Time: approximately 90 minutes (20 minutes to prepare the artichokes, 20 minutes to chop the other vegetables, 20 minutes to saute, 20 minutes to simmer, 10 to simmer with the bread and then puree the mixure).

Serves: 8

Inspired by: I love artichoke soup. One of my favorites is from Duartes Tavern in Pescadero, CA. For years I’ve wanted to learn to make it, but most are full of cream and not very healthy. Then I saw Chef Tony Baker of Montrio Bistro in Monterey, California demonstrate this soup on a cooking show and it has no cream or butter – just a bit of olive oil and sourdough bread to thicken it.

Ingredients:

• 4 extra large artichokes
• ½ cup virgin olive oil
• 1 medium sized yellow onion
• 1 leek
• 1 celery stalk
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 cups chopped sourdough bread
• 4 fresh sage leaves
• 1 fresh sprig of thyme
• 6 cups chicken stock (or substitute with vegetable stock) – lower sodium is best so you can season it yourself
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Using a sharp serrated knife, trim the artichoke all the way down to the heart (keep the stem). Use a spoon to scrape away the fuzzy part and discard.  Peel the stem and use that in the soup as well, since the stem is an extension of the heart.  After the artichokes are clean, roughly slice.
• Wash and roughly chop all of the vegetables and garlic.
• Heat the oil in a large thick-bottomed pan.
• Sweat (sauté without color) the artichokes, onion, leek, garlic, celery and thyme, until tender.
• Add the chicken stock. I used Sheltons all natural chicken broth with salt and spices but if you might prefer low sodium so you can  add your own in at the end.
• Gently simmer the soup for 20 minutes.
• Add the roughly chopped sourdough bread and sage and simmer for another 5 minutes.
• In small batches, puree the soup using either a blender, food processor or immersion blender. A conventional blender should produce a nice smooth creamy soup.
• Place all of the soup into a clean saucepan, reheat, and check the seasoning.
• Season with salt and pepper. (I added in another 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of both salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper).

Time: 15-30 minutes to prepare; I prefer to prepare this a day or two ahead of serving so flavors can meld.

Serves: 6 (I typically make 2-3 batches at a time for a party and fill up a punch bowl).

Inspired by: My mom made this when I was growing up. This is very similar to her original recipe. I’ve had many different versions of gazpacho over the years and love them all.  If you have access to really flavorful tomatoes, this is fabulous.

Ingredients:

• 1 firm medium cucumber (2-3 cups chopped). I prefer English or Persian cucumbers so I can leave the skin on.
• 6-8 medium to large ripe, red tomatoes, quartered with white cores removed (this recipe is all about the tomatoes so pick really yummy ones!). I leave the skins on.
• 1-2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 2-4 teaspoons chili powder
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1-2 tablespoons Tobasco
• 1 small piece fresh Jalapeño (optional for extra heat)
• ¼ Bermuda or other sweet, white onion cut into a few pieces (optional – I skip this because I’m not a fan of raw onion)
• ¼ – ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 -3 cups organic tomato puree  – this is optional, but boosts the flavor and red color
• Optional garnishes: garlic croutons, blue corn chips, chopped cucumbers, parsley, cilantro, green onions

Preparation:

• Chop the cucumber into large chunks and pulse in the food processor. I prefer keeping the cucumber a bit chunky and crispy instead of turning it into white puree or foam. I think it improves the texture and color. White puree can make red soup turn pink. Remove and put into a separate bowl.
• Use food processor on pulse mode again to combine the rest of the ingredients. You can stop pulsing when it is still a bit chunky or you can blend it smooth. I prefer it a little bit chunky. It’s best to do this in batches if your food processor isn’t that large.
• Taste, and if needed, add additional salt, chili powder, Tobasco or Jalapeño to your preference.
• Pour into large bowl and hand mix in the chopped cucumber.
• Refrigerate to chill and blend the flavors.
• Serve at room temperature or just slightly chilled.
• You can garnish with chopped parsley, spring onions, cilantro, or with something crunchy such as blue chips or croutons.

