Soup Chick®

Seven soups every Saturday: black bean soup recipes

In the house where I grew up, no one even thought to eat black bean soup. To us, soup meant chicken soup (homemade with matzoh balls, or canned with noodles), or tomato soup from the red-and-white can. Occasionally we had clam chowder, the real New England kind, but never homemade. So, when I went off to college and began to cook with beans, as every college kid on a budget learns to do, the whole vista of black bean soups opened up to me. Spicy, sweet, smooth or chunky, I loved them all. And, to this day, I've never tired of them.

Seven soups every Saturday: blended soup recipes

If you're trying to convert vegetable haters to vegetable lovers, purée those carrots and broccoli and cauliflower and potatoes until they metamorphose into something altogether new. That technique just happens to make the very best soups, too. All kinds of soups benefit from a brief encounter with an immersion blender or standing blender, so don't limit your blended soups to vegetable-based creations. Grains, seafood, tofu -- almost any soup, when puréed to a smooth consistency, takes on a completely different character. No chewing needed -- these soups slip right down your throat -- though croutons or a crunchy garnish add lovely textural interest.

Seven soups every Saturday: butternut squash soup recipes

Of all the squashes in all the world, butternut squash wins the people's choice award. Perhaps we like its natural sweetness, brought out by roasting. Perhaps we like its mild flavor that mellows into soups and stews, and pairs well with almost any fruit or hot pepper or protein. Or, perhaps, we just like its voluptuous shape. For soup, I like to buy ready-to-cook butternut squash that's been peeled and cubed; my supermarket stocks it in the produce section all winter, and it definitely speeds up my soup prep.