Soup Night (35 page)

Serves 6

A great way to use two summertime treasures: fresh zucchini and basil.

• 1
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
  
• 1 carrot, sliced
  
• 3–4 red potatoes, thinly sliced
  
• 1–2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
  
• 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
  
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1 cup acini di pepe pasta (see note below)
  
• 2 cups packed fresh spinach
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup chopped fresh basil
  
• Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup coarsely chopped salted pistachio nuts, for garnish
  

1. 1.
   Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken until browned on all sides and no pink is showing. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside.
   
2. 2.
   Add the remaining
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   tablespoon oil to pan, heat to medium-high, and sauté the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and zucchini for about 5 minutes. Stir the vegetables gently, being careful not to break them up. Add the tomato, the reserved chicken, and broth. The broth should cover the vegetables; add more if needed. Simmer until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
   
3. 3.
   Bring a large pot filled with 3 to 4 quarts salted water to a boil. Add the acini di pepe pasta and boil 8 minutes or until the pasta is cooked and tender but firm to the bite. Drain.
   
4. 4.
   Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the spinach and basil; let stand 1 minute.
   
5. 5.
   Spoon the pasta into bowls and ladle the soup on top. Sprinkle each bowl with Parmesan and pistachios.
   

Make ahead?
Yes, through step 2. You can also cook the pasta ahead.

For large crowds:
A good one to make in large batches, double or triple.

Serves 6

When a soup has so few ingredients, a quality broth is critical, and that’s why I strongly recommend homemade chicken broth here. Lemon thyme is an amazing herb — both lemony and thymey, in equal measure. But if you can’t find it, regular thyme will do.

• 2 lemons
  
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  
• 6 cups homemade chicken broth
  
• 3 sprigs lemon thyme, more for garnish
  

1. 1.
   Remove the zest from one lemon in thin strips, and then juice that lemon. Cut the other lemon into paper-thin slices; remove the seeds, and set the slices aside. Trim any excess fat from the chicken, and cut the chicken into thin strips about 1
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   inches long.
   
2. 2.
   Bring the broth to a simmer in a soup pot. Add the chicken strips and simmer until done, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the reserved lemon zest and lemon thyme to the broth. Simmer for 10 minutes.
   
3. 3.
   Strain the broth through cheesecloth or a fine sieve; discard the solids. Return the strained broth to the pan and add the chicken and the reserved lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and heat through.
   
4. 4.
   Float a lemon slice and fresh thyme leaves on each serving.
   

Make ahead?
Yes.

For large crowds:
Works just fine to increase proportions, but I would go easy with the thyme, and increase it only fractionally.

Oro Valley, Arizona

Through most of this book, you will meet people who love to cook soup and love to feed people in their homes. Mark’s story is a little different — he did it at work.

His job was stressful and too demanding and dangerously close to damaging family life, so he switched to a different role within the company, only to find he missed the satisfaction of meeting impossible deadlines. Maybe, he thought, I could find satisfaction some other way. So Mark turned to his main hobby — cooking — for the calm pleasure it had always brought to his life, and hit upon a brilliant idea: make a big pot of soup and bring it to work, anonymously.

The first Wednesday of 2010 was a test run. Mark made the soup the night before, brought it to the kitchen area in a slow cooker, set out bowls and spoons and a small sign describing the soup. By the third week, he added his name to the sign. And that’s when things began to change for him.

“I got e-mails, texts, and visits from people I had never met before,” he says. “Some people contacted me just to discuss cooking. It was great!” Keeping up with coworkers’ expectations meant many happy hours studying recipes and thinking about new soups to try. For someone who loves cooking, this is a very happy way to spend time.

But for Mark the real payoff was a change in his feelings about the job. “The soup has opened up new relationships with coworkers. I’ve interacted with many new people, and their positive feedback means a lot. The soup tradition has brought our whole team together. People call me the Soup Guy, and it’s a good feeling to know that they count on me to bring the soup.”

In fact, one of those new relationships that began with a chat about soup eventually led Mark to a new position within the company, one that gives him great satisfaction. He still takes soup to work once a week, and has no plans to stop. “I can’t believe how much my life has changed,” Mark says, “just from taking soup to work once a week.”

