Notes about Recipes in this book

• Golden broth with slivered peas, cucumber, and yellow pepper

  • vox82 on February 03, 2019

    2/3/2019 - I loved this soup!

• Pinto bean soup over rice with red chile and cheese

  • TrishaCP on April 07, 2014

    Not sure what happened, but I had a total recipe fail here, which is surprising as I usually find Deborah Madison to be highly reliable. I think the culprit was too much water-I used the amount called for under the pressure cooker method, and the resulting broth was bland and lacking in any decent flavor. I didn't find the unsoaked beans to be cooked within the 30 minutes she suggested (but to be fair, that could have been user error on my part as I am still new to pressure cookers), and an additional simmer did nothing to soften them or improve the broth. Disappointing waste of Rancho Gordo beans!

• Bean and pasta soup

  • britt on September 16, 2010

    This is good but simple. Don't leave out the toppings.

  • Lepa on July 22, 2016

    I make this at least twice a month and have been doing so for years. It is the meal that makes everybody in my family happy. I cook the beans with a parmesan rind to add flavor and puree all of the stock/bean/veg mixture before adding the pasta.

• Black bean soup with cumin and cilantro

  • Maura on February 03, 2016

    try soon

  • britt on September 16, 2010

    The topping is critical to the soup's yumminess.

• Black bean soup with chile, coconut milk, and lime

  • michalow on December 27, 2021

    Simple and satisfying, and I suspect leftovers will be even better on day two. Like Avocet, I thought a reduced amount of coconut milk worked well. I didn't measure, but probably ended up with about the same 5 to 6 oz. I did add the suggested rice, along with some diced roasted kabocha squash for interest. Definitely needs a good hit of lime.

  • ccav on May 07, 2021

    This was very nice. Addition of fresh lime and additional cilantro when serving brighten flavors. Served with jasmine rice

  • Avocet on May 08, 2021

    Made this for lunch today and it was excellent. I only used a 5.6 ounce can of coconut milk, and found it gave plenty of coconut flavor without being overly rich. I also sauteed some garlic along with the onion. Will definitely be making again. Thanks to ccav for piquing my interest with yesterday's comment.

• Borlotti or Madeira bean soup with radicchio

  • Avocet on September 28, 2021

    Really good, but I did make a couple of significant changes. I used 4 oz of European style bacon that I sauteed along with the vegetables, and added some chicken stock along with the water. Very tasty, nice with a lettuce and tomato salad, and a Chateau Ste. Michelle cabernet sauvignon.

• Chickpea and spinach soup with bread crumbs

  • michalow on January 27, 2013

    Simple and good. I diced the carrots that simmered with the beans and included them for some color.

• White bean and black kale minestra with farro

  • Emily Hope on December 03, 2010

    This was pretty tasty--made a double batch for a dinner party. Nothing unique or spectacular, just a solid soup recipe. Filling on a cold night.

  • jhappel on January 05, 2013

    The bread crumbs with rosemary and parmesan cheese make this dish.

• Navy bean and winter squash soup with sage bread crumbs

  • Lepa on March 15, 2018

    This was pretty good, especially with the sage breadcrumbs. I suspect it will make delicious leftovers. On balance, however, not sure I'll make this regularly as it involves a lot of work/chopping so the effort to result ratio isn't great.

• A rustic lentil soup with spinach

  • michalow on December 12, 2021

    Simple and satisfying, though I'm not sure it's going to hold my interest enough to get me through all the leftovers. If I make this again, I will up the veg -- 2-3 carrots and a few stalks of celery. Do use a mix of lentils for visual interest, if possible.

• Red lentil and colorful vegetable soup

  • michalow on September 17, 2019

    I had modest expectations for this soup, but it turned out to be excellent. I made several tweaks, but it would be delicious as written too, I'm sure. My modifications were mostly for the sake of working with the ingredients I had on hand: skipped the cilantro, added some finely chopped cabbage, added 1/4 cup basmati for the last 20 minutes of cooking, used lemon instead of lime, and, inspired by the lentil-walnut recipe in the same book, stirred in a bit of muhammara before serving. I also used a mix of red and shasta lentils. I'm looking forward to the leftovers already.

• Yellow pea and coconut milk soup with spinach, rice, and spiced yogurt

  • Lepa on July 22, 2016

    This is a complete meal in a bowl, with the rice, peas and spinach. It is my six year old's favorite meal and he will eat leftovers for lunch 4-5 days in a row without complaining. Love this soup.

• Peanut soup, Senegalese style

  • Lepa on September 26, 2017

    This is a simple, quick and delicious soup made with items I always have on hand (tomatoes, peanut butter, coconut milk). I pureed it and added some rice to my kids' bowls to make it a bit heartier. Don't skip the lime and swirl of yogurt at the end- they really make the soup.

