Soup is a truly delicious food, is it not?
So fulfilling. So versatile. So customizable. You can make a bowl as a quick, light lunch or a thick, hearty, stew-type of dinner to be enjoyed slowly with a table full of loved ones (err, when there’s not a pandemic).
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Anyway, as the author of this story, I live somewhere that experiences true Midwest winters. It gets COLD and snowy here, and sometimes, only a cup of soup will do when it comes to warming up and hitting the spot at mealtime. I do realize not all of our readers are in my position, seasonally, but hey -- I think most parts of the country get at least a little cooler around this time of year, right?
So, we’re going to start making soup. Every Tuesday! Come join my soup adventures? We’ll call it Soup-er Tuesday (please don’t groan at my pun), and I hope you’ll tag along.
For the very first week, we’re making Chrissy Teigen’s Parmesan Minestrone. I should mention, I love her, so it’s very likely you’ll be seeing more Teigen recipes down the line. One of her cookbooks, “Cravings: Hungry For More,” has a permanent spot on my counter, and I have way too many favorites to name. This minestrone lives in the book.
About this soup, she writes: “The worst thing that can happen (with a minestrone) is (that) it comes out a little watery, but nothing horrid enough that you can’t fix it with a little salt. But the best thing that can happen? A rich, deeply flavorful soup bound together with parmesan cheese.”
She really nailed it. It’s basically a perfect recipe. I’m sure we’ve all had minestrone before, so I won’t take the time to explain much. It might sound like a boring dinner option, but this spin on a classic is DIVINE. (Plus, you’ll have leftovers for days! It makes a lot).
Here’s the recipe, by the way. It’s simple enough. And it came together quickly as a kid-friendly, easy weeknight meal. I’ll tell you quickly about the tweaks we made, which you can take or leave, as I’m fairly certain it will be delicious no matter how you slice it (spoon it?):
- We have kids, ages 3 and 5, and didn’t want it to be too broth-y. I don’t like to frustrate my 3-year-old, who can be hanging by a thread, emotionally, by dinner time, so we used some extra pasta, in hopes that he’d be able to eat and handle it easily. It worked.
- We had lots of garlic, carrots and celery on hand, so again, we blew past the recipe and used a bunch. (We do this often with garlic especially, simply because it’s a magical ingredient).
- Chicken broth instead of veggie broth; just my personal preference, but vegetarians, do what you’d like!
And some recommendations from me to you, if you decide to make it:
- Fresh cheese makes all the difference (meaning, don’t use the green can of shaky dried stuff). Grate it yourself and you’ll be glad you did.
- Make the chili mayo toasts. They’re little soup scoopers and oh-so delish. (Might be too spicy for your kids; we made them some plain toasties).
- Trying to clear out your veggie drawer? This soup is so versatile. Throw in whatever you’d like. Bell peppers? Potato chunks? Zucchini? The sky is the limit.
Five of five stars on the kid-friendly front, if my children are any indication: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(My kids can be picky, but they’re generally pretty good eaters, depending on the week and how the planets are aligned, of course).
Anyway, let me know if you make this! I’m mganley@grahammedia.com and I’d love to hear from you. I was skeptical that this recipe could really impress me much, just as a basic minestrone (I’m more of a meat and potatoes person), but it was really fantastic. Rich but light, if that’s possible. Sometimes it’s not so bad to be wrong.
What are we making next?
Send me a recipe or drop it in the comments -- somewhere we can link to online, preferably, as I’m not sure I can afford to buy a new cookbook each week. 😉 I’ll eat most things: meat, dairy, gluten, etc.
Oh, and I’ll only share my cookbook recipes with you if they’re also available online, like the one above from Chrissy.
Cheers! See you next week.
None of this is sponsored; I buy all my own ingredients and choose recipes that sound good. Just trying to help you decide what to make for dinner, one Tuesday night at a time!