Category Archives: soup

Chunky Black Bean Soup

2 November 2011 by local kitchen

How many black bean soup recipes does one blog need? Apparently at least one more. I made this soup on Sunday afternoon, in the midst of a (another) 3-day power outage from the latest freak storm, this one an October snow storm that dumped more than a foot of wet, heavy snow in our neighborhood. Tree branches cracked like gunshots, telephone poles snapped like toothpicks: our neighborhood is a mess. Most of Connecticut and our little swathe of New York […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, carrot, celery, garlic, green beans, scallions, soup, winter, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, main course, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Smoked Chicken & Corn Soup

15 September 2011 by local kitchen

In the days following Irene, when no one in northern Westchester had any power, my neighbor (and landlord) did the smart thing: he fired up the Big Green Egg, pulled meat from the freezer and put it in to smoke. Lots of meat: two whole chickens, a couple of fat slabs of salmon, a bunch of steaks. And being the kind landlord (and neighbor) that he is, in addition to bringing us ice from the City, he gave us one of […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, corn, main course, soup, tomatoes • Tags: chicken, cooking, corn, food, local, main course, Mexican, recipes, soup

Asian Vegetable Soup

20 August 2011 by local kitchen

I didn’t plan on posting this one: I mean, how many vegetable soup recipes do you really need? But Tai loved it so much, and continued to rave after his second bowl, that I decided I should write it down so that I can make it again sometime. Which was the whole raison d’être of the blog in the first place: so that when Tai asks me next summer, “Remember that Asian soup you made a while back? Can we […]

Categories: cabbage, carrot, green beans, soup, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes, soup, vegetarian

100% Local: Lettuce Soup

13 July 2011 by local kitchen

Lettuce soup? Really? I know. It sounds like something out of Willy Wonka or Oliver Twist. But when faced with six heads of lettuce in the fridge, a seeming million green salads, and lettuce wraps for dinner every night for a week, a girl’s got to push her lettuce boundaries (or buy a rabbit). It’s also one of the few ways I can think of to preserve lettuce, while we are in the height of the early summer bounty, because […]

Categories: 100% local, chives, lettuce, soup, spring, summer, thyme • Tags: cooking, food, lettuce, local, quick & easy, recipes, soup

Pumpkin Soup with Chocolate & Chipotle

13 May 2011 by local kitchen

Pumpkin soup in May. I know what you’re thinking: she’s finally lost that last (lonely) marble. But hear me out: I realized yesterday that June is nearly upon us; and with June comes the first onslaught of seasonal produce. My CSA will start, and with it kale, chard, cabbage and all those gorgeous Spring greens. Strawberries will show up in June as well, ripe for the picking. And then the summer squashes and cucumbers start coming, and cherries and raspberries, […]

Categories: chocolate, fall, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: chiles, chocolate, cooking, food, local, main course, pumpkin, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Pasta e Fagioli

15 April 2011 by local kitchen

Back in my Boston days, I lived for several years in a tiny (300 square-foot) but adorable apartment in the North End, Boston’s version of Little Italy (but so much more charming, in my opinion, than NYC’s Little Italy). Boston’s North End was settled in the 1600’s and has all the requisite charm of history: twisty, cobblestoned streets, narrowly packed brownstones, tiny and ancient graveyards that pop out of nowhere, the Old North Church and Paul Revere’s house. Despite ongoing gentrification, and […]

Categories: beans, carrot, celery, grains & legumes, heirloom beans, main course, pasta, soup, tomatoes, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cannelini beans, cooking, food, Italian, local, pasta e fagioli, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Smoky, Spicy Sweet Corn Chowder

5 April 2011 by local kitchen

A few weeks ago, I shared this wonderful-sounding recipe for sweet corn chowder, created by Cheryl Paff at At the Farmer’s Market, on the Facebook page. I’ve made it a couple of times since then and not only to clear out the freezer in preparation for the impending harvest season. This chowder comes together easily, without an excessive amount of chopping or prep, making it a good choice for an easy weeknight dinner. With potatoes and corn, it is very […]

Categories: corn, hot chile peppers, main course, potato, soup, summer, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, recipes, soup, summer, vegetarian, winter

Dark Days: Christina’s Vegetable Soup

1 February 2011 by local kitchen

I think this winter I’ll just write a generic “Hey, it’s snowing, and I’m eating soup!” post and put it up once a week. Still, it is snowing, and I am eating soup: specifically, my friend Christina’s garden vegetable soup, that I made back in October with some of the last CSA vegetables of the season. This is my favorite fast food meal; locavore fast food, wherein it takes 5 minutes to re-heat a bowl of homemade soup, made when farm-fresh vegetables were abundant, and just […]

