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    A Kitchen Inspired by the Warmth of Soup

    Its days like today that I like to pick up my bowl and feel the warmth between my hands as I cautiously slurp a little broth. That first moment of holding a freshly made bowl of soup in my hands and feeling the warmth travel through my fingertips to by entire body to ease the winter chill is a moment I relish this time of year. While many recipes exist for gazpacho, borscht and other cold soups that hit the spot during warm-weather months, soup is best known today as a favorite winter comfort food.

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    There’s nothing quite like Avgolemono, a rice and chicken-based soup that’s thickened with eggs and spiked with fresh lemon juice.

    Soup has been around forever. Even before the invention of pottery, man used vessels such as leaves from bamboo trees and animal stomachs to boil hot water with meat over hot stones. A region’s available ingredients and cultural tastes influenced recipes for soups, stews, pottages, gruels and porridge, but classic French cuisine inspired many of the traditional soups we eat today.

    In earlier times, many porridges or gruels were made from boiled grains that became a paste-like substance. In addition to grain-based soups, common people ate soups made from locally sourced ingredients, mostly vegetables. For the upper class, soups often contained meat and was shared. Before the days of silverware, everyone at the table would sip broth directly from a large bowl and use their right hands to break off chunks of meat. Eventually spoons made their way into fashion and changed the ingredients soups were made with and the way people ate it.

    Soup has a long history, too long for us to discuss here at least. Its recipes are ingrained in every culture and; fortunately for us, we have the capability of sourcing many ingredients from throughout the world right here at home.
    If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, I’d eat soup – remember what I said about how diverse it can be! During the winter, you’ll find me mixing up a pot of something delicious at least once a week. I love soup because it’s easy to make, it keeps well and it feels like a hearty, healthy meal.

    When I was a kid I was fortunate enough to spend a summer in Greece. We’d spend all day exploring beach after beach and come home to Ya Ya’s (Greek for grandmother) house where she’d put out a spread of everything from homemade pastitsio, to lavish salads with fresh cucumbers and olives, and my favorite, Avgolemono Soup. Avgolemono is a rice and chicken-based soup that’s thickened with eggs and spiked with fresh lemon juice. There’s nothing quite like it. This Greek Lemon and Chicken Soup is a quick and easy starter recipe before moving on to a more traditional and time consuming version. It also resembles the flavors I remember from Ya Ya’s but doesn’t include the chicken’s feet, which is another story in itself.

    This Vegan Creamy Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup is full of flavor.

    Another one of my favorite international foods is Vietnamese Pho. It’s gorgeous, stacked with thin noodles, bean sprouts and fresh herbs. The flavor is dynamic and bold, but its ingredients are so simple. Inspired by The Splendid Table, I thought I’d skip my weekly pilgrimage to Huong Vietnamese Restaurant and try to make this favorite at home. The result wasn’t quite as perfect as I’d hoped, but it was darn good and I’ll definitely try to make it at home again; if anything just to save myself some money!

    While I’m a proponent for soups with a bold broth base, sometimes there’s nothing better than the flavor and feel of a dish that’s warm and creamy like this Vegan Creamy Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup. It’s also quite quick to prepare.

    There are also times when I opt to make what we call “Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup. Its contents vary based on whatever is in the refrigerator at the time and usually it shows up on our weekly menu when the fridge and freezer are due for a cleaning. Luckily, we usually have all the right foods on hand to make this recipe turn out well every time. Below is the no-so-scientific recipe.

    Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup

    – Chop up whatever hearty vegetables you have (carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, garlic, diced potatoes) of your choice and sautee them with a little oil about 5-7 minutes
    – Add 1 quart of vegetable, chicken or beef broth or water with bouillon
    – Add 2 15 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
    – Cook about 40 minutes on medium heat
    – Add chopped fresh vegetables of your choice (cauliflower, broccoli, leafy greens, tomatoes, squash)
    – Cook about 15 minutes on medium heat
    – Add frozen vegetables of your choice (corn, green beans, spinach)
    – Cook about 10 more minutes on low

    Serve with grilled cheese, corn bread or your favorite salad.
    Our favorite version of this soup includes carrots, onion, celery, one sweet potato, tomatoes, corn, green beans and chopped kale, but the opportunities are endless.

    The beauty of this versatile dish is that it can be simple or complex, hearty or light, time-consuming or quick to prepare. With so many varieties and flavors, it’s a struggle to choose just one favorite but I’m willing to try! Share your favorite recipes with me at [email protected].

    With “A Kitchen Inspired” we will share with you the current and up and coming ingredients, products and cooking methods that inspire our team members, chefs and the kitchen at Whole Foods Market Dublin.

    Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com, NASDAQ: WFM), is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America’s first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine. The company’s motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”™ captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement.

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    Tiffany Dixon
    Tiffany Dixon
    Tiffany Dixon is the Marketing Team Leader at Whole Foods Market Upper Arlington, OH. Her passion for food started at a young age, thanks to her grandmother’s hearty southern cooking, and was ignited during a summer internship that allowed her to learn the roots of our food system while educating young people about organic urban gardening. When she’s not eating food, cooking food, thinking about food or working around food, Tiffany likes to be rugged and outdoorsy unless it’s a rainy day. Then she would much rather curl up with Clifford, her big red dog, and read…a cook book.
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