Fennel and kale avgolemono soup

For this classic Greek lemon and egg soup, you slowly heat an emulsion of eggs, lemon juice, and broth for a quick, comforting bowl that packs a sweet and sour punch.

Take me to the recipe!

So guys, I’m trying to lose weight. I hate admitting that because it feels like a betrayal of my hard work to unlearn diet culture over this past year. BUT! Thanks to all of that work, I think I can lose a few pounds while maintaining a healthy relationship with food and my body. Because I love food and it’s not realistic for me to give any of it up. And, while I’m still working at loving my body, I appreciate all that it’s done for me and don’t feel like it has to match an unrealistic thin, white ideal.

But the fact is, I weigh more than I’d like to. Baby weight plus quarantine weight plus holiday weight has added up. I started reigning in my eating a few months ago, which helped my mental health. Somehow feasting on unlimited amounts of Nutella to deal with postpartum and covid anxiety wasn’t working. GO FIGURE. But I focused primarily on what I was eating, rather than on how much I was eating.

Now I need to face the statistics that having had Gestation Diabetes during my second pregnancy makes it more likely that I’ll develop Type II Diabetes if I don’t maintain a healthy weight. And, one of my chief physical complaints is back pain and when I’m holding onto extra weight, there’s more stress on my spine. I want to be able to play with and pick up my kids and I can’t do that if my back is out!

Enter, soup! I love soup in the winter anyway for its coziness, but it’s the perfect vehicle for veggies and healthy fats. It’s also filling and EASY.

This version of Avgolemono in particular is one of my favorites. It’s creamy without any dairy and a well-rounded meal with the orzo and veggies. It’s also infinitely adaptable based on your diet and preferences. Doing Whole 30? Leave out the orzo and add shredded chicken. Gluten free? Swap the orzo for rice. Vegetarian? Use veggie stock instead of chicken stock. Want more protein? Add beans or quinoa. Want it zingier? Add more lemon! Want it creamier? Add another egg! The variations are endless.

The only rule with Avgolemono is this: Don’t let the eggs come to a boil! You’ll end up with scrambled egg bits in your broth and nobody wants that.

Fennel and kale avgolemono soup 

Time: about 30 minutes, mostly active
Yield: about 6 cups

6 cups chicken stock
1 tsp salt + more to taste (I’ve added another 1/2 tsp at the end in some batches)
1/8th tsp of black pepper 
1 bay leaf
1 large garlic clove (or 2 medium/small), peeled and lightly smashed
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
3 eggs
¼ cup lemon juice (the juice of 1 large lemon) + more to taste
2 cups lacinto kale (1 small bunch) 
1 small fennel bulb, sliced paper thin

Combine the stock, salt, black pepper, bay leaf and garlic in a pot and bring to a boil. Scoop out 1 cup of the hot stock and set aside to cool. 

Scoop out the garlic clove and add it to a blender. Set aside. 

Add the orzo and cook according to package directions, minus one minute. 

While the orzo is cooking, chop the kale and slice the fennel as thinly as possible. Set aside. 

Add the eggs and the lemon juice to the blender with the cooled garlic. Set aside.

Once the orzo is done, turn the heat down all the way and let the broth just barely simmer. Add the kale and the fennel and stir.

Check the cooling cup of broth. It should be warm, but not hot. If you can comfortably leave your finger in the broth, it’s ready. If the broth is still too hot to touch, add an ice cube and check again in one minute after the ice has melted.

Whizz the garlic, eggs, and lemon juice in the blender until just combined and slightly frothy. Add the warm broth in a stream or in 4 batches if your blender doesn’t open while running. 

Add the egg, lemon, garlic, and stock emulsion to the simmering broth and cook, stirring, for about 5 more minutes. Don’t let the soup boil!

Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, and lemon as needed.

Shortcut chicken soup

This chicken soup uses a few shortcuts like rotisserie chicken and store-bought broth to speed up the process, but gets extra oomph from plenty of aromatics, a little extra cooking oil, and teeny tiny pasta cooked right in the broth. A poached egg on top adds even more richness and depth.

