Soup Season

Are you team "every season's soup season" or "hot bowls of liquid are only for winter"?

Green Detox Soup was born during a two-week reset when I craved a flavorful lunch that was chock full of vegetables instead of cheese and carbs. I happened to have beautiful spinach greens and leftover roasted broccoli, so that’s what I used. Feel free to use almost any green leafy vegetable. Or blanch or roast asparagus and/or leeks to add to the mix, or herbs like chives, parsley and mint. If you add additional veggies, just be warned that you may need additional liquid to thin the soup.

After making this for lunch one day, I stashed the leftovers for the next day’s lunch. But my husband wanted to try it, so it got thrown in a pot and rewarmed. My kids all tasted it, and 2-out-of-3 lapped it up. We polished it off by the end of dinner.

Green Detox Soup would make an easy meatless Monday dinner—or are you one of those people who don’t count soup as a viable dinner? Hope not! Top your bowl with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil, Maldon Sea Salt and cilantro leaves. And if you’re one of those people who can’t stand cilantro, just use parsley or chives.

A couple of weeks ago, there was snow on the ground in Houston, and today it’s warm with bright blue skies, so we’re in that time of year where one day the heater’s going, and the next it’s the AC. But many of you are on the East Coast, where it’s still chilly, and soup will hit the spot. One thing’s certain: I’ve made so many soups in January that my family is ready for grilling season.

I’ve included some favorite soup recipes (attached below) from week 1 of my Six-Week Basics Series. Our first class was all about soups and stocks. About two hours before my students arrived, I started a gigantic stock pot of simple chicken stock and we made a quick-cooking vegetable stock from scraps I’d stashed in my freezer. And if you don’t feel like making stock, stock your fridge with Better Than Bouillon—the best shortcut for flavorful soups, stews and sauces. Yes, it’s healthier and cheaper to make homemade chicken stock (mine was made with the leftover carcass from a roast chicken that I’d stashed in the freezer, an onion, carrot and celery. It made about 16 cups of stock in my stock pot. But you really can’t match the convenience (and lack of dishes to wash) of Better Than Bouillon on a school night. The other recipes I shared are Wonton Egg Drop Soup, French Onion Soup and Lasagna Soup. Let me know if you want the chicken stock recipe! It’s very basic.

Last but not least, I have everything in my kitchen to make another batch of the Wonton Egg Drop Soup and I’m thinking of teaching the recipe live on Substack this week. I’ve never done a live here, so I’m not exactly sure how it works, but there’s nothing like learning by doing. I’ll be sure to save the class to notes or a post. I’ll make my first live Substack class free so everyone can check it out and decide if they want to join us as an all-star paid subscriber who forever has my gratitude. Merci!