrific things about the soup section in this book: 1) she lays out the basic pattern for making pretty much any soup, 2) she provides recipes for different garnishes and stocks (if you’re into making your own stock,) and 3) for many recipes, she provides tasty alternatives, such as how to turn the same soup into something spicy, or sweet, or curried. Within a very basic framework Ms. Madison provides novice-to-seasoned cooks with the skills to create an endless variety of soups. After sticking with this book for a couple years, I can honestly say that I am now confident enough in my soup making abilities to go off map, and even improvise jazz-style on occasion (but don’t worry, we’re not talking about anything too crazy here).

Of course, if the above cookbook is not exactly what you’re looking for, we have many others on hand for just about any age, skill level, or dietary need. Behold, we have soup cookbooks for:

The Beginner

The Busy

The Adventurous

The Healthy

The Vegan/Vegetarian

The Carnivore

Happy stewing & simmering all,
Tara

PS – If you are also a soup enthusiast, you may want to consider starting your very own soup swap