MMMM....soup....

There is nothing I like better on a cold, dry, windy autumn day (or a cold, snowy winter day - or vice versa!) than a lovely bowl of soup. Soup! Beautiful, warming, soupy soup. And most soups go well with some crusty bread or homemade biscuits to give you a little something to chew on.

Lucky for me, I live with a guy who loves to cook. Not only does he love to cook, but he loves to cook soup - and to experiment with new soups and making up his own recipes. He's made chicken tortilla soup, chicken black bean soup, split pea soup, lentil soup, seafood gumbo, chicken vegetable soup with homemade noodles, and the other night? Seafood/root vegetable chowder. Said soup contained shrimp, catfish, fish broth (from Asia 88), and chopped celeriac, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and celery. Oh holy cheese on a cracker was it good.

The nice thing about soup is that it can be as basic as throwing a few things in a pot and waiting for them to cook, and as complicated as Hulk's chicken tortilla soup recipe, which takes several hours and 23049809 steps, but the result? Amazing. I like to make soup, too, mostly basic vegetable soups. I'm a big fan of pumpkin or butternut squash soup, and I've made sweet potato soup as well, inventing something new to do with the sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. One time I made cream of broccoli soup that turned out far better than any "cream of" soup I'd ever had out of a can.

Another good thing about soup? It's warm and filling without being particularly fattening, for the most part. Broth-based soups are relatively low in calories and high in vitamins and other good things - the more veggies you use, the better they are for you. I'm not a fan of cream-based soups in general, like most clam chowders or bisques, but that's because my digestive system has a hard time with dairy fat. But if they're your thing, more power to you.

The other night, when Hulk walked into the room bearing the seafood/root veggie soup, I realized how spoiled I am at this point. I don't really like any soups out of cans now because they all taste like salt or MSG or the inside of the can. The vegetables have very little flavor, and I'm never full afterward. But give me a bowl of homemade soup, even one as basic as butternut squash soup (essentially broth, butternut squash, and maybe some onion and celery, seasoned with red pepper flakes and fresh pepper, pureed, with a dollop of low-fat sour cream on top - YUM), and I'm a happy camper through the cold Colorado winter.