Soup-er Delicious

I love soup not only because it is comfort food and a great way to squeeze veggies into your diet, but also because it is super efficient cooking. It always makes plenty of leftovers and I really enjoy having containers of various soups in my freezer to choose from. I consider it essential for lazy week day supers. I start cranking out the soups when my supply of frozen tomato sauce from our garden bounty gives out.

Here are three of the many soup recipes from the Biltmore cookbook.

Sweet Potato Mulligatawny (pg. 95)

With a list of 21 ingredients, this is by far the most complicated soup I've attempted. The prep alone is going to take some time, so don't start this one if you're already hungry. But it is worth the effort. Sweet potatoes, chicken, orange juice, sherry, coconut milk and lime juice are just a few of the stars. I did not expect a soup with the Indian flavors of cumin, curry and coriander seeds in the Biltmore collection, but I found it very interesting. If you prefer a vegetarian soup, there's plenty going on so that if you omit the chicken, you still have a lovely and complex blend of flavors.

Country Chicken Soup (pg. 137)

This soup is made from the classic combination of onions, celery and carrots with the additions of chicken, black-eyed peas, sage and spinach. I'll admit that it turned out tastier than it read on paper. It's always amazing when the simplest recipes turn out to be the best. I questioned the use of chicken bouillon instead of broth because I hardly ever use it. But, it gives you a wonton soup base taste, which seems to go better with these ingredients than a watered down broth flavor.

Truffled Potato and Leek Soup (pg. 138)

This one is made with potatos, leeks, fennel, Chardonay, lemon zest and juice and a few other seasonings. I substitute evaporated milk for the cream to make it a little lighter, but this soup will still almost stand up like mashed potatoes. And you can always count on nutmeg to work its flavor magic. A salad with a citrus vinegrette dressing would compliment it nicely. You meat lovers might add some bacon crumbles on top.