Time: 40-45 minutes

Serves: 8-12

Inspired by: I’ve always loved creamy mushroom soup and have thought about trying to make it, but prefer not to eat soups with a lot of cream. Once I tried my version of a healthy creamy zucchini soup that turned out well, I thought I’d use a similar approach to a mushroom soup – creamy without the cream! This turned out even better than I had thought it would. Wow! Yum! It’s amazing how much creamy texture yellow potatoes can add!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salted butter
• 1 large white onion
• 2 small to medium yellow potatoes
• 2 pounds cremini mushrooms
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth (don’t use low fat or low salt – get the ones with all the flavor or make your own)
• Approximately 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Approximately 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 2-4 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley for garnish

Preparation:

• Wash the mushrooms and let them drain in a colander.
• Wash, peel and dice the potato.
• Pour the chicken broth into a medium sized soup pot and add the diced potatoes (the broth should cover the potato). Simmer for about 15 minutes until potato is soft.
• While potato is cooking, slice the onion and sauté it on medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil until it’s well cooked and translucent.
• Once the onion is cooked, add it to the chicken broth and potato.
• Slice and dice the mushrooms. In the same pan, sauté the mushrooms on medium heat with 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper until cooked through – about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.
• Remove 2 cups of the sautéed mushrooms and place in a bowl. Add the rest to the soup pot and cook for 1 more minute.
• Using a cup or ladle, take about half the mixture from the soup pot, put it in a blender and puree – about 1 minute. Taste and add salt if needed and then pour into a large serving bowl. Repeat this with the rest of the mixture in the soup pot until it has all been pureed and salted to your liking. Add half of the reserved mushrooms to the soup and stir in.
• Chop some fresh parsley.
• Serve the soup into bowls, garnishing each with fresh parsley and the rest of the reserved sautéed mushroom slices.

Wine Suggestions: This would be fabulous with a Red Burgundy. Mushrooms and an earthy Pinot Noir are awesome! We drank this with a yummy older earthy Bordeaux last night and it was also a fantastic combination.

Time: 60-75 minutes

Serves: 4  – just the two of us had this tonight with fresh whole grain bread and roasted brussel sprouts. We could have easily had two more people join us – we ate way too much and we’ll still have awesome leftovers for tomorrow.

Inspired by: It’s the end of December and for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been seeing Dungeness crab at the fish counter. I’ve been thinking that I must get some of these before the season is over! I LOVE crab and it brings with it a lot of memories for me – mainly related to my dad. I remember as a child going out for crab with my family, and my brother and I would leave the restaurants still playing with the claws. I also think of my dad ordering crab cioppino at restaurants and wearing a bib because it was so messy. When I started thinking about what I wanted to have for dinner tonight, crab and tomatoes came to mind… and that got me googling crab cioppino recipes. The first one I found was “Judith’s Dungeness Crab Cioppino Recipe” from Food and Wine (Judith was chef Michael Mina’s late mother-in-law who apparently used to make it for Christmas Eve dinner). It looked great and easy, but I had to make a few modifications based on ingredient availability and the fact that I was cooking for 2, but it turned out so amazing, I’ll do it exactly the same way next time! This recipe makes a very thick soup with a LOT of kick! Yum.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 small red bell pepper – chopped
• 1 small onion – chopped
• 1 large jalapeno – minced
• 4 medium garlic cloves (2 minced; 2 whole)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 14 oz can of fire roasted organic tomatoes – diced
• 1 10 oz can of whole baby clams
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 1/2 – 1 cup packed basil leaves
• 1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 steamed Dungeness crab
• 8 mussels
• 8 littleneck clams
• 12 shrimp – shelled and deveined
• some small scallops or halibut pieces (optional)

Preparation:

• In a large soup pot, sauté the onion for about 2 minutes on high heat. Add the red bell pepper and sauté for about 2 more minutes. Add the minced garlic and jalapeno and sauté for another 6 minutes or until it is all very soft and beginning to brown.
• Add the tomato paste, stir well, and cook for another minute.
• Add the tomatoes, wine and bay leaf and cook for another 5-10 minutes – until thickened.
• Add the can of clams with their broth and season with salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile – in a food processor – combine the basil leaves, whole garlic cloves, and red pepper flakes – chop well. Add 1/8 cup of olive oil and puree until smooth. Then prepare the crab by removing the top shells and the flap on the undersides – pry out any brownish insides and feathery lungs and discard. Rinse the crab bodies in cold water and break them up into pieces that are a few inches in length – or however you’d like to see them presented in your dish when serving.
• Now it’s time to add the clams, mussels and shrimp to the pot – be sure to push them into the hot broth. Once the shells of the clams and the mussels open (about 2 minutes), add the crab pieces and push into the broth as much as possible – put the lid on the pot and continue to cook for another 2-4 minutes until everything is hot.
• Use tongs to take out all the shellfish and distribute evenly into bowls – then scoop out broth evenly into bowls.
• Drizzle/spread the basil puree over the top of each and serve with fresh bread.

Notes: I would have liked including some scallops, but they weren’t available. White fish, such as Halibut, would have been good too. If you like your broth thinner – replace the can of clams with 16 oz of clam broth (I wasn’t able to find it – the stores were probably sold out from Christmas, but it’s what the original recipe called for). I’m sure you could also double the diced tomatoes without losing flavor – this is a VERY flavorful and spicy dish! It can also be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Wine Suggestions: We drank this with a 2003 La Spinetta Barbera d’ Asti Superiore. It needed some decanting, but it was a fabulous pairing with the rich tomato and spice of the dish.