Categories: 100% local, Dark Days Local, soup, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, soup, vegetarian

Dark Days: Southwestern Pumpkin Soup

13 January 2011 by local kitchen

Dark days, indeed. This is not a political blog; this is a food blog. I know you don’t come here to hear what I think about current events of the day; you come here to find recipes, to hear about my kitchen escapades, maybe for a chuckle or two. But I can’t seem to formulate a happy-go-lucky post about canning, or kitchen organizing, or even soup, in the face of the tragedy unfolding in Arizona. I am not ashamed to […]

Categories: 100% local, cilantro, community, corn, Dark Days Local, fall, garlic, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, food, local, pumpkin, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter

White Bean & Roasted Turkey Soup

2 December 2010 by local kitchen

Heirloom beans, roasted Thanksgiving turkey, aromatics and sage = one delicious soup. Are you as tired of turkey as I am? While I do love the big bird, seven days straight and my body is screaming for a green salad, crisp, crunchy vegetables and anything-but-meat. So what do I do? Make soup, of course. Hear me out – it makes more sense than you think. I didn’t make it to the market last weekend, since we had so much food […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, carrot, fall, heirloom beans, potato, sage, soup, turkey, winter • Tags: cooking, fall, food, heirloom beans, leftovers, local, recipes, soup, turkey, winter, yellow eye beans

Smoky Black Bean Soup

8 November 2010 by local kitchen

We’re having truly New England weather today: daylight savings is barely 24 hours old, yet I woke up to dim, grey skies, a blustery Northeast wind (I keep expecting to see a witch fly by on a bicycle) and big, fat snowflakes. Followed rapidly by sleet. Or hail. Or freezing rain. Or all of the above (or my favorite weather euphemism “wintry mix.”). There is really only one thing to do when November is still in single digits, yet you […]

Categories: beans, carrot, fall, heirloom beans, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, tomatillos, vegetarian, winter • Tags: beans, black bean, cooking, fall, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Roasted Tomato & Eggplant Soup

20 September 2010 by local kitchen

We’re off to Points North for a while; a stopover in Boston to visit friends, a trip to Maine to visit family and then over to Rumney, NH for some climbing and outdoorsy fun. Some husband of mine has a milestone birthday this week, so we are celebrating with good friends, family, outdoor time and, of course, good food. Since it’s always colder than you think in Maine, and I always do some cooking when we are up there, I’m […]

Categories: chickpeas, cilantro, eggplant, garlic, parsley, roasting, soup, summer, tomatoes, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

CSA-Busting Vegetable Soup

21 July 2010 by local kitchen

It’s Wednesday, which means CSA day for many of you. On Tuesday nights at this time of year, I often get “CSA panic syndrome,” wherein I look in the fridge, see it overflowing with vegetables from the last week or two, and start frantically pulling things out and whipping up a recipe in an effort to make some room for tomorrow’s box. The weather has been good to area farmers this year (so far – knocking on wood!) and despite the lack […]

Categories: 100% local, cabbage, carrot, cilantro, garlic, green beans, main course, parsley, scallions, soup, summer, tomatoes, vegetarian, zucchini • Tags: cooking, CSA, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Black Bean Vegetable Soup

6 May 2010 by local kitchen

Filling yet light, hearty yet summery, this soup is a study in contrasts. Most black bean soups make me think of winter or fall; thick, hearty soups flavored with ham hock or bacon, and blended unti they are almost a dip you can eat with tortilla chips. This black bean soup, in contrast, is light and summery, despite the fact that summer vegetables are still a couple of months away. I love meals like this: it makes me so happy […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, carrot, cilantro, corn, garlic, main course, soup, vegetarian, year round, zucchini • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Calypso Bean Minestrone

7 January 2010 by local kitchen

Calypso beans are so gorgeous. They are one of those fantastic heirloom varieties that you only see when you start searching out such a thing; a bean so gorgeous, you want to wear it as jewelry, so tasty that the unique flavor and texture are impossible to describe, so miraculous that if you push it into the soil, in Spring a plant will emerge. (That simple fact never fails to thrill me). Calypso beans, also called orca beans because of […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, heirloom beans, kale & leafy greens, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, soup