Take me to the soup!

I originally called this “Quick and rich chicken soup,” but it sounded too much like a country band. However, the moniker still applies because this guy is indeed quite rich and quite quick (for a soup that tastes this good, that is!).

I’m not a huge fan of the chicken broth that comes in a box or a can. I mean, it’s fine as a replacement for water when cooking grains and beans, but for soup? It’s a little thin and bland for me. But, I don’t always have homemade stock in the freezer or the wherewithal to make it. (But if I do, this is my recipe!)

To spice and thicken it up, I use any combination of these:

• Butter: Adding a little extra cooking fat when you start sautéing your aromatics adds richness to the final product.

• Tiny pasta: The teenier the better! Orzo, stelline, ditalini, anilline, or any other pasta that’s about the size of a pencil eraser works perfectly. When cooked in the broth, the starch from the pasta thickens the broth significantly.

• Cheese: Adding some grated cheese at the end is one strategy, but tossing in the leftover rind of any hard cheese adds salt, depth, and richness.

• Salt: This might sound weird because a lot of canned and boxed broths have A LOT of salt in them, but if you use the unsalted or low salt variety, be sure to add enough salt back in.

• Poached egg: When the soup is done, adding a poached egg on top enriches it even more!

In this soup, I used pasta and a poached egg to give it a rich, silky texture. I included a range for the amount of liquid to add depending on how much liquid you like in your soup. Six cups makes the soup very thick, eight cups make it less so.

Shortcut chicken soup

2 Tbsp olive oil 
1 small onion, diced 
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced (heaping ½ cup)
1 small stalk celery, diced (scant ½ cup)
6 large fresh sage leaves 
½ tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf 
1 tsp kosher salt
Black pepper to taste 
6-8 cups chicken stock
1 cup tiny pasta 
1-2 cups shredded, precooked chicken
Serving sugggestions: 
Poached egg, parmesan cheese, more seasonin to taste

Time: About 45 minutes, mostly active
Yield: About 6-8 cups of soup, depending on how much water and chicken you add

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pot over medium high heat. Add the minced onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until the veggies begin to brown and the onions are translucent, about 6-8 minutes. 

Add the sage and thyme and cook until fragrant, about one minute.

Add the bay leaf, salt, pepper, and chicken stock and mix well. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. 

While the soup simmers, shred the chicken and set aside.

Bring back to a boil and add the pasta. Cook according to package directions until al dente. 

Add the shredded chicken and stir. 

Koginut squash soup

This soup is so creamy, herby, warm, and comforting—everything a bowl of soup should be. I use Koginut, which is a cross between the butternut and kabocha varieties of squash, but use anything you have on hand!

Yes, soup for you!

The koginut is my new favorite squash. It has the thick, creamy flesh of a kabocha squash but the mellow, sweet flavor of a butternut. If you can’t find one, have no fear. Basically any winter squash variety would be perfect here and all roast in roughly the same way. I’ve also used 2 extra large sweet potatoes in a pinch and the soup turned out equally delicious.

A note about roasting: One important element of this roasting method is to NOT trim the tops and bottom of the squash. Leaving them whole means that the steam gets trapped in the cavity of the squash so that it roasts and steams at the same time.

Also! In the recipe, you’ll note that I put the milk high up on the ingredients list even though we don’t add it until the end. That’s because, bringing it to room temperature and even microwaving it a bit makes it less likely that the milk solids will separate, which can happen if the cold milk is shocked by the hot soup. You can warm it in a pan on the stove while the soup simmers, but who wants to make another dish or worry about something scalding?

