A Month of Soup Recipes!

We spent four days in NYC last week and ate out far too many meals. We had fantastic Chinese take out, Street Cart Chicken straight off the grill, sushi, and the best steak frites I’ve ever eaten. Although everything was delicious, we were so ready to come home and eat nothing but veggies. When we got home, I began our February meal plan, and quickly declared it to be The Month of Soup. Tomorrow may be the official midpoint of Winter, but the weather forecast promises February (and maybe March too) will be a terrific month (or two) to eat soup.

Sitting at my counter, armed with my meal planning calendar, computer and a gin martini, I texted my good friend Rebekah. “Send me all your favorite soup recipes. I’m going to see how many different soups I can make this month.” Everyone needs a friend like Rebekah. Within ten minutes, the two of us compiled a list of more than 30 different soup recipes. If I mix it up a bit and make a pasta dish or roast a chicken once a week, I’ll have enough soup recipes to last us until Spring arrives!

I used to hate soup. And I still don’t like smooth soups. To make the list of “good soup” in my book, a soup needs to have some texture; some bite; some chew. It needs to leave you feeling full, and like you’ve been wrapped with a warm and cozy blanket. If you are hankering for some good hearty soup recipes, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a month’s worth of soup recipes—from my kitchen to yours:

Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar Toasts

My youngest sister’s favorite meal growing up was Campbell’s Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese. Just the smell of tomato soup made me want to run the other way. But when I discovered this Roasted Tomato Soup, I became a tomato soup convert. I’ve tried several other recipes over the years, but this is the only tomato soup I ever seem to like. I don’t put the bread on top of the soup though, I make cheese toast separately and serve it on the side. The kids prefer grilled cheese.

French Lentil Soup

A few years ago, my husband gave me The New Best Recipe: Cook’s Illustrated cookbook for Christmas. (Always check the cookbook section of your local thrift store, friends!) The first recipe I tried was this Hearty Lentil Soup. I’ve shared about my fear of lentils on the blog before, but this soup will take all those fears away. It’s delightful for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Winter Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup is another one that I just don’t like. Part of what I don’t like is the traditionally smooth texture, but I also find most recipes are just two sweet. I love this Pumpkin Soup Recipe. The addition of green pepper and tomatoes help make taste like soup rather than pie in a bowl. We top it with roasted seeds or homemade croutons to give it a little texture. It’s also very good with a cup or two of white beans mixed in.

Roasted Eggplant Soup

I make this Roasted Eggplant Soup in the summer when eggplant is overflowing and stash it in the freezer for the coldest winter days. It is a smooth soup, but I fix that by adding whatever cooked beans I have in the fridge. Are you sensing a pattern here? Smooth soup + Rancho Gordo Beans = Paradise

Potato Leek Soup

There is something so comforting about potato soup. Leeks give it a sweeter flavor than onion, and are typically plentiful in the Winter. I use an immersion blender to leave some chunks of potato and add cooked bacon and shredded cheddar cheese as toppings.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

This soup is all about the broth. Also from my Cook’s Illustrated cookbook, but you can see the recipe online here with a 14-day free trial. You can also make a really good veggie broth, and add whatever vegetables you like in soup. Frozen peas, carrots, green beans, potatoes, greens; really anything goes here.

Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e Fagioli, or “Pasta and Beans” is more stew than soup. While you can make this with canned beans, beans really are the highlight of the meal, so I encourage you to find good dry beans. Rancho Gordo are my favorite, but I also love using the dry beans I find at local farms too. Whole Foods also has an excellent selection of good dry beans.

White Bean, Rice & Turmeric Soup

This one is a powerhouse of a meal. With beans, homemade broth, and tumeric, it is the perfect meal when you need a little boost of happiness or extra vitamins. This is originally a NY Times Cooking recipe that I altered based on what I had on hand. This is one soup you don’t want to miss.

Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup has long been a favorite of mine and David’s. We used to make this recipe in the crockpot back in the days when we both worked full time. Now I make this one, which is only slightly more time consuming. Topped with crushed tortilla chips, it’s an instant trip south of the border.

Red Lentil Soup

Red Lentils are magical when they cook - disappearing into the most creamy broth you can ever imagine. There’s no need to puree this soup, because the lentils do all the work. I like to serve it with mini naan.

