Do You Feel The Same?

In summer, I want a big bowl of salad or fruit in the frig.

In Winter, I want a big pot of soup in the frig at the ready for any meal.

Do you feel the same?

A warm, enticing soup is the best medicine for a cold winter’s day. It is the opposite of an ice cold drink on a parched desert day. Soup acts as a warm salve to a cold exterior. It’s an inside comfort like those furry cuddle blankets we throw over ourselves in the winter. It feels right in all the right places.

I must admit I have one family member who describes soup as “good food drowned in water”. Somehow, I did not translate the soup gene to him. Or maybe my soups were subpar even though the rest of us liked them.

A family tradition for us is SOUP when we go skiing!

If we are day skiing, we pack chili in a thermos and deliver it in a small Fritos bag. Open the top of the bag, drop in a large spoon of chili or two, add some cheese, some sour cream on top, if you wish … viola… Frito chili pie.

If we were staying overnight at the slope, soup was always on the menu for lunch on ski days. I’d plan, purchase, and pack everything needed.

One of our favorites is…

Corn Chowder

1 cup diced ham

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 (14oz.) can or 2 cups fresh chicken broth

3 medium potatoes, cubed

1 (16oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (16oz.) can cream style corn

1 (2oz.) jar pimientos

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup whipping cream, unwhipped

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

Directions: Sauté ham, onion, celery and pepper in butter in large saucepan until onion is translucent. Stir in broth, potatoes, corn, and pimientos. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add cheese and stir until melted. Blend in cream. Season with salt and pepper. To reheat, warm thoroughly but do not boil.

I usually purchase a ham steak and cube it.

I’ve also added some Velveeta cheese at the end.

This is not a light soup, so I don’t make it routinely, but for long ski days it’s great!

I serve it with some corn muffins, which I make ahead, and a veggie tray and fruit.

My favorite lighter soup which I make several times a winter is …

LEMON CHICKEN ORZO SOUP

Ingredients

2 sticks celery chopped finely
2 medium carrots peeled & chopped finely
1/2 medium onion chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
6 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1.5 pounds uncooked chicken breasts
1 cup uncooked orzo
1 medium uncooked fennel bulb thinly sliced and then chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or dill to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Sauté the celery, carrots, fennel and onions in a large soup pot with the butter and oil over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then add the flour and cook for another minute or so.
Pour in the chicken broth and stir until the flour has dissolved, then add the Italian seasoning and chicken. Bring the soup to a boil.
Cover the soup (lid slightly open), and reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Stir in the orzo and cook for another 10 minutes or until the orzo is cooked through. I keep the lid off and stir it fairly often because it tends to stick to the bottom of the pot.
Take the chicken out of the pot and cut it up, then add it back in. Add the lemon juice (you may want to add more than I suggest – I didn’t want to make the soup too lemony for some people), parsley/dill/fennel tops and season the soup with salt & pepper as needed. Serve immediately.

As noted, I chop up some of the fennel fronds and add them in with dill. If those aren’t flavors you love parsley works too.

Sometimes, I add more chicken broth if the orzo makes the soup too thick😉

The squeezed lemon and dill/fennel fronds make this soup zing with freshness. A lovely welcome to winter days.

A few weeks ago, one of our neighbors invited a few couples over for soup. All of us brought a pot. We didn’t coordinate, but we all brought something different!! She served bread, drinks, bought a pie and made cookies for dessert: fun time. We took small ladles of each for a soup smorgasbord. Give it a try! I took this last recipe!

To me, January soup is well …. S.U.P.E.R!
S.O.U.P.E.R.!

Do you feel the same?

Do you have a favorite recipe? Share it in the comments!

Stay Warm,