Cold, Tired, stuck inside, these are often the symptoms of SWINTER. The transition between winter and spring, or what I like to call Swinter. “oh look it’s nice and warm out, just kidding let me dump a foot of snow and frigid temperatures on you.” Swinter is a season where it is still too cold to venture outside, yet you still feel extremely productive, so what does one do with some extra time while they wait for the spring flowers to bloom? It’s simple. Soup! Swinter is a season made for soup. While the weather tries to decide what it is doing outside you can cozy up with a bowl of steaming hot soup.
You say to yourself, “I can’t make soup.” Fear not! There are simple and easy soup recipes that you can tackle on a brisk Swinter day. CHUNGAH from Damn Delicious has 15 great quick + cozy soup recipes for you to create and consume.
“Easy peasy homemade soups to keep you warm and cozy all year long!
It doesn’t matter if it’s 100 degree outside or 50. I reside in California so I’m not sure if it gets any lower than 50. Still, I could always use a bowl of soup. And with these 15 hearty soups here, you’ll be warm and cozy 365 days out of the year!”
You can find Chungah’s list here 15 Cozy Soups
It is a fact, the colder the weather the more soup you consume.
Here is one soup you must absolutely try this Swinter via Katie from Healthy Seasonal Recipes I love mushroom soup! This particular take on it includes a walnut lentil pate crostini, a perfect pairing to warm you up on a chilly SWINTER day. Katie’s recipe is found below.
“This healthy vegetarian cream of mushroom soup with walnut lentil pate crostini is a make over of the classic recipe that you grew up with as a kid. Except this one is made from scratch and with the addition of the yummy crostini and truffle oil!
Don’t let the name fool you I know it sounds really fancy. But I assure you this recipe is not really challenging to make. The soup itself is also a total breeze.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- ¾ cup canned lentils, drained
- ½ cup toasted walnuts
- 1/3 cup chopped chives, divided
- 2 tablespoons truffle oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cups sliced mushrooms, any variety or mixed
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups vegetable broth, such as Imagine no chicken
- 2 cups low-fat milk
- 12 slices baguette, preferably whole-grain, toasted
Instructions
- Mince ½ clove garlic. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and mash into a paste with the side of a chefs knife. Transfer the paste to a food processor or mini-prep and add lentils, walnuts, 1 tablespoon chives, 2 teaspoons truffle oil, vinegar, 1 tablespoon chives and process to combine.
- Finely chop the remaining 2 ½ cloves garlic. Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and the remaining garlic and cook, stirring until starting to brown and soften, 4 to 6 minutes. Add mushrooms, thyme and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook stirring often, until the mushrooms have released their juices and the juices have evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Add sherry and rosemary, bring to a simmer and let sherry evaporate until almost completely dry, 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle flour over the vegetable mixture and stir to coat. Add broth, increase heat to high and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Add milk and return to a simmer, stirring often. Remove from the heat, stir in chives.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle the remaining 4 teaspoons truffle oil over the soup, dividing evenly. Spread the lentil walnut pate over the baguette and serve with the soup.
Not fancy in preparation, only in name.”
Thanks for that lovely recipe Katie!
Rachel Swalin mentions some great soups that will be sure to warm you up in her article about Super Foods that Warm You Up Test these out for yourself.
Black Bean Soup- “There’s nothing like a soup with cumin and chilli pepper to heat you up when things get cold. The nutrition star of this dish, though, is the beans. Black beans are a good source of iron and copper. So sipping on this soup will help your muscles use more oxygen and boost your immune system, Gans says.” Try the recipe out via Health- Black Bean Soup
Rachel also mentions Pumpkin soup, she says
Pumpkin Soup- “If you’re lacking vitamin A, the nutrient critical for promoting vision, a dose of pumpkin will do you good. Pumpkin also has antioxidant properties thanks to beta-carotene, Gans says.” Try this recipe out via My recipes- Pumpkin Soup
Beating Swinter and even being healthy at the same time is as easy as soup.
Here are some more souparable mentions:
SWINTER is a season for soup. So grab a can of Campbell’s or try following a cozy recipe or heck throw some ingredients in a pot and you are good to go. All I have to say is you will be satisfied slurping on a steamy, hot, bowl of soup while you patiently wait for spring to arrive.
JOLDESIGNS 