Corn & Potato Chowder

I’m not a huge fan of chowder, but this Corn Chowder has bacon and potatoes which makes it totally worth eating. We sometimes add cooked beans if we have them in the fridge. Hint—you can add beans to any soup to up the protein content. Beans always make soup better.

Tortellini Soup

Tortellini Soup is one of those meals that makes everyone in the house happy. You really can’t go wrong with a bowl full of pasta, veggies, and broth.

Sweet Potato Minestrone

Minestrone is one of those soups I usually make with whatever I have in the fridge (see later in this list) but I love this Sweet Potato Minestrone recipe for its use of sweet potatoes and pesto.

Barley & Root Vegetable Stew

This Barley and Root Rainbow Vegetable Stew is one of the recipes my friend Rebekah sent me and I can’t wait to make it later this month. It uses whatever root vegetables you have in the fridge—I’ll be using turnip, purple carrot, parsnip, and sweet potato—and promises to be a beautiful bowl of soup.

Sopa de Albondigas

Sopa de Albondigas, or “Meatball Soup” is one of those soups that we never have leftovers of. I love making this when we have company for dinner because it’s easy and always delicious.

Cozy Cabbage & Farro Soup

You may not think you like cabbage, but this Cozy Cabbage & Farro Soup may just change your mind. Even my cabbage-hating family devours this soup every time I make it.

Mushroom & Farro Soup

Rebekah recommended this one too, but I haven’t tried it yet. I love mushrooms and I love farro, so I can’t imagine being disappointed. My family doesn’t like mushrooms, so I’m saving this for a night when the husband is out of town and I give the kids the purple box of mac and cheese.

Miso Fish Chowder

I have a container of miso hanging out in the back of my fridge, and am picking up fresh fish from the local fisherman tonight. I considered making fish tacos, but with the temperatures dropping into the negative teens this weekend, I think I’ll try this Miso Fish Chowder instead. Hint: you can find a gifted link in this week’s Five Quick Things.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Everyone needs a good recipe for Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, but you also need to know how to make it the easy way. Especially for those days when someone spikes a fever and wants to eat nothing but Gramma’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Here’s how you do it: Saute some carrots, onion, celery in some olive oil in a pot on the stove for a couple of minutes, or until translucent. Pour 4-6 cups chicken broth in the pot. It can be homemade broth from your freezer or a box of broth from the store. When it comes to a boil, taste it. Add salt if it needs it (this will largely depend on how salty your broth is). In a second pot, boil pasta of your choice until al dente. Put pasta in a bowl, top with vegetables and broth, and you have almost instant chicken noodle soup. And yes, it is still homemade.

Chicken & Dumplings

You can put dumplings in any soup and make it more delicious, but Chicken and Dumplings is my very favorite. It’s also my favorite way to eat parsnips.

Chicken and Rice

There is nothing more satisfying on a cold winter day than a big bowl of chicken and rice. Chicken and Rice was the very first meal I had at home after becoming a mother and it will always hold a place in my heart as the coziest meal in the world.

Beef & Barley Soup

Beef & Barley Soup is one of the very best meals for the coldest of days. It’s hearty, it’s delicious, and it makes you think you’re cozied up in a ski lodge somewhere glamorous.

Sausage, Lentil, & Spinach Soup

I made this Sausage, Lentil & Spinach Soup earlier this week thinking there would be leftovers for lunch all week, but we ate the entire pot in just two sittings. Springdell friends, this one is excellent with Garlic and Cheese Sausage!

Chard & White Bean Stew

I always forget how amazing this Chard & White Bean Stew is. I make it when fresh chard is plentiful and stash it in the freezer. Come March, it’s a wonderful surprise to open the freezer and discover it hidden in the bottom. Don’t forget the sherry vinegar and garlic toast to finish it off.

Beef Stew

I don’t make beef stew often, but it would be unfair to leave it out of a month of soups. This recipe is one of the more complicated Beef Stew recipes out there—you could just throw everything in the crockpot and walk away—but it is also one of the most delicious.

Haddock Chowder

When our church has events and food is involved, Haddock Chowder is always on the menu. The quality of the soup depends on the quality of your haddock. Since fresh haddock is easy to come by here, this is a recipe every New Englander should have in their back pocket.

Tortilla Soup

I typically don’t use a recipe for Tortilla Soup, instead throwing a bunch of taco leftovers into a pot with some broth and salsa, but when I am feeling a little fancier, I love this Simple Chicken Tortilla Soup from Smitten Kitchen.

