My Therapist Cooks

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Soup

Cabbage Roll Soup

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Cabbage roll soup is a low carb soup version of traditional cabbage rolls; ground meat, cabbage, sweet, tangy tomato sauce. This recipe has just a few ingredients and comes together in half an hour or so. It's a great soup for freezing or meal prep - leftovers are delicious!

cabbage roll soup recipe

It's time for a super easy new cabbage and beef soup recipe.

One of those recipes that is comforting, cozy, filling (with bread dunked into it obviously), but requires no last minute rushing around to get food hot + crispy. It's 2021 on the last day of DJT's presidency in the middle of a pandemic and honestly we need food that just stays, you know? No emotional fortitude necessary, just an easy soup recipe.

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No-Chop Posole Verde (and Cinco de Mayo menu!)

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NO CHOP. This is how we dinner. No fresh, no chop, no effort, just massive flavor with pantry staples that we know and love. 

Posole verde with hominy, chilies, and salsa verde. From funnyloveblog.com, how to make posole verde for cinco de mayo.

With Cinco de Mayo on a Sunday this year, I'm definitely not going to be drinking/eating tacos all day and night. I'll be doing laundry and packing lunches and I'm completely fine with that, you know? This, to me, is a perfect Sunday meal. Cozy and comforting but still light, and full of flavor.

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Sausage Wild Rice Soup

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This wild rice soup has sausage in it for extra oomph and flavor in the chilly months! This is one of my favorite meal prep soups and can be frozen as well - make a double batch and enjoy the gift to your future self when you thaw out your already-made dinner! This soup is thickened with cornstarch instead of a flour to make it a gluten free soup recipe. HIGHLY recommend a batch of no-knead bread to go with this.

It's FREEZING here. 

No, but really. Multiple nights under 30 degrees F this week = the natives are LOSING it. We live in South Carolina, after all. The south. Warm. Stuffy. No fall. Lots of summer. Sweat. Humidity. You get it.

So when it's this cold (and, yes, I know some of you have way colder lives than this, I understand how different climates work), and dark at 4pm, and we're decorating for Christmas between snuggling with our newborn and battling our toddler, we totally completely absolutely for sure need a perfect easy soup to get us through the winter.

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30-Minute Beef Minestrone Recipe

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This minestrone recipe is done in just half an hour and features a perfect all-in-one combo of veggies, ground beef, and pasta. The broth is tomato-based, super savory, and almost all of these ingredients can be stored in your pantry or freezer for minestrone in a minute! Note: A loaf of no-knead bread never hurt a thing with this one.

Happy week of Halloween! We have to have a soup this week, right? I adore soup all the time for one very good reason: leftovers are the best of all the food groups. Anything fried gets mushy, bread-based stuff never reheats well, microwaved leftover veggies are satanic...you get it. Soup always works fresh or reheated, so in these little-kid years if I have time to cook extra on the weekends or early in the day I make soup and then am DONE for a meal later on, usually in the evening when everything has gone to hell, toddler-behaviorally-speaking. 

Last year our go-to soup was this sausage kale number, which is still probably one of my favorite things I make ever. This basic minestrone recipe is on the same playing field with the combination of veggies, meat, and noodles that work so well together. Green beans and beef to me are super delicious, and the base of the soup is tomatoes, stock, and garlic for extra flavor. You could absolutely make this vegetarian with beans instead of beef, or use both for an extra shot of protein. 

Let's soup! 

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Spring Veggie and Farro Soup

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One of our favorite easy vegetarian soup recipes, spring veggies with farro! This recipe is easily made vegan AND gluten free, and the herby, lemony broth is absolutely delicious. I love this as part of a weekly meal prep session; it keeps really well in the fridge for lunches.

spring vegetable soup topped with lemon

Because apparently we are a sick house and I only want to eat broth-based things ever. 

Our week of healing is going well, thanks to incredible amounts of support from our friends and family and narcotics for Jay. I, on the other hand, have gotten some kind of cold-on-top-of-a-cold and can't stop craving salty brothy things to make my throat feel better and my nose unclog slightly.

Doing a surgery recovery with a toddler while sick and doing regular work has been a struggle; we feel like we.just.can't.quite. catch up on sleep and housework, but we're getting there, one day at a time. 

The good news is that the Porta Potty was picked up from our FRONT YARD where it has been for nearly 6 months, so small victories, you know? 

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Favorite Green Chicken Chili

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I adore this, is what you should know first. Everyone else adores this, is a very close second. 

A million years ago when I started to like cooking but didn't have a huge skillset yet, I watched A LOT of Food Network, which morphed into me watching Rachael Ray nearly daily, which was probably a strange thing to do at age 23 or something. I learned a ton, though, and often mimicked recipes I saw on her and other's shows. This chicken chili was inspired by a talk show, is what you should know. 

