An elaborate preparation for a special meal, you can cook everything except the Brussels sprouts the day before. Reheat the vegetables, blanch the sprouts, and combine them at the last minute. Instead of chestnuts, which I find to be disappointing and expensive (and the canned ones are just too soft), I use walnuts instead.
We often overlook the bell pepper, which bestows an uncanny, slightly smoky sweetness to a dish.
Here’s a simple and tasty soup that I think of as a “starter soup” —even someone who has never cooked could make this without any trouble. The amounts are pretty flexible, and the technique basic, and the result delicious.
Sturdy black kale, leeks and sweet potatoes keep their distinct textures and flavors in this chopped green soup, and the combination of tart, fresh lemon with toasted cumin just shines.
This chard and spinach soup gets complex flavor from slowly cooked onions and lemon juice, while a sprinkle of rice gives it body and a velvety texture. Serve with a swirl of fruity, fragrant extra-virgin olive oil for richness.
Ingredients
Serve this pickle with any Indian meal and alongside Mango Chutney and a stack of poppadums. It’s equally delicious served with any cold roasted meats.
The goal with vegetable broth is to make a good-tasting, well-balanced liquor with no one vegetable dominating the flavor.
Some soups demand a fireside, others require a summer afternoon. This soup defies seasons, and tastes just as delicious in the spring as in the winter. Perfect for dipping into with a hunk of brown bread or satisfying alone. The addition of whole peas and pecorino at the end makes for a satisfying sweet/salty finish. Plus, even Daniel made it through half a bowl before realizing Split Peas are still peas.
My friends Pat and Denny have adopted this as a standard, but they put the cilantro on the side, and so can you if your family is polarized on the cilantro front. Pat and Denny also use low-sodium soy sauce, which is a great idea if you tend to have it around and handy. Even better is tamari sauce, which leaves the nuts sticky and shiny but not crusted to the pan (a drawback of soy); also, it's gluten-free. My friend Zarmik had this to say about the nuts: "Soy-glazed almonds were a revelation. I suspect I would think the same of soy-glazed cardboard. In fact, for the next few days, if it does not move, it stands a good change of getting soy-glazed."