Italian Wedding Soup

I first made Italian Wedding Soup from the first Weelicious cookbook. It’s easy and kid-friendly, so it was a no-brainer. It’s been years since I made it, but after seeing it on the soup bar at Whole Foods last weekend, I want to make it at home. If you don’t have the Weelicious cookbook, this recipe looks like a winner.

Egg Drop Soup

Egg Drop Soup is my oldest’s favorite soup of all time, but I have not been able to master the recipe at home. When I discovered Samin Nosrat included a recipe in Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, I knew I had to add it to the list for soup month. I’ll probably pair it with Lo Mein or Beef & Broccoli, but my daughter can make a meal off of Egg Drop Soup alone.

Ham & Split Pea Soup

I saved a ham bone from Christmas and I think it will be perfect for this Ham & Split Pea Soup.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

If you ask my youngest what her favorite soup is, she’ll probably say Broccoli Cheese. I make this soup all year—it is great with fresh broccoli, but you can also make it with frozen broccoli. It’s great with a good crusty bread, and is almost more a dip than a soup.

Greens, Orzo & Meatball Soup

Any soup with meatballs in it is a winner in my house. I love that this one includes greens too; it’s one of the few ways I can get my kids to eat greens in soup. The recipe uses fresh greens, but you can absolutely use that bag of greens in your freezer too.

Chili

Chili is one of those recipes that people have very strong feelings about. If you have a favorite chili recipe, by all means use it. And then send it to me, because I don’t think I ever use the same recipe twice. This Black Bean Chili is good if you want to use ground beef (turkey, pork, or chicken all work too). This Chili con Carne is excellent if you want to use Chuck Roast. This Chicken Chili is my favorite crockpot meal. And this three-bean chili is a great vegetarian option.

Refrigerator Soup

I can’t publish this blog post without reminding you that the story of the day I first made Refrigerator Soup is available over at Substack for Premium Subscribers. I think if you try out a subscription for a month, you’ll want to continue. But no hard feelings if you decide it’s just not for you.

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Now that’s a lot of soup recipes! Which ones are you most excited to try? Do you have any favorites not on the list? I hope you’ll share them with us in the comments below!

Delicata Squash, Pinto Bean & Spinach Enchiladas

It is no secret that I love Mexican food. As a young adult, my friends would take me to La Parilla to celebrate every year around the sun. For almost every birthday meal, I request a Taco Bar. When I am in a cooking rut, Mexican is the first thing that comes to mind. Tacos, quesadillas, nachos or enchiladas are always a safe meal in the Rowe house. I often joke that I could eat Mexican flavors for every meal and not grow tired of it. Only I don’t think I’m joking—I actually think it’s true!

When I shared my favorite taco recipes, I referred to sweet potato and black bean enchiladas and gave you a vague idea on how to make them. Last week, after my youngest had been sick on again and off again for a week, I turned to this favorite comfort food—only this time instead of sweet potatoes I used delicata squash, instead of black beans I used pinto, and I threw some spinach in for good measure. I was thrilled to discover winter squash could get crispy the way sweet potatoes do. Because I don’t typically buy enchilada sauce at the store, I made my own. With just a few pantry ingredients, you can make it in the time it takes to roast your squash.

If you have a winter squash and are unsure what to do with it, I encourage you to give these enchiladas a try. You can also use sweet potatoes if that’s what you have on hand. No pinto beans? Use black beans. Or white beans. No spinach? Use arugula or swiss chard. Or leave it out altogether. I’m sharing a recipe to give you courage and confidence, but feel free to use what you have friends, it will all work out!

Note: This makes a huge pan of enchiladas. You can half the recipe or you can do what I do - bake half now and freeze half for later. It freezes well and is such a welcome discovery in the freezer when you come home from a long day and don’t know what to make for dinner.

Delicata Squash, Spinach, & Pinto Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients

For the Enchilada Sauce

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup taco seasoning of your choice
2 tsp sugar
2 pint jars of roasted tomato puree from your summer stash (or a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes)
1 1/2 cups water (2 cups if using canned tomatoes)
2 Tbsp olive oil

For the Enchiladas:

1 delicata squash, peeled & chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp taco seasoning of your choice
3 cups cooked pinto beans (or 2 cans), drained and rinsed
3 oz spinach, cut into thin ribbons
3 cups shredded cheese (Monterrey Jack, Colby Jack, cheddar or a mix of any will do)
16-20 tortilla shells (we use flour, but you can use corn - you just may need more than 16)
1 batch Enchilada sauce

Instructions

For the Enchilada Sauce

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

2. When it starts to sizzle, add chopped onion. Cook for five minutes or until soft.

3. Add garlic, taco seasoning, and sugar. Cook 1-2 minutes longer until the spices smell heavenly.

4. Add tomato puree and sugar. Bring to a boil.

5. Turn the heat down to low and simmer 10-15 minutes, or until it begins to thicken. Taste and add salt or red pepper flakes to taste.

