Soup – is it or is it not a meal? This is a debate as old as time, more perplexing than “to be or not to be,” more polarizing than pumpkin beer and candy corn combined. Can hot liquid, regardless of what it contains, stand up as a main dish? This hot-button issue was even the focus of a classic Seinfeld episode - Jerry owes Kenny Bania a meal (in exchange for a free Armani suit), but Kenny orders the soup and tells Jerry he’ll take the meal later.
I grew up with gazpacho that was served without pureeing, big mouthfuls of fresh garden vegetables in a red wine vinegar broth studded with droplets of olive oil. It was only a few years ago that I learned that the traditional way to serve gazpacho is well-blended, with small chunks of vegetables but nothing identifiable (I was appalled when I found that out, by the way). I still don’t like regular tomato gazpacho any way but the way I’ve always had it. I fear change.
I can’t believe I’m posting a recipe for kale stew on a 78 degree day in early March. Isn’t March supposed to be “in like a lion?” Well, maybe it is. If the lion came from Africa and brought the weather with it. What is this, people? Back in my day we were still having blizzards in March, and weathering them with old-timey patience and probably a lot of gumption. We also walked to school in them, uphill both ways. We earned our winter stews back then, I tell you.
I might be earning myself a reputation for being cranky about unseasonably warm weather, but trust me, there are worse reputations to have, and I’m standing by my insistence that winter goes until the spring equinox, regardless of whether it’s 8 degrees or 80 degrees. Give me stew or give me death!
Kale and white bean recipes are a dime a dozen – I’m not sure what makes them go so well together, but there’s something about the creaminess of the beans with the hearty, slightly bitter kale that just makes you want to hunker down and eat your way through the depths of winter. This particular recipe started out as a way to do just that – one snowy evening last winter, I went on a pantry raid to try to cobble together a nice dinner without having to put my boots on and trudge out in the cold. This quickly became a favorite and a weeknight staple both for its hearty taste and hardy makeup – this fast dinner transforms beautifully into even better leftovers. I strongly suggest eating it out of an oversized mug under a blanket, even if you have to turn the air conditioner on.
It always makes me a little bit sad when I see a casserole dish of sweet potatoes smothered in gooey, sugary marshmallow – “extremely orange and incredibly gross” comes to mind. Not that I have a personal vendetta against marshmallow – it has its place. It’s just that its place is not glopped upon an unsuspecting pile of perfectly innocent tubers, completely obliterating their delicate sweetness. I think the sweet potato is much better enjoyed when it’s balanced by something savory and smoky, with a little bit of heat. Oh, and in related news, soup season is in full effect. It’s cold and rainy and begging for warm, comforting goodness.
Enter Homesick Texan’s chipotle sweet potato soup. This does the sweet potato justice – the sweetness perfectly counters the kick of the chipotles, and (as if you needed a cherry on top), this is 100% waistline-friendly and pairs well with New Year’s resolutions, provided you know when to say when with the sour cream.
One final note before you run off to make this – respect the chipotle and know what you can handle, spice-wise. I boldly, bravely (read: stupidly) threw in three whole chipotles, seeds and all, and had to add an extra sweet potato to mellow it out – even then, it was still quite hot. So follow the golden rule of “do as I say, not as I do,” and start with one, then see if you need more heat and/or remove the seeds to tone it down.
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