Tuscan Bean Soup, the Happiest Soup Ever

I've been making this soup for years. I don't remember when exactly, but a friend gave me the Food for Friends as a gift. I have a lot of cookbooks, but this is one that stays in the kitchen because there are some definite keepers in here, recipes that I come back to again and again, tweaking them here and there; adding this, trying that.

This is absolutely one of those recipes. It's delicious in its simplicity and so easy to adapt based on what you may have in the pantry. When the crisp fall air comes to visit, here's just something so comforting about soup, and this soup in particular.

If you have it on hand, this is also really good with thin curls of Parmesan on top. But cheese makes everything that much happier, doesn't it?

Tuscan Bean Soup, adapted from Food for Friends
Serves 6
1 T olive oil
4 oz pancetta
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 can cannelini beans, rinsed
4 Italian sausages
1 quart chicken stock
1 bay leaf
bunch of parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat; add olive oil, carrots, celery, garlic, pancetta, and onions. Saute over medium heat 8-10 minutes, until softened.
   
2. Add the beans, sausage, stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.
   
3. Remove the sausages from the soup and slice on the diagonal. Return the sausages and their juices to the soup.
   
4. Add the parsley, remove the bay leaf, and serve.

Chicken Curry Noodle Soup

You know what curry dishes are good for? Stopping the almost-cold from getting any further. (That, of course, is only one of the many good thing about curry. The bad thing about curry is that I am unable to spell and have spelled it 'currey' every time I typed it while writing this. Which is awesome. (Except not.))

And when curry meets soup on a cold, rainy, blustery, not-quite-spring day like we had yesterday? Then curry is even better. This soup warmed us from the inside out, thanks in part to the magic of soup and in part to the warmth of the curry. Spinach and purple cabbage made it colorful and fun to look at and the somen gave it heft and body that helped to make it a perfect gloomy day dinner.

Once you have the vegetables in the pan, scootch them all to once side and add the curry (currey!) paste, letting it cook for a minute or three. When you pour in the coconut milk, stir just that half until the curry is totally mixed in. This particular paste has a kick to it, so clumps can be particularly ... surprising.

Just before you pull the soup off the heat, it should look something like this - supremely colorful and aromatic from the curry, coconut, basil, and cilantro.

The last, and best, step is the eating.

This soup was also good in that it came together relatively quickly - about half an hour.

Chicken Curry Noodle Soup
Serves 4
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 c crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 c chopped purple cabbage
2 c chicken thighs, chopped
2 T green curry paste (or to taste)
1 can coconut milk
4 c chicken stock
1/2 c basil, chopped
2 c spinach, washed and chopped
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
1 bunch somen noodles

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium high heat with 2 T olive oil.
   
2. Once the onion is translucent, add the cabbage to the pan and stir.
   
3. Cook the vegetables for 3-5 minutes and stir in the chicken.
   
4. Push all the chicken and vegetables to one side and add the curry paste, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring the curry paste only
   periodically. Once the curry paste starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, pour in 3 T coconut milk and stir the curry paste and coconut milk together until all the clumps are incorporated. Once the curry is incorporated, stir the curry mixture into the vegetables and chicken.
   
5. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
   
6. Add the somen, spinach, basil, and cilantro, and cook 4 additional minutes.
   
7. Serve.

Three Bean Chili

Sometimes, my willingness to cook doesn't extend very far beyond chop and heat...

...beyond running a can opener...

and stirring.

On days like that, I love chili. You will, too.

Three Bean Chili
I don't care for the super spicy, but if you do, add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper and one minced, seeded jalapeno with the onions and peppers. Serves 6
1 lb ground pork
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t salt
1/2 t oregano
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

For topping (optional):
plain yogurt or sour cream
fresh diced tomato
avocado
green onion

1. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat, adding the oil. Heat until the oil shimmers then add the pork. Cook 3-4 minutes, until browned. Remove to a bowl.
   
2. Add the onions and peppers to the pan, stirring briefly. Add the spices and stir, cooking 5 minutes, until onions are translucent and peppers are softened.
   
3. Add the beans, tomatoes, and stock. Stir and cover, cooking for 15 minutes.
   
4. Add the browned pork and any accumulated juices back to the pot. Stir and cook an additional five minutes.
   
5. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, green onion, fresh diced tomatoes, avocado, and a beer. Don't forget the beer.

Cauliflower Soup?

Cauliflower. Soup.

Not two words I typically think to put into the same recipe. I got an immersion blender for Christmas and have spent the last two weeks trying to find as many recipes as possible with the word "puree" in them. Today's find was a recipe from the self-published and completely amazing S.O.U.P.S cookbook written by the Hopvine's Michael Congdon.

I honestly can't say enough good things about this cookbook. I'd heard about it for a while, and stumbled on it in a now-defunct used bookstore. Every recipe I've tried has been phenomenal. As though the soups weren't good enough, his cookie philosophy is that there should be just enough dough to hold the chocolate chips and hazelnuts together. That right there? That's logic I can get behind.

The Curried Cauliflower Soup was no exception to the awesome. It's a pureed curry cauliflower base that's mixed with cauliflower florets, blistered jalapenos, and potatoes and then served with cilantro and diced tomato. This soup was so. very. good.

There was one rather large-ish 'however.' The soup? It took 2 hours to get it all together. I don't know how much of that time could be cut off by streamlining the process, but that's a long time. (Confession: I only read halfway through the recipe. If I had read the entire thing, I probably could have worked out that it was time consuming.)

Was it worth it? Absolutely.
Would I make it again? Maybe. But not for a while.

Curried Cauliflower Soup
(adapted from S.O.U.P.S) The original recipe called for five jalapenos, and after a misadventure with some habaneros last week, I'm a little pepper-shy.

2 T garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
1 onion, diced
1 head cauliflower
2 T curry powder
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
4 potatoes, diced
1 can coconut milk
1 quart stock
cilantro
tomato

1. Saute the garlic, ginger, and onion in vegetable oil until golden. Add the curry powder, cauliflower stems and leaves and saute 5 minutes. Add 2 cups stock and simmer 20-30 minutes, until the cauliflower is softened. Puree and set aside.
2. Sautee the jalapenos in vegetable oil until just blistered. Add the potatoes and cook 10ish minutes. Add the cauliflower florets and cover, cooking 5-10 minutes. Add the coconut milk, the puree you made in step one, and enough stock so the consistency is to your liking.

Serve with cilantro and diced tomato.