6. Turn the heat off and pour the sauce into a blender or food processor. You can also use an immersion blender, but your sauce might be a little chunky.

For the Enchiladas

1. Preheat oven to 450° (425° if using a convection oven).

2. On a sheet pan, mix delicata squash pieces with olive oil and taco seasoning. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until crisp around the edges, mixing once halfway through. When done, take out of the oven and let it cool slightly on the pan.

3. Turn oven down to 350°.

4. Get two 9x13 inch casserole dishes out of your cabinet. If you’re going to freeze one, now is a good time to line it with a double layer of foil. Once you freeze it, you can lift the foil out and not need a disposable pan. Or, you can use a disposable pan. Use what you have, remember?

5. When your squash is cool enough to handle, pour it into a large bowl with the beans, spinach, and 2 cups cheese. Mix gently with your hands or a wooden spoon.

6. Pour 1 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of each casserole dish, spreading it to cover the bottom of the pan.

7. Put a small handful of filling in the center of a tortilla, fold in the edges, and roll gently. Place each enchilada in the pan. Repeat until your pans are full and your filling is gone.

8. Pour 1-2 cups enchilada sauce over the top of each pan, covering each enchilada. How much sauce you use really depends on how saucy you like your enchiladas. If you have any leftover sauce, you can save it for chilaquiles for brunch the next day.

9. Cover each pan with 1/2 cup shredded cheese.

10. If you’re feeding a crowd, go ahead and bake both pans at 350° for 25-30 minutes, or until warm and bubbly. If you like your cheese brown, you can turn the broiler on for 3-5 minutes, or just leave the whole pan in the oven 10-15 minutes longer.

11. If you’re saving half, you can pop it in the freezer just like that. When it’s completely frozen (I leave it in the freezer overnight), gently pull on the foil and viola - you have a disposable pan! Cover with another layer of foil (or two - you want it airtight). It will keep in your freezer for 3-5 months. When you’re ready to reheat, pull it out and put it back in your casserole pan. Bake, covered, in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until warm and bubbly. Your future self will thank you.

She Forgot to Tell the Story (plus a bonus recipe for pasta filled with greens)

She brought her ravioli maker to Show and Tell. But she failed to tell the story. 

She talked about when they moved to Massachusetts and joined a CSA, wanting to eat locally and seasonally. She told them she bought a huge chest freezer and now spends her summer and fall preserving food, stocking up, preparing for winter. She told them if they had any questions about canning or freezing or how to eat seasonally, she was their gal. But she forgot to tell the deeper story behind the ravioli maker.

She forgot to tell them she spent that afternoon making ravioli from what she found in her freezer the day before. She found kohlrabi greens and some leftover roasted butternut squash. Not knowing what to do with the kohlrabi greens she blanched early in the summer (who even eats kohlrabi greens anyway?) she left them on the counter to drain for hours before squeezing them until they were completely dry. “I know!” she thought, “I’ll make pasta!” She threw the greens in the food processor with some flour, salt, and eggs and after a minute or two they magically became dough.

She formed the dough into a ball, wrapped it tightly in a plastic wrap blanket, and left it to rest on the counter as she cleaned the food processor for its next task. As she grabbed a towel and wiped the water off the clean food processor, she patted herself on the back for her creativity in the kitchen. Little did she know when her family bought her a pasta roller for Mother’s Day last year that homemade pasta would become her new fallback meal. She never dreamed she’d be here, turning greens into pasta with every chance she could find.

She turned to the counter and stared at the squash, thinking back to when she first roasted it on a sheet pan to go with a Roast Chicken sometime last fall. Knowing it wouldn’t get eaten as leftovers, she froze it for later, and forgot about it until now. She can’t bear to throw away food, not when she knows the work that goes into its growth. In a fit of inspiration, she dumped the squash in the food processor and pureed it until smooth. “This will make delicious ravioli,” she thinks, “but for the kids, I’ll have to make cheese.”

