These Soups Are More Song Than Formula

Warm, non-judgemental comfort in a bowl. [Today On The Spruce]( [The Spruce Daily]( [Today On The Spruce]( [Today On The Spruce] [Comforting Soups]( [Warm, Comforting Soups That Are More Song Than Formula]( [READ MORE]( Heather Ramsdell Today, I sent a photo of a scrumptious-looking [bowl of vegetable soup]( to editor Kristin at the exact same moment that she was posting a photo of a [biscuit-topped soup]( to the [whole team]( on Slack. One second later, editor Kysha and I simultaneously wrote “yum” to two different people. Coincidence? Nope. We clearly all need soup. Or, we need warm, non-judgemental comfort, and soup is a simple way to get it. According to Google trends, soup is currently outpacing “Squid Games” in popularity. There is no way for me to talk about soup without remembering my mom, who lived in a state of nearly-constant soup production. I learned a lot about cooking through osmosis simply by being in the kitchen, where there was always something on the stove. My mom made soup after work, sent thermoses of it to school with us, dished it into bowls from the stove, and served it with salted butter and rye bread. Every [chicken dinner became soup](. All fridge cleanouts produced a [one-of-a-kind soup](. These soups were more of a song than a formula. She started with something oniony, maybe scallions or a shallot. She would add the center stalks of celery and sauté them in butter. Then she’d pour in water, [a handful of rice](, some part of a chicken, or pork chop bones, and tomato ends. From there, any number of guest foods would make an appearance: wilted lettuce, garbanzo beans, crinkly ginger, a random mushroom, extra zucchini, a succulent potato end, frozen limas, oregano, garlic, and a cheese rind. Sometimes there were very tiny pasta stars. Magic made her twinkle. In truth, Mom’s soup was not always perfect, because improvisation and perfection don’t care about each other. Each soup was different, but all were inexpensive, nutritious, and forgiving. They could expand to meet any number of teenage basketball players or anyone else who showed up to dinner. When there were leftovers, the soup somehow became more delicious the next day. My mom was warm, forgiving, humble, resourceful and thoroughly kind. And she was very good at soup. Since she isn’t here to teach you how to cook it, you should [start with a recipe](, but then you should stray as soon and as often as you are able. [Today On The Spruce](#) What to Make This Week [Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup]( [Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup]( Chicken soup avgolemono is perhaps the most iconic of all Greek soups. [Get the Recipe]( [Biscuit Mix Drop Dumplings for Stew]( Super easy drop dumplings for those cold-weather dumpling soup cravings. [Get the Recipe]( [Seaweed Egg Drop Soup]( [Seaweed Egg Drop Soup]( Once you’ve mastered the base recipe, it’s all about customization. [Get the Recipe]( [French Lentils Soup]( We like making this mildly hot, peppery lentil soup in our instant pot. [Get the Recipe]( [Today On The Spruce](#) The Spruce Eats on YouTube [7 Cozy Fall Soup Recipes]( [7 Cozy Fall Soup Recipes You’re Going to Want to Try]( [Watch & Learn]( [Today On The Spruce]( [Spruce Eats Banner]( [Today On The Spruce](#) Did somebody forward you this email? [Sign Up for The Spruce Eats Newsletter!]( Have feedback? Send us an email at contact@thespruceeats.com, subject line: Newsletter Feedback. [The Spruce]( [The Spruce]( Follow us: You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to The Spruce Eats newsletter. [Unsubscribe](page=spruceeatsprefnew) © 2021 Dotdash.com — All rights reserved. [Privacy Policy.]( A DOTDASH BRAND 28 Liberty Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY, 10005