soups & stews,
N othing washes away the winter blues like a bowl of warm soup or stew. While you can find many delicious recipes in cookbooks and on the Internet, making your own soup or stew without a recipe is easy. Follow these essential steps to choose your soup or stew ingredients, and you’ll soon have family and friends asking for your personal recipe.
OIL OR BUTTER
You will need to start with some type of fat to saute your vegetables and create a base flavor. If you want a creamy stew, consider making a roux using unsalted butter for a rich, thick base. For a lighter soup, try sauteing vegetables in a healthier fat, such as olive oil or canola oil.
BASE
After sautéing your vegetables, add your liquid — usually a broth of some sort — and start simmering the flavors together. Beef, chicken and vegetable broths are the most common recipe bases. Bouillon powders offer the convenience of concentrated flavor made from dehydrated stock. You can also use store-bought liquid stock or make your own stock from scratch to freeze in batches. Experiment by adding other flavors to your stock, such as apple-cider vinegar, wine or beer.
PROTEIN
Protein is an essential part of a balanced diet, but it doesn’t have to come from meat. While it may seem that the easiest way to add protein to a soup or stew is to toss in chicken or beef, you can also get protein from legumes, such as beans, peas and lentils. If you want a hearty, meaty stew, look for tough, lean cuts of beef, such as chuck roast, top round or bottom round. A long, slow simmer will produce tender pieces of meat with melt-in-your-mouth flavor.
TEXTURE
For a creamy texture, consider adding heavy cream, Greek yogurt or sour cream to the mix. You can also achieve a creamy texture by pulsing the soup or stew, in small batches, in a blender until achieving the desired consistency. You may want to puree the entire recipe for a bisquelike soup, or only puree a portion of the mixture; then blend the two portions together for a heartier texture. To thicken your recipe, whisk a few tablespoons of cornstarch or flour into a small amount of broth in a separate bowl. Slowly stir the cornstarch mixture into the main recipe over low heat until the soup thickens.
TOPPINGS
Garnish your soup or stew with toppings that add contrasting flavor and texture. While fresh herbs are a nice complement to any recipe, there are several other options to consider. For heavy cream soups or hearty stews, try fresh toppings such as chopped onion, chives, sliced radishes, chopped avocado or a wedge of lemon or lime. Also consider briny toppings such as chopped olives or capers. For broth-based recipes, try adding crunch with ingredients such as croutons, toasted pumpkin or squash seeds, oven-roasted chickpeas, corn chips, kale chips or crostini. Also consider indulgent toppings such as a dollop of pesto, heavy cream or sour cream; crumbled cooked bacon; shredded cheese; sun-dried tomatoes; or truffle oil.
VEGETABLES
The traditional mirepoix — a mix of chopped carrots, celery and onions — complements most soup ingredients. Sweating these ingredients in oil over mediumhigh heat will help soften the vegetables and release the flavors. Other vegetable add-ins to try include fresh garlic, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, peas, and chopped greens, such as spinach or kale. For a heartier stew, consider adding sweet potatoes, squash or parsnips to add heft and flavor. Mushrooms are also a good option for soup or stew.
SEASONING
The possibilities for adding character with seasoning are unlimited. Don’t play it safe with just salt and pepper: Try combinations of spices and herbs to achieve a unique flavor. Adding seasoning at the beginning of the recipe will allow the flavors to blend during cooking. Earthy aromatics commonly used in soup and stew recipes include basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, dill, parsley, oregano, coriander, cumin and bay leaf. To add sweetness, try cardamom, marjoram, mint, cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg. For a little warmth, add a pinch of cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder or ginger. For bright citrus notes, try adding cilantro or lemongrass.
GRAINS
Whole-grain ingredients are a great addition to any soup or stew. Whole-wheat pasta and brown rice are some common wholegrain additives for soups; other options include barley, bulgar and farro. Quinoa, a grain crop that has recently exploded onto the cooking scene, is also a healthy addition to soups and stews because it is high in both protein and fiber. To keep your grains from overcooking, make them the very last ingredient you add to the recipe. Another option is to cook grains separately; then add them to individual servings as desired.