Koginut squash soup 

Time: About 90 minutes, less than half of it active
Yield: 10 cups of soup 

3 cups roasted squash, about 1 medium winter squash or 2 very large sweet potatoes 
½ cup heavy cream or half and half 
1 Tbsp olive oil
½ large onion or 2 large shallots, roughly chopped 
5 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped 
1 Tbsp butter 
3 stems fresh thyme or ¼ tsp dried 
Heaping ¼ tsp cumin
Heaping ¼ tsp paprika 
1 tsp sea salt 
4-6 cups low sodium chicken stock 
2 Tbsp brown sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 425. Halve the squash and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh inside. Place the squash cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 30-45 minutes, until the squash is fork tender. 

Using a kitchen towel or oven mitt to protect your hands, scoop out the cooked flesh from the inside of the squash and set aside.

Measure out the cream or half-and-half. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the soup.

In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over a medium-low flame and then cook the onion until beginning to brown, about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. 

Add the butter and let melt and bubble slightly. 

Add the spices, stir well, and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. 

Add the squash and stir well to combine. Add the stock, stir well again, increase the flame to high, and let the liquid come to a boil.

Turn down the flame to low and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Puree the soup. 

Add the puree back to the original pot. Test the milk to see if any chill remains. If it feels cool to cold, microwave it for 30 seconds at a time until it feels room temperature or warmer. Add to the soup and stir.  

Test for seasoning and adjust as necessary. If desired, add 2 Tbsp of sugar (brown or white) and stir to combine.

White bean and pasta soup

This soup is a metaphor for how I’m feeling about this holiday season. (As always, to skip this meditation on holiday blues and just get to the damned soup already, scroll to the next photo!)

As you can see, the dry pasta is vibrant pink and white adorableness. But when cooked, it loses some color and is a rather bleh peach and cream. It still tastes good, but doesn’t live up to the promise of the shiny and bright dry version. I feel that way about the holidays: The idea is one thing, but the experience is another.

I have the holiday blues. They came early this year, which is probably because Thanksgiving was so early and now we’re officially in the holiday season even though Halloween was 10 seconds ago and it’s all going too fast and increasing my seasonal ennui.

But if I’m honest, I always have the sneaking suspicion that everyone else is more engaged in life and more present in their lives and more, I don’t know, successful at life than I am. I’m sure I’m not alone.

Unsurprisingly, I have to take social media with a HUGE grain of salt and constantly remind myself that these idealized versions of life aren’t the whole picture. So, I guess this is my friendly reminder to all of YOU that ‘tis the season of matching jammies and perfect cookies, which are fun and pretty and inspiring, but also staged and only a sliver of someone’s day.

Anyway, make this soup! Seriously though, one way I try to combat the holiday blues is to be mindful about what I’m eating. This soup is more nutritious if you use a whole grain or grain-free pasta (or skip it entirely). However, M’s soup consumption increases dramatically if there’s a fun shape in there.

And if you can, make the broth yourself. It’s light years better than the stuff in paper cartons from the store. And you can make a lot at a time and freeze it for later. And the chicken can be frozen for later meals too!

White bean and pasta soup

1 Tbsp olive oil
½ medium onion, chopped
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried rosemary, minced
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
6 cups herbed chicken stock (recipe below)
1½ cups dried pasta, cooked in separate water
Parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Heat the olive oil over a medium low flame. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and rosemary and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the white beans and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.

While the soup simmers, cook the pasta separately. When the pasta is done, add it to the slightly cooled soup.

Top with cheese before serving.  

Yield: 7-8 cups soup, about 4 big bowls  

Herbed chicken stock

1 chicken, cut into pieces (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 drumsticks), skin and bones included
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 large carrot
1 stalks celery
2 sticks rosemary
8-10 sticks thyme
10-12 sage leaves
1 bay leaf
10-14 cups water, enough to cover the ingredients
1 Tbsp salt

Add all of the ingredients to a large stockpot and stir to distribute the salt. Cover with water.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, for 1½ hours. If a lot of the water evaporates, add more to maintain the original level of water.

Let cool. Strain the broth with a fine mesh sieve. Remove the bones and skin of the chicken, but save the meat in a separate container for other meals.   

Yield: About 12 cups of stock; one entire chicken, dark and light meat