In the last ten years or so (why. how.), I've made versions of this chili over and over again, to great results and very few leftovers each time. The concept is simple: some kind of peppers that you roast yourself, chicken/garlic/onion, white beans, canned green chiles, stock, done. Sometimes I add lots of different types of peppers, sometimes an extra jalapeno or two. Sometimes I use leftover shredded chicken, sometimes I use ground, sometimes I poach and shred my own and use the poaching liquid instead of stock. 

The end result is hugely flavorful each time, and the balance of flavors + nutrition is so satisfying here. Toppings are a must, as with any Mexican-inspired dish, and this should probably definitely be included in your weekend - this weekend if it's cold, or in two weeks for Cinco de Mayo! OR OR OR you make a double batch now and freeze half for Cinco. Meal prep. 

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Whole30 Beef Chili

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Because winter just keeps on trucking. 

Actually, it's going to be 75 degrees here today, but climate change is a MYTH because it's still super cold some places, that's how that works. So! If you are in a colder climate or just love cozy foods (me), here's your new chili for the season! Jay finished Whole30 in January, but this is something we've made a few times mainly because I don't actually love beans, so having extra veggies and beef in chili is GREAT for me. The liquid aminos here substitute Worcestershire sauce, and truthfully COCONUT aminos would be even better to be truly Whole30 compliant, but this is what we had so we went with it. 

I'm not a massive soup person, but I'm a massive stew/chili person (or maybe I'm just massive). I find them to be so hearty and cozy, and they work so well when made in advance. We've been working three or more nights a week recently, so cooking "for" dinner ends up with us eating at 9pm or so, which is just ridiculous. Exhausted doesn't begin to describe how we're doing, so dishes like this that can be made well in advance but not feel like leftovers are my favorite thing right now. 

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Whole30-ish Beef Stew

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Because God forbid I just follow the rules, right? 

The thing with this stew is that it was just so.close. to being Whole30, but I reallyreally needed red wine in it. I was going to also use Worcestershire and flour to thicken it, but decided ONE THING is fine and the other two we can definitely live without. Because I'm not doing Whole30 and Jay didn't actually know any of the rules before he started it. I do think that braised beef is so great with the tang of wine or beer (and the acid helps tenderize the meat), but if you don't use alcohol or are doing Whole30 just leave it out and you'll still love this dish. 

With that out of the way....here's your plan for the next snow day, sick day, chilly day, comfort-needing day. This stew works with all of those situations and then some, why don't we have more beef stew on Christmas Eve? I adore it; the simplicity of the flavors with the "well, yeah, I simmered it for awhile" satisfaction that makes it feel slightly fancy but totally unpretentious. 

The method is simple: sear a bunch of beef chunks until really crispy on the outside. Toss some veggies in those drippings, then everything goes back into the pot together with tomato paste, garlic, spices, and wine. Broth makes it soupy, then it simmers covered for a bit, then uncovered to finish the dish and thicken the sauce. The potato here breaks down a bit to thicken the sauce (so we don't need flour), and the end result is just SO delicious. I adore super cooked veggies in dishes like this, soaked in the broth and wine mixture and just YES. Someone please make this for me asap, I think I feel a sore throat coming on (not really just want food brought to me). 

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Chipotle Sweet Potato Chili with Walnuts {vegan}

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It's our first Whole30 recipe! 

Jay is a little more than a week into this endeavor, and is powering through like a champ because "it's a work competition, don't you ever just like to challenge yourself?" Not at avoiding dairy and carbs, no I don't. But! Jay's doing it, so I've made our meals that we eat together as Whole30-friendly as possible, and he in turn isn't huffy when I have a cup of pasta on the side of my protein and roasted veggies. Because balance. 

This chili, though, needs zero help or additions; it is PERFECT just as it is. I made it this weekend for Jay's mom and grandmother, and was fully expecting them to politely eat the weird chili and move on with their day. But no. They raved. Had seconds (these are teeny women we're talking about). Went on and on about the flavor, and trust me, I was with them all the way. Truthfully, I created this chili for Jay and expected to eat it once, but I loved it way more than I expected to and am already planning to make it again for another gathering. 

Sweet potatoes show up in tons of Whole30 recipes, and I wanted to offset the sweetness with chipotle to keep the dish super savory. I've seen people use walnuts in place of taco meat, and while I haven't tried that, the thought of softened walnut pieces in a super savory broth with soft sweet potato chunks just seemed to work in my mind, and work it did. The walnuts seem weird but they aren't at all; they soften just a bit but still keep a bite after they simmer for a long time, and they add a great nutty flavor to the chili that alllllmost mimics meat. You can use any kind of stock you like for this, but to keep the dish vegan grab a box of vegetable stock and get to it. 