This is why she brought the ravioli maker to show and tell in the first place. She wanted to tell the story of how learning to cook seasonally helped her be creative. It helped her find a purpose. Helped her put down roots. 

She wanted to tell them about the time her family first visited Boston so many years ago and found themselves at a Farmer’s Market where they could buy raspberries and butternut squash and celery too. How in that moment she turned to her husband and said, “Okay, we can move here, as long as I can buy all of our food from a farm.” They had been part of a CSA in Atlanta, but the variety was nothing compared to what she saw there. She had been exploring bigger farms in the Atlanta area, and this move felt like an opportunity to find one of the things they had been searching for. 

She wanted to tell the story of how that farm they found their first year in MA was the first place that felt like home. That farm-fresh food is a large part of why they stayed in Massachusetts three years ago when all she really wanted to do was move back to Georgia.  She wanted to tell the story of how preserving food connects her to family who live so far away; how they too spend their summers stocking up whatever food they can, because it’s what her Grandma used to do.

She forgot to tell the story of how she found herself in that farmstand, her garden, and her kitchen that year. She learned how to be creative with the food they were given. She learned to read recipes—and to alter them—and she learned that everything tastes better when you get it from the farm. She learned that her kids will eat anything if she tells them Farmer Jamie grew it. But most of all, she learned that cooking can be therapeutic, if we give ourselves the space to try it. 

She brought the ravioli maker to show and tell because so much of who she is—of who she has always been—revolves around taking what she’s given and turning it into something beautiful. But she forgot to tell the story, so she took her failure and turned it into writing. And she realized that maybe it wasn’t such a failure after all.

Pasta Dough filled with Greens

*Adapted from Smitten Kitchen to use any and all greens found in my freezer.

Ingredients:

1 bunch blanched greens of any kind (to blanch greens, you throw them in a pot of boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Put them directly in a bowl of ice water for 2-3 minutes until cool. Use or freeze.)
1 ½ cups semolina flour
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
Additional flour as needed for rolling out the dough

Directions:

Drain your greens and squeeze as much water out as you can. It helps to use paper towels to get your greens as dry as possible.

Dump greens, flours, and salt in the food processor and pulse until the greens are chopped and mixed into the flour well. Add eggs and egg yolks and pulse until the dough starts to come together. Pour the dough onto the counter and knead into a ball. Let sit for 5 minutes and knead again for about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter for at least an hour. You can also stick it in the fridge overnight, just make sure to let it come to room temperature before you try to roll it out.

Divide the dough into six pieces. Roll each piece as thin as you possibly can, or run it through a pasta roller. I use this roller that attaches to my KitchenAid Mixer, and I run it through until I get to number 5. You can use it for lasagna or ravioli at this stage, or you can let the large sheets sit on your counter for 5 minutes before cutting it into its final shape. 

Cook in a pot of boiling salted water for 2-5 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and toss with marinara or butter, and top with parmesan cheese. Enjoy, while being completely amazed that everyone in your family has just devoured greens that would otherwise have been composted.

Eggplant: An Underrated Summer Beauty

Have you ever really looked at an eggplant? It’s a beautiful vegetable. Strikingly purple, it comes in various shades, shapes, and sizes. I remember the day when I first realized I liked eggplant. We got loads of it in our CSA in Atlanta, so I had to learn how to use it. Weelicious came to my rescue over and over again. And then I discovered Smitten Kitchen, who also gave me loads of ideas on how to use this summer beauty. I’ve branched out a bit since then, but still remain true to my favorites.

Three weeks ago, we got our first eggplant in our CSA share. I was with a friend, who refused to put eggplant in her bag, and I promptly chose one and threw it in her bag for her. “But I don’t like eggplant,” she said. “WHAT?! It’s so yummy! You just have to find the right recipe. Get one. Try it. I’ll send you my favorites.”

If you, like my friend, are getting tons of eggplant that you just don’t know what to do with, I’m coming to your rescue. I’ve made it my mission to help you fall in love with what I think is probably one of the most underrated vegetables out there. Today, I share with you what I think are the very best eggplant recipes out there. Try out a few … and come back and let me know what you think. I want to know what your favorites are!