  • TippyCanoe on March 10, 2013

    This soup recipe is such a great quick meal with ingredients that I usually have in the fridge or cupboard. I think it went from start to finish in about 20 minutes and despite the short simmer and having a water rather than a broth base, it has a nice, full flavor. I love the fact that Madison uses chopped cilantro stems in the base and then adds chopped cilantro to the top of the soup along with lime and yogurt. I sometimes add chopped sweet potatoes, which does add to the cooking time. Good curry powder is key!

• Cream of barley soup with whole barley, leeks, and mushrooms

  • eliza on December 16, 2016

    I liked this soup a lot. I made several changes; I used all of the leek, not just the white part, and I did use a mild chicken stock instead of water. I also omitted the extra barley from the topping. For non vegetarians, this would be great topped with some crispy smoked bacon (but then again, wouldn't everything?). I think it will probably be even better the next day.

• Quinoa, corn, and spinach chowder

  • TrishaCP on March 20, 2020

    This was a tasty and filling chowder. We didn’t use the egg, and subbed queso fresco for the feta since that was what was on hand.

  • shannonstoney on May 12, 2017

    This is very good. I added a little cream and some chipotle tabasco sauce.

• Farro and chickpea soup for winter

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    The flavor profile when put together seems subtle for an entire pot of soup- rosemary, parsley, bay leaves and a rind of parmesan- but becomes more than the sum of its parts. (If making again, I might swap out the rosemary for some sage.) I decided to use more farro than the recipe called for (2 cups instead of 1 1/2), which made it more of a stewed farro dish than a soup, but that worked for me. I did find the broth to be quite thin, although the chickpea liquid is intended as the thickener, so if that doesn't work for you there may be some adjustments required.

• Green spring soup of spinach, lettuce, and sorrel

  • shannonstoney on June 17, 2017

    I tried using old lettuce that was going to seed in this soup, but that lettuce made it too bitter.

• A green tortilla soup

  • Nancith on October 29, 2015

    I thought this soup had a nice texture to it as it was, but husband & son thought it lacked substance & could have benefited from the addition of corn &/or bell peppers. But they agreed that the flavor was warming & bright & rather delicious.

  • TrishaCP on March 09, 2019

    This was very flavorful, especially if you are generous with the lime. We puréed it and thought it was substantive enough with the tortillas, but corn might be nice here too.

  • britt on October 23, 2010

    If it's a bad time for tomatoes, I leave them out, and the soup doesn't seem to suffer for it. I use pepper jack cheese.

• A smoky one - tomato bisque

  • Emily Hope on September 11, 2011

    This is an easy, reasonably good variation on tomato soup that has the advantage of not needing to peel/seed the tomatoes ahead of time (though you do need to break out the food mill). But it doesn't have a lot of depth of flavor, even with the pimenton. I scaled up the recipe so it served four--this was easy to do.

• Roasted squash, pear, and ginger soup

  • Laura on November 23, 2015

    I confess to not having read the directions carefully before going to the grocery store. So, I bought already cut-up butternut squash to save myself some time, only to discover that the recipe calls for using the peel and seeds of the squash to make a broth. Whoops! Well, I improvised and just used chicken stock instead. The soup was wonderful, so can only imagine how great it would be with the properly-made broth. Despite so few ingredients, the flavors were really prominent. I will say that the soup was really thick, despite my thinning it with additional broth. I would add even more in future. This soup would make a perfect starter for Thanksgiving dinner.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    Maybe the perfect fall soup, with minimal ingredients- basically what's in the title plus an onion and water. The stock is made using the seeds and peels from the squash (I used a butternut) and I love that technique because there is so much flavor to be found there. A few notes. First, I usually don't like to bother with the fussiness of straining a soup unless it is for company, but in this case it is a must to remove the fibers from the ginger. Second, there are multiple steps that take a bit of time, but all of them are necessary to make the flavors shine so don't be tempted to skip any. Finally, I ended up with about 3 cups of squash (rather than 2 as called for in the recipe) and that was totally fine- I still had a good consistency and actually wonder if 2 cups would be enough.

  • michalow on October 29, 2017

    A fall favorite--lots of flavor with few ingredients. It's worth the effort to make the stock and pass through a strainer. I think the pear flavor comes through better if you serve without the creme fraiche. Better second day and freezes well.

• Winter vegetable chowder

  • michalow on January 01, 2013

    The toasted bread and cheese enhance this soup tremendously -- do not skip!

• Cheese and broccoli soup

  • ncollyer on April 02, 2023

    Really enjoyed this. Beautiful colour and nicely balanced flavours, with a pleasing texture. Made good use of the whole broccoli. Immersion blender was handy for this.

  • Nancith on December 03, 2020

    This was a wonderful bowl of soup! The big difference for me were the herbs used: bay leaf, marjoram & thyme. The herbal notes really show in this. Not having enough broccoli, I did sub about half the amount with cauliflower. The amount of cheese is just enough. Definitely a do-again recipe,