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Easy Vegetable Soup

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Happy Monday! I don't know where you are, but we got our first very unexpected snow this weekend, and with it came highs each day that were below 65F, which has kind of been the temperature every day all fall. It also got down to 26 degrees one night, so you know we were losing our minds. 

This isn't necessarily a new recipe - I posted it a few years ago and we make a quick version of it several times per year. I made this yesterday for a family we are friends with who are ALL sick, and Beck shocked me by demanding a bunch of this soup for dinner. Beck doesn't like new things, doesn't like foods mixed, and is generally finicky about suggestions of what she eats, so I was thrilled that her entire dinner was literally vegetables. ...

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White Bean Kale Soup With Sausage

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One of my favorite soups ever, white bean kale soup with sausage! This gluten free soup is perfect for meal prep and comes together in just half an hour or so. Leftovers are EVEN BETTER, so make a double batch and enjoy this soup all week! PS - not terrible with no-knead bread. Not terrible at all.

I have been SO excited to tell you about this soup. It's my new fall signature dish, and I haven't met a single person who doesn't like it. 

It's simple, first and foremost. The ingredients are easy to find, there aren't too many of them, and they all add a ton of flavor to the finished dish. The whole soup can be made in about 30 minutes, and you can eat it right away or let it simmer for a little while, whatever works. 

I actually have two meals like this for your Thanksgiving week - meals that are simple, delicious, and appeal to lots of people. This soup is gluten free and can be dairy free with the cheese on top omitted, and I use local sausage and kale because the flavor is SO much better. You can use any sausage you like, hot or mild, any kind of kale you can find, even pre-chopped bagged stuff to save even more time. The kale and sausage combine with stock, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and that's IT. Throw in some white beans (or skip them for a lower carb option), blanket the whole thing in parmesan, and good to go. 

I love this for nights when people are kind of coming and going, which seems to happen so much more in the fall, and I love it for holiday weeks where you definitely need to eat but making multiple dishes for a meal isn't as much fun when Thursday involves SO many dishes and steps. Let's do it!

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Pumpkin Carrot Beer Cheese Soup

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Here's your jackolantern, people. 

Orange soup! Just narrowly in time to be appropriate for Oktoberfest, perfect for Halloween, and seriously healthy + delicious. In fairness to your taste buds, be aware that this tastes like pumpkin. I know, shocker. But, if you're not super into the flavor, it can be strong and even slightly bitter. I think the beer + cheese pairs perfectly with it and the result is nothing short of earthy, but you could easily tame this soup with chicken instead of veggie stock, or swap half of the pumpkin for mashed sweet potato or butternut squash. 

For me, though, I dig it. It's perfectly seasonal, hearty but not overly filling, and dunking a soft pretzel in it while your kids eat mountains of candy tomorrow night might not be the worst thing in the entire world, just saying. 

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Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Gruyere and Bacon

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This recipe for roasted cauliflower soup is super simple to make and perfect for meal prep! I use my blender to make it super smooth, but a food processor or even a potato masher would work perfectly for this creamy, cheesy low carb soup with bacon.

Happy October! It FINALLY feels like fall here. Overnight it seems (not it seems, really), we went from 90 degree days, which was so dumb, to chilly nights in the 50's and no hint of a temperature above 80 for the foreseeable future. I know to some of you that sounds like summer, but here we're like IT'S COLD GET A JACKET. Beck still only wants to wear sundresses (she now has opinions and wants to choose her own clothes which is generally something wedding-appropriate), so leggings and cardigans have made her look kind of like a crazy artist for the last few days. 

Also, my front porch looks basic af. I love it. 

So! To celebrate the season we have this recipe for roasted cauliflower soup. It's almost entirely made of cauliflower, which makes it light, low carb, and vaguely good for you. Bacon, garlic, and Gruyere add the best umami and nuttiness, and we blend the soup so it's practically velvety on your tongue. Plus, it's topped with ROASTED cauliflower for texture and flavor. Definitely omit the bacon and use veggie stock for a vegetarian option - it's delicious that way too. 

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Favorite Soups for Fall!

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So, a few things happening around here. First, when we were coming back from the beach on Monday a rock (we think) hit our car window and shattered it all over Beck while we were driving. We thought we had been shot because we watch too much television, and there was a legitimate moment where I didn't want to turn around to check and see if Beck was ok.  She was, of course, but she DIDN'T WAKE UP at the noise, so I assumed certain death. Not recommended. I'm still having flashbacks to the moment, even though it turned out to be a fluke accident and nothing like our imaginations took us to. 

