7 soup recipes to jumpstart the fall vibes
time to bust out the big pot
There comes a time in every postpartum woman’s journey where suddenly, without warning or fanfare, she feels ready to *do something* again.
Of course, she has been doing plenty — what with rehabbing her body after giving birth and keeping a tiny human alive by feeding it ceaselessly with bottles, her own boobs, or both. But still, sooner or later, a great urge to achieve something beyond those two tasks will hit her.
I remember, in detail, the first thing I really did a few weeks after the birth of my first son, Mattis. I fed him, put him down for a nap, and HIGH TAILED IT to Starbucks. I was gone for maybe 15 minutes, but this quick trip was transformative.
I remember the silence in the car feeling deafening, but liberating. Standing in a crowded coffee shop with other humans who had no idea that I had a tiny infant waiting for me at home reminded me that I still existed in the world, outside of being a mom. Getting home with my latte, and walking into his room where he was still sleeping, right where I left him, helped me prove to myself that my child could be OK without me, and I could be OK without him.
A $7 latte from Starbucks helped me start to feel whole again.
I started gifting other new moms gift cards to Starbucks, with encouraging messages such as “when you’re ready, you gotta try STARBUCKS!” as if I had discovered this caffeine-fueled Mecca for postpartum re-entry that no one else had ever heard of. I’d inform all the new moms I met “hey — did you know Starbucks has an APP that you can order on so you don’t even have to wait in line?!”. They did, in fact, already know this.
My comeback from the postpartum haze with Calum was similar, but I swapped in sparkling rosé for lattes. (Yes, it is fine to drink a glass of wine while breastfeeding). Almost every day, George would pick Mattis up from school, come collect me and Calum, and we’d all head to one of the many vineyards that surround our home here in Carmel Valley, California. I was more confident this time around: I could handle a baby, and a toddler, and a glass of wine all in a public setting!
But what does all of this have to do with soup?
Soup has played a starring role in my postpartum journey with my third son, Cash, who has born 11 days ago. I’ve enjoyed tomato soup from Costco, lentil soup from Trader Joe’s, wonton soup from my freezer, and Beef and Farro soup from a local market. With biscuits, with sliced sourdough, with grilled cheese.
Soup, soup, soup has been on repeat.
So it makes complete sense that this past Sunday, during the big boys’ nap time, for my first official postpartum *event*, I… made soup.
Lots and lots of soup. Two gigantic, bubbling pots of soup. Enough to fill the freezer and the fridge! Enough to already be sick of it!
If you like freezing food (who doesn’t?!), freeze a few portions using these amazing souper cube things. Y’all have been recommending them to me for years and I finally got them. They’re fantastic.
Freeze the soup into blocks, then transfer the soup cubes to a gallon ziplock. When you’re ready to reheat, just throw them in a pot with a splash of water, cover, and warm over medium heat until thaw.
Today’s ramblings were particularly long — I suppose that in addition to making soup, I also felt like writing. So without further adieu, here are seven soups that you should be making right now:
healing chicken and rice soup
A delightful, nourishing alternative to chicken noodle soup. Don’t skip the toasted peanuts and coconut on top.
trader joe’s autumn gnocchi stew
Had to throw this one in the ring. If you feel like making soup but don’t actually feel like cooking, you gotta add this one to your list. Three TJ’s ingredients thrown together in a pot to make a lovely stew. It was my first Instagram video to ever go viral!
green chicken tortilla soup
The soup that inspired me to cook this Sunday! I had a ton of broccoli and didn’t want to go to the store, so I used that instead of zucchini. Zucchini is better, but broccoli is great too!
seared broccoli and potato soup
This NYT recipe by Melissa Clark is the other soup that I made on Sunday. I let the soup cool down a bit at the end, then stirred in 8 ounces of grated sharp cheddar to make it a broccoli cheddar soup situation. Yum.
thai tofu curry noodle soup
The soup that taught many of you to love tofu! I have a block of tofu in my fridge with this written all over it.
creamy but cream-less tomato soup and cheddar biscuits
Classic creamy tomato soup is delightful, but can leave you feeling pretty meh thanks to the copious amounts of heavy cream and sugar. My version uses carrots, sweet potatoes, and cashews to mimic the sweetness and creaminess of a classic tomato soup, in a nourishing way that will make you feel fantastic.
one-pot chicken tikka masala stew
Tikka masala, but make it soup! I seriously love this flavorful, hearty stew full of plant and animal protein and veggies.
Now I want to hear from you… what are your favorite fall and winter soups that you make over and over again?! I’m excited to share my fave — curried butternut squash and honeycrisp soup — with you guys later this fall!
Thank you, this email was such a happy thing - glad you’re doing well 😊
Nice!