Soup Season: Five Family Favorites
Happy New Year, friends! I hope you and yours have been settling into 2025 with peacefulness, joy, and purpose amid all the turbulence of the world and life in general. Here, we’re well, but lately, baby it’s cold outside!
I thought Felix might luck out with a snow day—or, rather, “online learning day” which isn’t nearly as fun but is at least very leisurely. In fact, I was convinced of it, to the point that I felt that giddy kid’s excitement about on his behalf; for his part, he nursed the hope with a quiet glow but tried his utmost to be practical and prepared for a regular day. That was just as well, because he didn’t get that bonnus vacation day after all, despite snow, mucky and slick roads for the morning commute, and the kind of cold that caused the pups’ to whimper and riase their paws.
The temps are gradually rising to “typical” winter chill, but in the odd moments of quiet my brain has been reverting to the catchy Christmastime refrain of “baby, it’s cold outside”. Instead of “baby”, though, I’m thinking “maybe”…which is kind of funny, because there’s no maybe about it. It’s just cold. There’s no real mystery to this substitution, though. Over the holidays, Felix revealed that until this year, he thought the lyrics for the popular Christmas song included “maybe”, not “baby”, and the revelation of the actual wording was a disappointment. So, in our household, we will probably forever be singing along with “maybe it’s cold outside”, remembering the 11-year old boy, and all the younger versions leading up to him, who loved it that way better.
When it is cold outside, nothing satisfies, warming belly and soul, quite like soup. It’s the warm blanket of comfort food. This blog could be purely Soup-centered, week after week. Like Stone Soup style success, tossing in a whole bunch of wholesome ingredients is like magic. You can hardly ever veer wrong. But we still have our favorites, and here are a few of ours, this year.
Carrot Ginger Soup
Carrot Ginger Soup: Anti-inflammatory ginger, garlic, and turmeric lend earthy, piquant, soothing notes to this bright, creamy betacartone-rich beauty!
Tom Yum Noodle Soup
Tom Yum Noodle Soup: This fragrant, taste-bud tantalizing immune-booster is packed with nourishing goodness.
Instant Pot Black Bean Tortilla Soup
Black Bean Tortilla Soup : This zesty, rich, black bean coziness is inviting whatever the weather, and loves to dress up! Add avocado, cilantro, salsa, a sprinkling of plant-based cheese shreds…whatever calls to you. Easily adapt for slow cooking or stovetop.
Chickpea Soup with Rice
Chickpea Soup with Rice : Swap in chickpeas for chicken delivers all the nostalgia and comfort of the classic, plantbased.
Curried Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup
Curried Red Lentil Sweet Potato Soup: Smooth, rich, and packed with hearty veggies and legumes, this is oh so soup-er satifying, with just enough of a curried, gingery kick to really soothe the throat and awaken the senses. : Smooth, rich, and packed with hearty veggies and legumes, this is oh so soup-er satifying, with just enough of a curried, gingery kick to really soothe the throat and awaken the senses.