Also, the sky is literally falling in a few parts of the world. I cannot imagine what our neighbors in Houston, Florida (in preparation), and Asia are feeling and experiencing, and this list of soups is definitely not a fix for any of that. 

Finally, it is raining here. It is dreary and not supposed to stop all day and night, chilly, and dark. Beck is whiny and needy and bored while being adorable, somehow. So I'm contemplating dinner, as I do at 10am, and I'm thinking it has to be soup. For us it has to be soup using ingredients we have, because we are having one of those weird weeks where we have a ton of random produce, one of each kind of deal, and some of it needs.to.go. It also has to be quick, so this isn't a list of slow cooker meals or chili.  This is for NOW. 

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Low Carb Chinese Cabbage Beef Soup

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I do not care about low carb things, let me be incredibly clear.  

Legit I'd prefer to eat this with a scoop of nutritionally void white rice in the center.  

BUT.  There are more people than me in this family and life and world, and other people enjoy eating nutritionally dense foods that taste great and aren't super full of carbs.  Like this!  Flavorful, simple, light soup.  

Soup in the summer might seem strange, but there are always a few times where it's rainy or the AC gets to you (omg the sunburn chills) or a mid-summer sinus infection sets in that soup just seems right even in the hot weather, right?  This is the soup for that occasion.  Light enough and simple enough for summer but with all the coziness that soup offers.  

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#tbt Mexican Soup for Cinco de Mayo

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I wish I had 5 soups for you, but alas.  Maybe at some point.  

But!  

I've started to feature some new and old Mexican dishes on my Insta, and will continue to do so for the next week until the most glorious of all the food holidays.  It's still kind of chilly in some parts of the country, so a fun soup + chips + beer might be your tickets for next weekend.  ...

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Curry Rice Soup with Tofu and Bok Choy

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ACCIDENTALLY VEGAN!  

This has actually been happening to be a lot recently, and I'm loving it.  Nuts, coconut milk, and crunchy vegetables are some of my favorite ways to keep a recipe vegan while still having great big flavor.  Sometimes I do it on purpose, sometimes it just works out, like with this soup.  

This soup was an "I hate to waste anything ever" invention, and it turned out so well that I've made it a few more times, this time for you!  When our house was on the market (RIP to that idea) we ate more takeout than I'd care to admit, and one of my favorite takeout options is Indian.  It's a killer excuse to order 3 entrees for 2 people and eat Indian for a few days in a row, which is basically my version of heaven.  BUT, they always send so much rice.  Enough for rice on rice on rice for days after the curries are gone.  I hate wasting food, we had some rice languishing in the fridge, soup was born.  

It's silky and creamy from the coconut milk, hearty from the rice and tofu, and has a light quality from the bok choy.  I've served this plain or with lime juice and cilantro over top, and either way is delicious.  Leftover haters unite! 

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Lemony Garlic Ginger Soba Bowls

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I was going to call these "feel-better soba bowls" or something like that but honestly I love stuff like this all the time.  

Interestingly, I made these for Jay last week when he had the flu and he decided he didn't like them AT ALL.  Because they were too lemony.  So, they didn't make anyone feel better because I felt fine.  We laughed that I tried this and was like "mmmmmmm so lemony!!!" and he was like "hmmmm. lemony." Same concept, different perspective.  

My point is this:  These are Asian-style bowls with a garlic/ginger/lemon broth.  If you don't like those things this might not be for you.  But if you do....heaven.  The other benefit here is that we add zero fat to the dish but get huge flavor from the broth, veg from the...veg, and great texture from the soba, which is a hugely underrated noodle in my opinion.  It has such a great toothy texture that almost takes the place of meat.  Almost.  

I used a chicken broth here because I like the flavor, but this would be fully vegan (soba is vegan, yes? no clue.) if you used vegetable broth!  

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Tomato Curry Soup + Crispy Chick Peas {vegan}

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I have accidentally photographed a few vegetarian or vegan soups all with Asian flair.  

I'm sorry?  I'm having a moment and you're involved?  I would say that I'm trying to lose weight but dunking everything with excessive amounts of naan would give me away?  

I saw something like this on one of the myriad food blogs I read (I don't know if that's how to use that word, I've been staring at it for awhile), and it sounded so....cozy.  Tomato soup but with curry.  The one I read had a butter base and no chick peas, but the curry/tomato combo has been on my mind ever since.  But!  It didn't feel like enough (you're like, this is why you're fat) for a meal, and I don't ever eat soup as a side dish - who has time for that?  Croutons are a natural accompaniment, but chick peas + curry are even MORE natural, so we basically have a super smooth slightly creamy soup (from coconut milk!) with chick peas that act like croutons.  

Get to it.  

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