Celery Root, Apple, and Fennel Soup

I always make soup for Thanksgiving, and it's usually of the butternut squash or cauliflower variety.  As I mentioned before, this year I was really trying to use as much of my CSA share as possible for my Thanskgiving meal and make only a few supplemental purchases from the Carroll Gardens and Union Square Greenmarkets, which meant I had to be strategic about my menu planning.

My CSA share didn't provide us with cauliflower this year or the last (although though they do grow it at the farm) and I had already planned to make butternut squash ravioli and was making a kabocha squash cheesecake, so I didn't want to overdo it on the squash.  What else could I use for an autumnal soup?  The big celery root staring me in the face answered that question.

Thai Curried Butternut Squash Soup

My mom’s birthday was this past Sunday, so, of course, I was compelled to make her a great dinner. I admit that sometimes I get a little carried away and make elaborate four-course meals that take hours to make, but this time, I decided to make simple comfort foods that my mom loves, albeit refined versions of them.

First up: a butternut squash soup with a Thai inflection. 

Spring Onion and Potato Soup with Garlic-Parmesan Croutons

I’ve really become obsessed with buying everything at the farmers market – Michael Pollan would be proud of me. I haven’t been to the supermarket in weeks! (OK, that’s not entirely true – I’ve been there to buy yogurt and bananas. I suppose I could make my own yogurt, but growing bananas is totally out of the question.)

Spring onions are one of the things that are in season and abundant right now, so of course I had to buy a few bunches of them last weekend. Spring onions aren’t scallions (although they are frequently, and erroneously, labeled as such) – they’re young onions that are pulled before the onion bulb gets a chance to mature. They taste sort of like scallions, but they’re a little more pungent and onion-y (obviously, because they’re young onions!).

Spring Vegetable Soup

I’ve fallen back into my habit of weekly trips to the farmer’s market. I went to the market again this past Saturday to get:

• Milk, eggs, yogurt, and raw milk cheddar from South Mountain Creamery – because milk that isn’t ultrapasteurized, egg yolks that are practically orange, and raw milk cheeses are way tastier than what you can buy at the supermarket
• Spinach - to recreate the spinach and ricotta gnocchi that never came to fruition the previous Saturday
• Strawberries - which I learned need to be eaten either the same day or the next otherwise they’ll turn to mush
• Local asparagus – because it’s good to buy local and seasonal
• Yemisir Wat (spicy lentil stew) from Ethiopian Delights – because I love Ethiopian food and I ate the container I bought two weeks ago in one sitting…and then I did it again this past Saturday – apparently it’s my newest obsession

The larger Baltimore Farmer’s Market under the JFX is opening this Sunday – hooray! – and I think I’m going to have to abandon the Waverly market after my brief affair with it. Not only is the JFX market larger, but it’s much closer to my apartment than the Waverly market and therefore I can walk to it.

Spicy Black Bean, Corn, and Potato Soup

This is totally one of my favorite soups – it’s insanely easy to make but stands on its own as a meal. I first made this for my parents a few years ago, and they both loved it. But I think the best testament to how good this soup is is the fact that my friend Rick, the world’s pickiest eater, likes it. ‘Nuff said.

Sick Day: Easy Creamy Tomato Soup

I’ve been really sick the past few days, so I haven’t had the energy to cook. Last night I really wanted tomato soup and grilled cheese – my comfort food when I’m sick and feverish – but I didn’t have any so I had to make it myself. The soup was totally easy to make and made me feel better – mentally, at least.

Instead of making grilled cheese (I didn’t have any sandwich bread), I sliced up ciabatta, topped each slice with mozzarella cheese, and stuck them in the toaster oven. As for the dishes that are still in the sink…I don’t quite have enough energy to tackle those yet. Who wants to do them for me?

Spiced Parsnip and Apple Soup

I’ve never been a fan of parsnips, but I sort of changed my mind about them a few weeks ago after using roasted cubes of them in a version of this stuffed pumpkin that I served at Thanksgiving. They’re slightly sweet, earthy, and sharp, and, if they’re in the right company, they’re pretty good. On their own, though, I just can’t eat them. I’ve had them cubed and oven-roasted in a hash (don’t like the texture – they’re sort of dry and mushy), fried as chips, and shaved into salads; none of these preparations impressed me.

I had some parsnips left over from Thanksgiving (they keep very well, apparently), and I didn’t want to be wasteful and throw them out, but I really didn’t know what to do with them. I decided to turn them into soup, because that would get rid of the whole gross texture thing, but who else was I going to invite to the party? 

Orange Cauliflower and Fuji Apple Soup with Sage Cream and Aged Cheddar Tuiles

This is the second course I served at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. (I know the photo isn't great; it's hard to tell your hungry family that they need to wait another 5 minutes because you need to take your food to an area with better lighting in order to photograph it. And check out my parents' now-antique china from the '70s!)

 Last year, I made a swirled roasted purple and orange cauliflower soup, and my family loved it. They requested that I make it again this year, but I decided to elevate it this time around by adding more flavors while taking care to not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the roasted cauliflower.

The Minimalist's Zucchini Pear Soup

This is another one that I made a few weeks ago but never got around to posting.  Those of you who are regular New York Times readers might know that Mark Bittman aka The Minimalist writes a weekly column in the Wednesday Dining section. He usually takes seasonal ingredients and makes a simple dish with them, hence his title of The Minimalist. A few weeks ago, he provided us with a recipe for Zucchini Pear Soup.

I made the soup that night, but I threw in a few modifications. So while I can’t take credit for the recipe or even the idea to put these two ingredients together, I can take credit for sneaking in some wine and for cutting down the prep time by grating the ingredients rather than chopping them.

 

Chickpea, Leek, and Saffron Soup

Here’s another one that was conjured up more by necessity than creativity. I’m leaving for a 10-day vacation next Thursday (more on that later), so I need to use up all my perishables by then.  Today was a gray rainy day, so soup was definitely the way to go for dinner.