Recipe from Heather Vogel Frederick,
Soup and Solidarity
, Portland, Oregon

Serves 6

This richly flavored vegetarian chili takes advantage of eggplant’s propensity for soaking up flavors. Because eggplant is generally only available in summer, this is a summertime chili. And thus we have a chili for every season (see pages
page 50
,
page 148
, and
page 194
).

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• 1 large eggplant, cut into 1-inch chunks
  
• 2 16-ounce cans diced tomatoes
  
• 1 (6-ounce) tomato paste
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained; or 2 cups cooked kidney beans (see
  page 27
  )
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained; or 2 cups cooked black beans (see
  page 27
  )
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  teaspoon chili powder, more to taste
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  teaspoon basil
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon ground cumin
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  

• Sour cream or plain Greek-style yogurt (see
  page 242
  )
  
• Shredded cheese (I like sharp cheddar)
  
• Chopped fresh cilantro
  

1. 1.
   Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until soft and transparent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the eggplant and sauté briefly.
   
2. 2.
   Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for several hours (or all day or overnight in a slow cooker). Remove the bay leaf.
   
3. 3.
   Serve with a dollop of sour cream (or plain Greek-style yogurt), shredded cheese, and chopped fresh cilantro.
   

Make ahead?
Of course. See Heather’s comment in step 2. Besides, do you know any chili that isn’t better the second day?

For large crowds:
If you want chili for a crowd, this is an ideal choice since it does not contain any meat, the one ingredient that ups the cost when multiplied. I would double or triple the vegetables and beans, and gradually increase all the spices, tasting as you go.

Bellingham, Washington

Sometimes community-minded folks start a Soup Night; sometimes they inherit them. That’s what happened with Lewinna. She moved into a house in this city north of Seattle where a Soup Night was already happening.

The home was originally conceived as an intentional Christian community, and the Soup Night was part of that vision. It was a kind of ministry — anyone was welcome, including homeless people off the street. As far as Lewinna knows, none of them ever took advantage, but the idea did spread by word of mouth through ripples of acquaintanceship.

Once a month, Lewinna cooked a huge pot of soup (usually vegetarian); others often brought other food contributions, but that wasn’t expected. The soup, Lewinna says, “is my gift.”

All tech-savvy readers, take note. Lewinna gives us a good example of using technology to good advantage. She has created a social media group called A Moveable Feast, and uses that exclusively to contact her Soup Night list.

Boston, Massachusetts

What does a young man do when he arrives in a strange city in the middle of a very cold winter, knowing only a few people? If it’s a clever young man named Kawandeep, he initiates a Soup Night. “It helped me quickly grow my social circle,” he says. “I think it’s a very warm way to meet people. Whenever I run into someone I’d like to get to know better, I invite them to a Soup Night, and they always seem to like the sound of that. I have a much larger role in the creative community now, and to a large extent I owe it to having the Soup Nights, and encouraging them to be spaces to share ideas and connect with others through conversation. That’s the underlying intention of many social gatherings, of course, but I spelled it out on the invitation, and I believe that helped.”

Serves 6

Andouille sausage is a smoked, highly seasoned pork and beef sausage that is especially popular in the South. It adds a great spicy flavor to this soup. And here is another opportunity to use up some of your zucchini!

• 3
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cups water
  
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 cup dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
  
• 2 carrots, sliced
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced into
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  -inch pieces
  
• 6 ounces andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  -inch pieces
  
• Lemon wedges, for garnish (optional)
  

1. 1.
   In a large soup pot over high heat, bring the water, broth, lentils, onion, celery, carrots, parsley, and salt to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
2. 2.
   Add the zucchini and sausage and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender and flavors are blended, about 10 minutes longer.
   
3. 3.
   Serve with a squeeze of lemon on top, if desired. Or set out bowls of lemon wedges so people can add their own. Or both.
   

Make ahead?
Yes, up through end of step 1.

For large crowds:
This soup lends itself well to being expanded. For economy, you might want to keep the amount of sausage proportionally lower, but its flavor will still come through.