Soup Sundays

"It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without soup or bread in it."
    ~ M.F.K. Fisher

I was recently asked by Babble.com for my thoughts on which food all moms should know how to cook.  It was an easy question for me to answer, and my response was the following:

"I think every mom should know how to make a pot of homemade soup. Even if they just have one great recipe in their back pocket, they should make it often. Soup can be served all year round, it's economical, can feed a crowd if needed, and allows you to easily make a dinner (that wasn’t likely to happen otherwise) using almost nothing but vegetables."

I stand by that statement and truly believe that few foods are as versatile, and comforting, as soup. I am certain it's as close to the perfect family food as possible, and while my boys don't crave soup quite the same way I do, it is definitely a meal I know they will eat whenever it's presented to them. 

Because of this, I'm launching the new Soup Sundays series.  Each week, on Sunday, I will share a new recipe for a favourite soup, chowder, potage, broth or bisque. Some will be made with meat and others will be purely vegetarian. There will be chunky soups and soup purées, ethnic soups and old-fashioned soups, and there will be soup garnishes; a list of items to grace the top, or side, of your warm and fragrant slurpy dinners.

The right sidebar of the Family Bites homepage will feature links to all of the soups I've made/will make, including the story of why I started making so many soups to begin with. Let's get started, shall we?  What is your favourite kind of soup?

 

Pumpkin, Sweet Potato and Black Bean Purée

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 cups of black beans (cooked or canned)
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
• 1 Tbsp. garam masala (or cumin)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 8 cups chicken or veggie stock

Place the butter and the oil in a large pot or dutch oven, and melt over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent and slightly browned.

Add the sweet potato, pumpkin, black beans, salt and garam masala and stir to combine with the onion mixture.

Cover with 4 cups of stock and bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer, cover and allow to cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beans and sweet potatoes are fork tender.

Puree using a regular or immersion blender.  Add the remaining stock and stir well.

 

 

 

Comments

[Ceri @ Sweet Potato Chronicles]

Love this idea! Sunday is the perfect soup making day - particularly today. Will definitely be checking back in on future Sundays.

[Cheryl Arkison]

This looks yummy! Never would have made the combo, but it seems so right!

And I so wish soup was more popular in my house...

[Paula]

Great idea this Soup Sundays. This puree was a super way to kick it off too.

[Jerry (CbsoP)]

I agree that every cook should have at least one go-to soup recipe. I'm all in for spicy soups and chowders. One of the most popular posts on my blog is our recipe for Potato Bacon Soup. It's something we make just once per year, but look forward to all year long.

In fact, I think it's about that time again.

Soups just warm the soul. They bring families together. Soup is comfort food. I'll be tuning in for the rest of this series.

[Courtney]

Hi Jan! I'm Andrew's wife - I believe we met in Kingston at Dan's funeral. The other day Andrew mentioned you wrote a food blog and I finally put two and two together. You have been in my RSS reader for quite some time! :)

I totally agree that everyone should have a great soup recipe. I used to think soups were difficult to make but I have since been converted. I think some of my favourite things I make now are soups.