Soups
White Bean Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: At least 1 hour You can make soup out of any bean you like, of course, but small white beans cook more quickly than most. (Even without soaking, you need as little as an hour, though for various reasons see Plain Talk About…
Virginian Peanut Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 45 minutes Where Peanut Soup, Senegalese Style, is rustic and loaded with vegetables, this classic American peanut soup is subtle and refined. Traditionally, a smooth, roux-thickened peanut soup signals the beginning of a…
Vegetable Soup, Thai Style MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 30 minutes This style of Thai soup tends to be thin, almost meager, but extremely flavorful, laced with lime, chile, and lemongrass. The selection of vegetables here is pretty traditional, but you can substitute…
Ultra-Fast Avocado Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 10 minutes, plus time to chill This lovely, celadon-colored soup is about as simple as it gets; the subtle, rich flavors of avocado and milk benefit from a hit of acidity, so I add orange or lime juice at the end, but…
Tortilla Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 1 hour Usually cobbled together from leftovers, and truly one of the best uses for stale tortillas, this is delicious and fortifying enough to warrant the limelight. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the soup is at…
Tomato Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 30 minutes Except for those made with the best of late-summer tomatoes, many tomato soups are simply not tomatoey enough. One way to circumvent this problem is to add tomato paste; it adds the depth that even good fresh tomatoes…
Tomato and Bread Soup Pappa al Pomodoro MAKES: 4 to 6 servings TIME: 30 minutes Pappa, in Italian, in case you couldn’t guess, is related to papin other words, mush. This is the best possible mush, a Tuscan dish of ripe tomatoes, good bread, and flavorful oil….
Tofu Skins in Hot Pot MAKES: 4 to 6 servings TIME: About 1 hour A tropical combo of hot, sweet, sour, and salty flavors makes this Vietnamese-inspired hot pot work perfectly even in warm weather, especially when you factor in the featured ingredient: tofu skins. Also…
Thai-Style Carrot Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 40 minutes If you think of carrot soup as creamy and French (and there’s no reason not to; see left), this will expand the concept for you. It’s still creamy, but decidedly unFrench, with classic Southeast…
Spanish-Style Plantain Stew MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 45 minutes I call this stew Spanish style not because I’ve ever eaten anything like it in Spain but because it harnesses the flavors of two of Spains most distinctive ingredients: saffron and smoked paprika….
