Soups + Stews

Swiss Chard and White Bean Soup

January 6, 2015 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

After what feels like eons of eating nothing but festive cookies and cakes, vats of cream laden vegetables, and a kaleidoscope of well marbled holiday roasts, this week I officially cried UNCLE.

I’ve never been one who went in for New Year’s resolutions, preferring instead to make minor (or major) course adjustments in my life when I feel they’re needed, and have never been comfortable waiting until January 1st of any given year to set them in motion. That said, I’m not looking at my recent dietary makeover as part of a resolution, but rather a bold exclamation point to what has been an unusually rich holiday eating season.

Not sure whether it’s my age, or that this year’s culinary indulgences ran somewhat richer than average, but all I can say is it’s time to stop the fat and sugar train so I can get off before I do permanent bodily damage.

Sugar Pumpkin Soup with Curry and Orange

December 9, 2014 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

For the first year in a VERY long time, I didn't carve a Jack-O-Lantern at Halloween this year. Given that my kids are finally all old enough that they've outgrown "trick or treating", and that I live in such a low-density neighborhood that we are NEVER even a blip on the radar screen of the young ghosts and princesses out looking to score candy, I was finally able to let the "holiday" (can you tell I've never really been a fan?) slip by practically unnoticed.

Creamed Mushroom Soup

November 11, 2014 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

When my Mom was laid up sick in bed for a few days last week she was craving not a chicken noodle soup, but rather a cream of mushroom soup. Not the famed Campbell's from a can version, but something closer to the velvety perfection she remembered enjoying on a cruise we took together many years ago.

Fennel Soup with Almonds and Mint

May 13, 2014 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

You are not going to believe how creamy, smooth and tasty this simple soup is, and even better, you can have it on the table in under 30 minutes. From my friends at Cooking Light Magazine, this soup was recently featured as a "High Velocity Vegetarian" dish and for good reason….it is super fast to make, and fires on all 12 cylinders.

White Bean Stew with Bitter Greens and Chorizo

February 18, 2014 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

This stew is a riff on a dish from the February 2014 Bon Appetit magazine. The original appealed to me for its simplicity, and one look at the photo in the magazine and I knew I had to make it to bring skiing a few weekends back. We've had more than our fair share of cold weather here in the Northeast this winter, so I am very happy to have another dish like this in my repertoire to be able to be able to toss in my fridge or freezer for a quick and easy meal when the next Arctic Vortex heads our way.

Turkey Meatball Soup with Greens

January 10, 2014 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

This recipe from the September issue of Cooking Light Magazine is a total keeper and one that I am already anxious to make again. It was part of the magazine's "We Love Meatballs" feature….so much fun! It'll feed a crowd, 3-4 meatballs per bowl of soup is a pretty good portion and the recipe makes 24 of the little gems. I think the next time I make it I might even double the meatball part of the recipe and freeze half so that down the road I am never more than some store bought stock, a quick mirepoix, and a bunch of shredded kale away from a super tasty soup.

Pork Shoulder and Black-Eyed Pea Chili

December 20, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

I can't say as I've ever cooked a Michael Symon recipe before, but after trying this one I'm ready to go out and search for some more. I've never dined in any of Michael's restaurants, but have enjoyed his approach to food, his sense of humor, and the mad skills he's exhibited competing on shows like Iron Chef. I recently came across this recipe in Food & Wine magazine, and when I read in the accompanying article that Michael considers himself a "porketarian", I knew I had to try it.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

October 30, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

It didn't take me long to figure out which recipe I was going to try first from this month's holiday themed Cooking Light Magazine, because this one was right on the cover! I'm sure its not the first cover recipe I've cooked, but I must say I don't seem to do it very often for some reason. I guess I tend to be drawn to the little worker bee recipes buried deep in the mag, not the flamboyant queen on the cover.

Curried Lentil Soup with Shrimp

March 19, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

This meal started out as a “Meatless Monday” dish, but when I came across a few shrimp in the freezer begging to be put to good use, I decided to bend the rules a little and toss them into this veggie soup. The technique behind this soup is outstanding and could be put to use for many a grain or bean based meal. Add meat or seafood if you’re in the mood, or make it meatless…it’s your call.

Lamb and Prune Stew

March 15, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

While we've had a lovely stretch of weather over the past week, and my thoughts are turning to cleaning off my outdoor grill for the spring season, we've still got a few more weeks of winter to navigate here in the northeast and we're not ready to leave behind our braises just yet. Schedule wise, this week has been a bit of a challenge. Between the onset of the kid's spring sports, a Cooking Matters class I'm teaching, and Peyton's evening drivers-ed classes, dinner-time is a bit of a revolving door event these days. That being the case, a one pot meal like this that sits warm on the stove, patiently waiting for anyone with ten minutes to spare, is a busy-weeknight mealtime coup of a dish.

Soups + Stews

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