Eggplant Burgers - These are a staple in our house. We literally make hundreds of them every summer, and my kids eat them all winter long. When I don’t know what to feed them, I grab an eggplant burger out of the freezer, pop it in the oven, and serve it with a smoothie on the side. You should hear the cheers when I say “Want an eggplant burger for lunch?”

Eggplant Parm Melts - Deb has taught me that you can turn anything into an open faced sandwich and it be a hit. These are quick and easy, and who doesn’t love that on a summer weeknight?

Eggplant Calzone - This may be my absolute favorite beat-the-winter-blues meal. When I’m overloaded with summer eggplant, I roast the small ones and freeze them in pre-measured baggies. It makes it easy to grab a bag in the morning, and make a calzone at night. My kids don’t like these, but I just make them a cheese pizza ;-). I make the recipe in this cookbook, but this recipe looks pretty scrumptious too.

Sautéed Eggplant with Honey - Can we talk about surprising recipes that my children LOVE? This is one of them. I think they ate an entire small eggplant between the two of them when I made this last week. You soak the eggplant in milk overnight (although I’ll be honest, sometimes it gets soaked for 2 nights), lightly coat it in flour mixed with salt, and saute in olive oil. This is a summer favorite. We serve it with a side of fruit (maybe watermelon or cantaloupe or peaches and blueberries) and sometimes corn on the cob, depending on what we’ve picked up at the farm that week.

Roasted Eggplant with Yogurt and Tomato Relish - if you’re an eggplant hater, don’t start with this recipe. If you love eggplant, you’ll love this. It’s one of my favorite summer lunches. No one else in the family likes it though, so I keep this one as a personal indulgence. But I could’t leave it off a list of favorites!

Smoky Eggplant Dip - this is a new favorite. A friend came over last week and her 7-year-old devoured the bowl I had stashed in my fridge. I love it served with small pitas or flatbread dippers, or homemade baguettes, or a plateful of raw veggies. I’m going to experiment with freezing it this year - we’ll see how it goes!

Quinoa-crusted Eggplant & Zucchini Parmesan - This one is not fast. Nor is it easy. But ya’ll …. this recipe is out of this world delicious. You can use any pasta sauce, but this marinara is the best I’ve ever had and takes this recipe up to the next level. This is a great celebration meal. Or if you’re insane like me, it’s a great meal to double or triple when you’re up to your eyeballs with zucchini and eggplant and stash it in the freezer for when you want something that feels luxurious but you don’t want to cook.

Pasta with Eggplant Puree - My 5-year-old begged for this recipe last week. It’s SO easy, and so delicious. It also freezes well, so I make several batches and toss it in the freezer for winter. You can use it over any pasta, but the small chunky noodles are my favorite. I think it’d be great with grilled chicken on top.

Roasted Eggplant Soup - For all you soup lovers out there, this is a good one. It doesn’t have the best look, but the taste is out of this world and it’s also a good freezer recipe. In the winter (or really early Spring, when I’m craving Summer), I pull it out and add some white beans and croutons and it feels like a real gourmet treat.

Ratatouille - No summer would be complete without a good ratatouille, am I right? Just the name ratatouille is fun to say, and this recipe is suuuuuuuuper easy, extra freezable, and gives you so many options later down the road. My favorite way to use it is to put it on a pizza crust or flatbread with some goat cheese. Pop it in a 400-degree oven for a bit and you have a better lunch than you can buy anywhere. The chicken stew recipe in the link is pretty delicious too. It’s great served over pasta, and I think you could even throw it in a risotto and find it to be delicious.

There you have it - ten favorite eggplant recipes to get you trying something new. Now you have no excuse to let that beautiful eggplant sit unloved! What will you try first?

Photo by Nina Luong on Unsplash.

Chicken and Dumplings

 “They are great in soup,” she said. “But I don’t really like soup,” I confessed to my best friend, who is convinced that soup is THE greatest thing to eat during the winter months. “It’s like drinking your food .... and I’m just not okay with that. I mean, I like to eat it maybe once a month ... but not once a week - and definitely not several times a week!”

We were talking about how to use the parsnips I have in my fridge from my CSA share. They keep piling up - like my beets - because I just can’t figure out how to get my family to eat them. And THEN ... then she said something brilliant.

”What if you add dumplings to it? Then it’s a little more hearty.” 

Spoken like a true Southerner. I just love her. And since that moment I have been dreaming about how to turn leftover chicken into chicken soup with dumplings.

