Soup, Rain, and Delicious Books

DEBORAH CROMBIE: It's hodgepodge Sunday here on the blog, and what better place to start than with the weather! We have had a long, and I have to admit, glorious, Indian summer here in north Texas. We had two inches of rain back in mid-September and since then we have been pretty much 90 to 70 degrees every single day. (With pollen, I might add.) The mornings and evenings are lovely, and with the days getting shorter, it's not even unpleasant to be out in the warmest part of the afternoon. 

BUT. I am a self-confessed pluviophile.

And, no, that's not something kinky. A pluviophile is defined as "someone who loves rain and feels happy, calm, and peaceful during rainy weather."  Too much rain in mid-winter can give me a bit of the blues, but most of the time a rainy day makes me feel happy and creative, and I've been very deprived. 

And on top of that, it's SOUP SEASON, and it really hard to get in the mood to make soup when it's ninety degrees! I love soup as much as I love rainy weather, and with the first little cold snap the possibilities beckon.

Finally, yesterday, we had a little front and a few light thunderstorms, just enough to cancel my granddaughter's soccer game and barely "piss off the grass," as we say in Texas. But enough to get out the stockpot and put on some lovely lentil soup.

This recipe was from Cookie and Kate, one of my fave vegetarian websites, but any kind of soup sounds good to me. I've been drooling over this chicken soup recipe by ronrofe on Instagram. He does the most absolutely gorgeous food and I want to eat everything he makes.

We are getting to the delicious books, by way of soup. I subscribe to the writer and cookbook author Ella Risbridger's substack as I adore everything she writes. This week her email was about soup (and she's also going to be reposting her huge soup blog from last year) but what caught my eye were two new books. She's edited a selection of poems by women and girls with amazing illustrations called AND EVERYHING WILL BE GLAD TO SEE YOU which I ordered for Wren's Christmas from Amazon before discovering it was available from Blackwell's in the UK for a lot less and with free shipping. 

As is Ella's upcoming IN LOVE WITH LOVE, described as her "love letter to romantic fiction," and which is getting rave reviews everywhere. Happy pre-Christmas to me!

So, dear REDs and readers, happy soup, happy Sunday, and what is floating your autumn boat?

P.S. I tried my first ever pumpkin spice latte from my favorite coffee stall at the farmer's market yesterday and DID NOT LIKE IT. Boo. I call that a way to ruin some good coffee...

Lucy is Counting Beans

LUCY BURDETTE: I have a bean problem. I don’t believe there is a 12 step program specifically for that, but my pal Hallie suggested that I should blog about it, so I am! Here’s the background: we tease my brother-in-law sometimes, because if anyone asks him what he wants for dinner, for a special occasion, or every day, it’s always greens and beans.  I know he’s right when he says that people – including us – should be eating more beans and vegetables and less meat. It’s better for the world, ecologically speaking and it’s better for our bodies as well. Especially during the pandemic, I bought beans and other products from Rancho Gordo, a producer and distributor of heirloom beans, grains, and other delicious products. So I signed up to be on the waiting list of the Rancho Gordo bean club. 

For members of this club, Rancho Gordo sends out a quarterly box of various specialty beans and usually an extra bonus like bay leaves or paprika. The club is very popular and hard to get into, so I figured I would have a wait. Therefore, I wasn’t too worried about using the proceeds. But then six months ago, I was admitted – hooray! Except gulp, that means I receive a new box of dried beans every three months. The photo above is what things look like in my bean drawer, and that is after I’d given away several packages for various birthday gifts and cooked bean this and that. John is already making noise about how maybe I should quit the club, so I know I better get cracking!

I have made some dishes, including escarole and bean soup made with giant white beans, barbecued beans, which were extremely popular at a recent dinner party, chickpeas to add to salads, and the lentil soup for which I will post the recipe below. One problem with beans is you can’t start an hour ahead of dinner, and expect them to be ready. A lot of them need to be soaked, some of them overnight. (The lentils are an exception.) A second problem is that they make a huge amount. There are only so many beans that two people can eat. (Bean recipe suggestions welcome!)




For this lentil soup, we happened to have some gorgeous leeks left in the garden, but if you don’t have that or prefer onions, feel free to substitute.

Ingredients

One cup brown lentils (Rancho Gordo, of course!)

2 to 3 leeks, well washed.

Three stalks celery

Three carrots

Four or five small potatoes

1 to 3 cloves of garlic, depending on your audience

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

14 ounces chopped tomatoes.

One box beef broth (could sub chicken or vegetable)

1 teaspoon chili in adobo sauce or to taste

One lemon

Fresh parsley

Wash the leeks well. Chop the leeks, carrots, celery, and potatoes and sauté them in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. While they cook, sort and wash the lentils. Add chopped garlic to the pan with the lentils and saute for a moment with the smoked paprika. Add the broth and tomatoes, and simmer for about 45 minutes until everything is soft. (You may need to add a little water.)

Add up to a teaspoon of chili in adobe sauce. (I would have added more but John thought it spicy enough for the people who would be eating it.) Squeeze half a lemon over the soup and simmer a bit more.

Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with biscuits!

Your turn now Reds, how do you feel about beans? Have you ever lost control of a subscription? Any fabulous recipes to share? (You know how people drop giant zucchini bats on neighbors' stoops during the height of that season? If you find a bag of beans on your steps, you will know the culprit.)