Soups For Early Spring

Ahhhh, it’s spring. Spring, when the world awakens from its winter sleep. Spring, where it’s 70 degrees one day, and 25 the next. Spring, when a bowl of soup can really hit the spot.

What makes an early spring soup? Pretty much anything you might like. But, by and large, you don’t want anything quite as heavy as was right during the blustery days of winter. Still and all, you do want something with a little body, particularly on those more chilly days.

Here are a half dozen possibilities. Hopefully, other members will add to this list.

Creamy Reuben Soup

1 cup sauerkraut, well drained (I actually squeeze it in a kitchen towel)

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped celery

3 tbls butter

¼ cup flour

3 cups beef stock

½ lb corned beef, shredded

3 cups half & half

12 oz pkg Swiss cheese, shredded, divided use

6-8 slices rye bread, toasted and cut into quarters

Sauté onion and celery in butter, in a large saucepan, until tender.

Stir in the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 5 minutes. Add corned beef, kraut, half & half, and 1 cup of the cheese. Cook 30 minutes until slightly thickened, stirring frequently.

Ladle into 8 oven-proof bowls. Top each with toasted bread and ½ cup cheese. Broil until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

White Bean Soup with Sausage & Kale

2 links hot Italian sausage

1 tbls oil

½ cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 lg Portobello capes, diced

2 cups dry cannelloni  or other white beans

5 cups chicken stock

1 can diced tomatoes

2 tbls chopped basil

½ tsp oregano

4 cups coarsely chopped black kale

Pepper to taste

Soak beans overnight. Cook until tender. Drain and reserve.

Remove casing from sausage. Heat the oil and fry the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, until cooked through. Remove sausage and reserve, leaving grease in pot.

Add the onion and garlic to pot and cook until tender. Add mushrooms and sauté until liquid flows. Stir in beans, stock, and undrained tomatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, about 5 minutes.

Stir in herbs, cooked sausage, and kale. Simmer, uncovered, a few minutes until kale wilts. Season with pepper.

Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup

1 sm onion, chopped fine

2 tsp oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

12 oz assorted wild mushrooms, sliced

1 carrot, diced

1 rib celery, diced

6 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1/3 cup wild rice

¼ cup Sherry

1 tsp thyme

In a large pot over medium high heat, sauté onions in oil until translucent. Add the garlic, mushrooms, carrot, and celery. Cover and cook until veggies are softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the stock, rice, Sherry, and thyme. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is very tender, about an hour.

Three Sisters Soup

½ lb dried baby lima beans

2 lb pumpkin, peeled & cubed (or 2 cups puree)

5 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 onion, chopped fine

1 large leek, washed and sliced

2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 cup cream

¼ tsp white pepper

Chopped chives

Soak beans overnight. Cook until tender. Drain and reserve.

Put the pumpkin, stock, onion and leek in a large pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until pumpkin is soft. Puree vegetable mixture in blender, in batches, and return to pot. Add the corn and beans, bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Add the cream, salt and pepper. When very hot, but not boiling, serve, sprinkled with chives.

Garbanzo Soup With Andouille

1 ½ cups chickpeas

1 med onion, chopped

½ cup carrots, chopped

½ cup celery, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbls olive oil

1 tsp coriander seed

½ tsp cumin seed

Salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ quarts chicken stock

3 links Andouille sausage

Soak chickpeas overnight. Drain and reserve. Dry-roast the coriander and cumin seeds and crush in a mortar.

In the oil, sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté one minute more. Add the chickpeas, cumin, and coriander. Sauté one minute more. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the stock, bring to boil, lower heat, and simmer, covered, until chickpeas are very soft.

Reserve about 1/3 of the chickpeas. Put the rest of the solids and stock in a blender, working in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, along with the reserved whole chickpeas, and heat just to the boiling point, adjusting seasonings as necessary.

As soup reheats, dice the Andouille and sauté until cooked through. Place some of the sausage cubes in the bottom of each serving bowl and cover with the hot soup.

Shrimp and Sausage Soup

3 cans (14.5 oz)  canned diced tomatoes

1 bell pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

¾ lb Italian sausage

1 cup dry red wine

1 lb shrimp

1 bay leaf

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp marjoram

1 tsp basil

2-3 anchovy filets

Hot sauce

Olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Empty tomatoes into a large pot over low head. Add the bay leaf, oregano, marjoram, and basil. Splash in a few drops hot sauce. Mash the anchovies and add them to the pot.

In a heavy skillet sweat the onion and bell pepper in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the sweated veggies to soup pot.

Brown the sausage in the same skillet. Add to pot. Deglaze the skillet with the wine, let it reduce a few minutes, and add to pot.

Simmer soup about an hour.

Depending on size, divide peeled & deveined shrimp into halves or thirds. Put shrimp in pot and cook three to five minutes until shrimp turn opaque.