Soup Chick®

Turkey, kale and butternut squash soup recipe

When you make this soup, you don't need to use kale and mushrooms and butternut squash that are, well, a bit tired. All I can tell you is that I did, and what began as a fridge dump turned into a soup so good that I hurried to write the recipe because I knew I'd be making this again. My husband Ted, who has tasted more fridge dumps than any man should be asked to do, ate this two days in a row. And he had seconds. That's major. If you start with peeled and cubed butternut squash from the market, the soup comes together quickly, and that squash almost melts into the soup and gives it an irresistible sweetness.

Recipe for chipotle turkey, black bean and corn soup

My best soups spring not from recipes, or even from intention, but from my inner frugal neat-freak. I'll bet you didn't know I had one of those, but I do. She periodically hauls out bits and remnants from the fridge and freezer, and tosses them into a soup pot. These "fridge dumps" might start out looking like the compost pile, but with a tweak here and some herbs and spices there, they become, without fail, the creations I wish I could recreate. With this chipotle turkey, black bean and corn soup, I sensed right from the beginning that it would be good, so I kept notes as I was making it. What I didn't know is just how good it would be. The secret ingredient, the tail end of a jar of homemade chipotle barbecue sauce, was a gift from Just One Donna!, a fellow Rhode Island blogger; any smoky barbecue sauce, plus a chopped chipotle pepper in adobo (or two, if you like it hot), will give you the sweet-hot undertone that makes this soup one of the greats.

Creamy cream-free broccoli soup

Do you really want to know about this creamy broccoli soup that isn't packed with cheese and heavy cream, or do you want to know more about the beautiful coaster that's sitting under the soup bowl? (The coaster. I knew it.) Our granddaughter, age 10, who is into crochet big-time these days, and her talented mom gave me for Chanukah a bag of "props for soup", and I couldn't be more proud to show you the first one. Do you blame me for making a soup to match? A brief encounter with a parmesan cheese rind gives this soup its goodness without adding a lot of fat. (If you live near a good Italian market, you might be able to buy a bag of cheese rinds to keep in your freezer.) Even if you haven't loved broccoli soup in the past, please try this soup. It will make you happy.