Time: 1.5 hours total; 20-30 minutes of prep, about an hour to simmer, and another 5 minutes to puree.

Serves: 10-14

Inspired by: I took an eight-day cycling trip to Piedmont, Italy in September of 2008. We tasted nearly 20 different wine varietals in that short time. The overall food and wine experience was exceptional – as was the cycling with 40-50 miles a day and some awesome climbs! One day we stopped for a couple of hours to have a multi-course lunch at a beautiful winery  (it was very difficult to get back on the bike after that – even with all the food – I think we had even more wine!). The soup was amazing and we all asked about what was in it because it was so rich and creamy, but when it was described to us, it sounded so healthy! As soon as I got home I tried something similar and this was the result.

Supplies: Large soup pot

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large white onion
• 1-2 carrots
• 1 stick celery
• 1 large potato
• 6-8 medium zucchinis
• 70 oz chicken broth (4, 14 oz cans) – organic preferred, do not used reduced fat or salt
• 2-4 tablespoons chopped basil (or Italian leafed parsley)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper or curry powder (optional – I love the “kick” this gives but skip this if you don’t want a spicy soup)
• 1 additional teaspoon of salt (if you aren’t sensitive to salt, you might want to add this at the end to bring out the flavors)

Preparation:

• Dice the onion and sauté in the olive oil and butter until soft and translucent (approximately 5-8 minutes).
• While sautéing the onion, peel and dice the carrot and potato, dice the zucchini and celery, and chop the basil.
• Add the above items (except the basil) to the pot and stir/cook for a few minutes.
• Add the chicken broth, basil, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to simmer, cover with lid, and cook for about an hour or until all veggies are soft.
• Put into a food processor and blend (I have the large 14 cup kind and do this in two batches). If you want the soup to be thicker, strain out some of the broth before blending. You can always add it back in.
• Add additional salt as needed.

Wine Suggestions: Contrast with a crisp white such as an Chablis, White Burgundy or Albarino or compliment with a creamy white such as a barrel fermented (rich, buttery) California Chardonnay. If you add the spice you might even consider a light to medium bodied spicy red such as a Southern Rhone or Rioja or an off-dry white such as a Riesling.

Time: Approximately 30 minutes of prep time and 3 hours of cook time.

Serves: 8-12

Inspired by: I’ve always enjoyed lentil soups and they can be so healthy. Many Armenian and Turkish versions of lentil soup include apricots. I love the concept of that, but often find they use too many and overpower the soup. After experimenting a bit, I like this version because it adds some depth and interest to the flavor without throwing it out of balance.

Supplies: Large soup pot

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions (2 small onions or one large onion)
• 6 large cloves garlic, minced
• 6-8 medium tomatoes chopped (or 1, 28 oz can organic fire roasted diced or crushed tomatoes)
• ½ cup chopped dried apricots
• 2 cups lentils (any color)
• 6 cups water to start (you may add another 3-6 cups while it’s cooking)
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• ½  teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon cayenne (could use a curry powder instead or for part of this to change flavor a bit)
• ½  teaspoon crushed ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt

Garnish – Finishing Touches:

• Fresh parsley – chopped
• Paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste (I typically add another 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt)
• Freshly squeezed lime juice

Preparation:

• Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
• Add lentils, tomatoes, apricots, water and spices.
• Simmer for 3 hours, or until the lentils are completely soft. Add hot water as needed to keep the soup to your desired thickness.
• Add additional salt & pepper if still needed.
• When serving, squeeze some lime juice over the top, and garnish with paprika and parsley.

Note: You can of course skip the lime and the other garnishes, but I love lime juice drizzled on this lentil soup – I think it brings out a beautiful flavor.

Wine Suggestions: This soup has a spicy kick to it, but also a hint of sweetness. A medium bodied red with some nice fruitiness and/or a bit of spice on it would be perfect such as the 2006 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel (45% Mourvedre, 28% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 5% Counoise) or a similar Southern Rhone blend. I’d probably also try a Rioja or a lighter-style Zinfandel (something like Hartford Court is nice). If you prefer white, the best match would be something off-dry such as a Kabinett Riesling. I had an inexpensive Riesling from Washington recently that was actually a very good pairing – Eroica from Chateau St. Michelle. What I enjoyed about this one is that it’s only slightly off dry. Eroica is the result of a winemaking collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Bob Bertheau and famed Mosel winemaker Ernst Loosen.