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. 

Quick(ish) Meat Sauce

Meat sauces are usually long and slow affairs, but this version speeds things up with high heat and beef stock to mimic the flavor of a cooked-all-day sauce in a fraction of the time.

Take me to the sauce!

I love a great, long-simmered, deeply flavored, unctuous Bolognese more than almost anything. That falling apart meat with a hint of acidic tomatoes all clinging to some wide flat noodles with a sprinkle of salty, nutty parmesan? Swoon.

But realistically, we never have time to make one. Even during these quarantined weekends we need flexibility for when the children inevitably short circuit and need a change of scenery.

It’s hard to achieve that depth of flavor without the long, slow simmer, but I’ve tried! And I think succeeded! However, there’s a reason why I call this a “meat sauce” and not “Bolognese.” It’s not the original. But it is a delicious approximation in about an hour.

A couple of notes:

• Use the leanest beef you can find. If you can’t get 90/10 or 85/15, use half of the amount of pork listed or leave it out entirely

• This recipe is meant to be made mostly at high temperatures, but you’ll need to keep an eye on the sauce at every step to ensure that the liquids are evaporating fast enough, but that nothing is burning. We want the heat to caramelize and brown everything, but we don’t want anything to burn and turn bitter. You may have to do a significant amount of fiddling with the temperature throughout the cooking to speed things up or slow them down at intervals.

• I list a range of amount of the tomato paste. I like it less tomato-y, but my husband likes it with a little more. The largest amount (6 oz) is one small can of tomato paste.

Quick (ish) meat sauce 

2 Tbsp olive oil 
½ large onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup) 
1 large stalk celery, finely minced  (about ½ cup) 
1 small carrot, finely minced (about ½ cup) 
5 large garlic cloves, smashed 
1 lb ground beef (90/10 if you can find it) 
¼ lb ground pork or sausage, casings removed
1 tsp kosher salt 
4-6 oz tomato paste (5-6½ tbsp)
¼ cup red wine 
2 cups beef broth 
Pepper to taste

Time: about 1 hour for the sauce and the pasta, mostly active
Yield: 3-4 cups of sauce, or enough for 1 lb of pasta 

Heat a skillet over a medium flame. Add the oil and heat until the oil is shimmering and slips easily around the pan. Add the onion, celery, and carrots, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the veggies soften and begin to brown.

Add the garlic. Cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn. 

Add the meat and turn the heat back up to medium if you turned it down earlier. Stir and chop up the meat with your spatula breaking it into small pieces while cooking until no pink remains, about 5 minutes. 

Stop stirring and let the meat cook, undisturbed, until browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. You should hear it sizzling and bubbling. If not, turn up the flame.

Add the tomato paste and wine and stir well to combine and deglaze the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the wine has evaporated, about 2 minutes. 

Add 1½ cup of beef broth and cook, stirring often, until it has evaporated, about 8-10 minutes. If the liquid isn’t evaporating fast enough, turn up the flame.

Add the final ½ cup of broth, turn the heat all the way down, and cover. Let simmer on the lowest heat while you cook your pasta. 

Bring your water to a boil and cook the pasta according to its package directions. Stir the sauce every few minutes while the pasta cooks.

Combine and serve.

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.

Magical breadcrumbs with mushrooms and scallions

The breadcrumbs are the star of this show, but don’t sleep on the mushrooms and scallions either. A simple, make-ahead side dish that’s fast, easy, and relatively healthy, but seems just the opposite!

Take me to the recipe!

First things first, we have to talk about these magical breadcrumbs. What could be so great about a humble breadcrumb, you might ask? I’ll tell you!

They’re crunchy, salty, briny, and aromatic and elevate anything they top. Using panko maximizes the crispiness while the anchovies add a salty, funky note and the garlic lends a spicy bite. We bathe everything in a little olive oil or butter to mildly tame the funk and the bite while increasing the crunch. The results: magical.

There are other fantastic things about these breadcrumbs too: Sub them in for breading or croutons and they make any dish lighter and easier to prepare. They also stay crispy in the fridge for up to 4 days, so make them in advance and top any side dish just before serving.

For this dish, I’ve used the breadcrumbs to top this umami bomb of mushrooms, scallions, butter, and soy sauce. Each time I’ve made these mushrooms, we’ve INHALED them. This dish is simple, quick, and tastes so much more complex than its humble ingredients would suggest.

A quick note: This is a relatively small recipe because I’m guessing (hoping, encouraging, BEGGING) that we’re all having small Thanksgiving meals this year, but if you’re cooking for a (socially distanced) crowd, definitely increase the mushroom portion of this recipe. You’ll have more than enough breadcrumbs with the measurements given.

Also: Be judicious with the salt in this recipe. We are SALT LOVERS in this house, but the anchovies are so salty that we didn’t really need much more than the big pinch of sea salt that I add while cooking the mushrooms. But you do you.

Magical breadcrumbs with mushrooms and scallions

Time: 10 minutes for the breadcrumbs, 12 minutes for the mushrooms, all active
Yield: About 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs (depending upon how “heaping” your cup of panko is), 3 adult side servings of mushrooms (but to be fair, I’ve eaten all of the mushrooms in one sitting topped with a runny egg for lunch)

Mushrooms and scallions:
2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz mushrooms (any variety, about two containers)
Large pinch of salt
4 large scallions, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1/2-1 tsp soy sauce, to taste
1/4- 1/2 cup Magical breadcrumbs (recipe below), to taste
Flaky sea salt, to taste

Heat the olive oil over a medium flame. When hot, sear the mushrooms on one side and then shake the pan and sear the other side. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the mushrooms turn a darker, golden color, about 5 minutes. If cooking too fast, turn down the heat. Season with a large pinch of salt.

Add the scallions and cook until they begin to wilt and soften, about 4-5 minutes.

If, during the cooking of the mushrooms and scallions, the pan feels too dry or the veggies start to stick, add a little bit more olive oil. But keep in mind that the mushrooms may release their juices as they cook more."**

**Depending on the type of mushrooms you use, they may release a lot of water. If this happens, you can either turn up the flame and cook, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until the liquid has evaporated. Or, if your mushrooms and scallions are nearly cooked and there’s still a lot of water in the pan, drain it before adding the butter.

When the mushrooms and scallions are cooked, turn the flame all the way down. Add the butter. When it’s melted, add the soy sauce and stir to coat. Turn off the flame. Taste and add more soy sauce if necessary.

Top with breadcrumbs (recipe below) and flaky sea salt if necessary, just before serving.

Magical breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp olive oil or butter
2 whole anchovy filets (or 4 1/2 filets depending on how your anchovies are canned)*
1 heaping cup panko
2 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 Tbsp)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-low flame. Add the anchovies and cook, breaking them up with a wooden spoon or spatula until they’re completely dissolved, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the panko and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes. If the breadcrumbs start to darken, turn the flame down.

Add the garlic and stir well. Let the mixture cook, untouched for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom of the breadcrumbs start to turn golden. Turn off the flame and mix the breadcrumbs. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before using.

If saving for later, let the breadcrumbs cool completely and then store, covered loosely, in the fridge for up to 4 days.

*A quick note about anchovies: Sometimes they’re cleaned and the two sides are left connected when they’re canned. I consider that a “whole” anchovy. If they two sides are separated, I consider that 1/2 of a filet)