I am pleased to say that I nailed this one on the first try. That doesn’t always happen, but after I took the first couple of bites I proclaimed to my family, “Man I love when something works.” And work it did.  

This is a perfect recipe for a lazy day at home (if you need to make broth) or you can make it a quick weeknight recipe by using chicken broth you already have (which is what I did). It’s cold and rainy today and this was a perfect rainy Sunday afternoon lunch.

Ingredients: 

For the soup:
2-3 cups leftover chicken
2-3 carrots, chopped (1-2 cups)
1 parsnip, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 onion  (1/2 cup)
1 cup chopped celery (I used frozen) 
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp butter
8 cups chicken broth  
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Herbs de provence (you can also use a blend of thyme, rosemary, and whatever else you like)

For the dumplings:
1 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
1 tbsp butter (melted)
Pinch of herbs (I used Herbs de Provence) 

Directions:

Melt butter in a large dutch oven or soup pan. Add parsnips, carrots, onion and celery. Cook 5-7 minutes or until they smell amazing. Add a pinch of salt, garlic, and the herbs. Mix well and cook 1-2 minutes longer. Add chicken and broth. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes or so. While you wait, mix your dumpling ingredients, taking care not to overmix. You want it just barely incorporated. 

When your veggies are mostly tender, drop spoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the soup. When all the batter is in the pot, cover your pot and turn the heat to low. Let it cook for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the dumplings clean.

That’s it! You’re done! Chicken and dumplings as good as my Grandma used to make!

Note:  We store the leftovers separately so the dumplings don’t get mushy or fall apart. The soup will freeze well, but the dumplings won’t - but who ends up with leftover dumplings anyway?!

Eggplant Burgers [Meals Under $15]

This is the time of year when we are stocking up every bit of produce we can find. I feel like a bear - getting ready for hibernation. Last week I found eggplant on the misfit shelf at the farm, so I came home with 10 small ones, 3 medium ones, and 2 from my CSA share. What in the heck do you do with all that eggplant, you might ask?

Last year, we had over 100 of these little things in our freezer before winter. They lasted us about 3 months before they were gone. They are SO easy to pull out and heat up, and they are always a hit. Rather than chicken nuggets, this is my go to easy meal. Not only do we eat them as burgers, but they are also delicious crumbled up and put on pizza. We used to saute them in olive oil, but this week we were making such a huge batch that we decided to experiment with baking them ... and I have to say I liked them even better!

My hubby and I like to put two burgers on a bun with cheese in between them and top them with ketchup. The girls eat them like a veggie patty and just dip them in ketchup. We made a triple batch this week and it costed us less than $10. Eggplant burgers for everyone!!

Eggplant Burgers
Adapted from Weelicious.com

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Olive Oil ($0.25)
1 medium eggplant or two very small ones, cubed (Cost of this varies. I get mine on the misfit shelf at the farm, so it only costed me $0.50. Most of the time you can get eggplant for $2 or less.)
1 garlic clove, minced ($0.25)
1/2 teaspoon salt (pennies)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried) ($0.25)
1 egg ($0.30)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese ($0.50)
1 cup breadcrumbs (free - we make it from leftover bread!)

Total Cost - $3-8, depending on how much your eggplant costs, whether you top it with cheese and a bun, and what condiments you like on them. 

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375. Prepare a large cookie sheet by rubbing it with olive oil or spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

Heat olive oil in a heavy dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add the eggplant and cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and salt and cook for 2 more minutes. Add a splash of water (1-2 tablespoons will do), cover and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the eggplant is tender. I typically turn the heat off after 3 minutes and let it sit with the cover on a few more minutes to finish steaming. Then I take the top off and put the eggplant in my food processor to sit a few minutes.

Add parsley, egg, cheese, and breadcrumbs to food processor and process until mostly smooth. 

Using 1/4 cup of mixture, form into patties and place on a cookie sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and firm. We like to flip them after the first 10 minutes so they get brown on both sides. Serve with cheese and a bun or just ketchup on the side. Be amazed at how much everyone loves them!

For a Vegan Version
I can't personally vouch for how tasty these are, but several of you have asked me for a good vegan version. I refuse to give up eggs and cheese, so I haven't played around with it ... but theoretically, you could mix 1 Tbsp flax meal with 3 Tbsp of hot water and use in place of the egg and substitute nutritional yeast for the Parmesan cheese. If you try it out, report back and let me know how they are!