creamy but cream-less tomato soup + cheddar biscuits

kick off 2022 with a sh*t ton of vegetables

photo: Anna Routh Barzin

Happy 2022, y’all!

Everyone I know, including myself and George, is making an effort to eat a bit cleaner and healthier this month. But also… everyone I know also has COVID. To best serve these overlapping audiences, I decided to combine healthy with comfort food — and wound up with this creamy but cream-less tomato soup. It gets its creaminess and sweetness from carrots, cashews, and sweet potatoes rather than heavy cream and sugar. It is full of nutrients and fiber and all of the things that make us feel fantastic, while still being incredibly cozy comfort food.

Rather than serving this tomato soup with the classic grilled cheese pairing, I’m sharing a simple but so freaking delicious savory cheddar drop biscuit recipe. They take about the same amount of effort as a grilled cheese but are a nice switch up.

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2021 faves

1. Favorite recipe I developed: One-Pan Creamy Boursin Pasta with (or without) Shrimp. It took me forever to figure out the timing and liquid proportions on this one and I’m just so proud of how it turned out. Italians lose their mind over how *inauthentic* this one is, and 25-year-old recipe developer me would never have been brave enough to put something like this out into the world because it’s so un-cheffy. I know better now — ease is king!

2. Favorite recipe I cooked that wasn’t my own: David Chang’s Bo Ssam. I’ve been making this recipe for so many years and it never gets old. I make it two or three times a year, always for special occasions, but I need to start making it more regularly. It is fantastic. My 30-minute pork lettuce wraps were inspired by it.

3. Favorite book I read: The entire A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I finished them a few weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about them.

4. Favorite children’s book: No competition — I Want My Hat Back. Pro tip: Make really funny voices for all of the different animals.

5. Favorite item of clothing: If you don’t own the Athleta Salutation leggings yet — what the hell! I thought you trusted me?! Seriously, they will change your life. They suck in your butt and gut and they have POCKETS.

6. Favorite staple: Do yourself a favor and throw out all of your ratty socks and invest in a few pairs of Bombas. They will send you new ones for free if you ever get a hole in them. They are the most comfortable socks on earth — I get random urges to put them on. How weird is that?

7. Favorite charity: Navy SEAL Foundation, which supports Gold Star families (families who lost a service member in the line of duty) and No Kid Hungry (which supplies meals to the one in four children in the United States who are food insecure).

8. Favorite gadget: This wireless charging tray or my Hatch alarm clock.

9. Favorite memory: Mattis making Calum laugh for the first (and thousandth) time. Second place: Going biking with one of my best friends and some of her family members on Thanksgiving. I rode an e-bike (hence enjoying it so much…) and felt like I was floating through the redwoods, I was so genuinely euphoric.

10. Favorite accomplishment: Carving out the time to spend plenty of time alone, and plenty of time with just George. My mental health and happiness really depend on spending time completely by myself, and on my marriage being strong. Despite crazy work schedules and adjusting to life with two kids, George and I made a lot of time for ourselves and for each other in 2021 and I’m proud of us for that. Our favorite way to spend QT together is taking work off early one day a week and meeting up for a hike, to play tennis, or for a beer from 3 to 5 p.m. while our nanny is still at the house. We don’t sacrifice seeing the kids and we can go to bed early. Win win.

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creamy cream-less tomato soup

Serves 6 to 8

~10 minutes active, 55 minutes total