When the leaves start to change and the first chill of the season is in the air, or when Mother Nature decides to blindside us with a freak October snowstorm, then there’s one thing that I always start to crave, and that’s soup. I’m a big fan of the “orange” soups – carrot, sweet potato, squash, or any combination or variation thereof – because they warm my chilled tootsies and put me in the mood for all of the fun things that cooler weather brings, but also because they’re so good that you wouldn’t guess that they’re also very good for you.

I like this particular soup recipe, well, because it tastes great, but also because it’s so easy to make. Roasting the vegetables not only saves time that you would otherwise spend standing and stirring at the stove, it also provides a more complex sweetness to the finished recipe. And while your squash, apples, onions, and garlic are doing their thing in the oven, you can whip up a quick balsamic apple and onion relish that adds a pop of intense flavor to your bowl of squash and apple goodness.

This recipe has been shared on the Gluten Free Holiday link up, where you can find lots of healthy, gluten free recipes and tips for the holidays.

A few months ago — yes, this is how far behind I am on posting recipes — I was chatting with a friend who mentioned that he was planning on making a big batch of Asian chicken soup. After the conversation, I suddenly had the urge to make a pot of Asian chicken soup for myself. I wonder why?

This soup is a great alternative to “regular” chicken soup on days when you’re feeling not so hot, or on days when you need a warm bowl of something to chase away the chill. Ginger and garlic are great immune system boosters, red bell pepper offers a nice dose of Vitamin C, and the red pepper flakes add a spicy kick to clear out the sinuses. And I had to add noodles because, well, chicken noodle soup! If you’re a vegetarian, then you can use vegetable instead of chicken broth and leave out the chicken. Honestly, I could just drink the broth for this soup and be a happy camper.

P.S. A few of you have been asking me if I have a Twitter account. I do have accounts for some of my other projects, but until recently I didn’t have one for Domestifluff. So, if you’re interested in talking food, gluten free baking, or crafty stuff, you can now follow me @domestifluff!

This winter, so far, has been more than a little unusual. It’s been strange to be in New England looking at weather maps and watching everywhere from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., and even the deep south get inches upon inches of snow as we sit here looking at bare earth and brown trees. But I can’t complain too much, as the roads have been perfectly clear! And, hey, it’s still cold, so perfect beef stew weather.

This recipe from Paula Deen has been my go to beef stew recipe for a while, and I think it’s great because it’s pretty hands off. I usually get the beef simmering, cut up the vegetables to add later (wait to cut the potatoes), and then go do whatever for an hour and a half. I have found that I need about twice the liquid called for in the recipe because the two cups originally called for boil almost completely away by the time I add the vegetables. This may be my stove (ick, electric), so you may find that you need to do this, too, or you may find that there’s no need. Instead of water, I use beef stock for added flavor — Kitchen Basics is my favorite brand. And I add extra veggies, too, because I was finding that we’d run out of veggies well before the beef. The recipe calls for Worcestershire sauce, which does typically contain high fructose corn syrup, but you can leave it out if you’re not comfortable with it and use liquid aminos, instead, to add flavor.

To say that it’s been cold here lately is an understatement. Last week’s temperatures hovered right around frigid on the thermometer, and we needed something to keep ourselves warm, though I admit that it’s not as difficult this year as it’s been in the past because we’ve moved to an apartment with decent insulation. What I wanted was some soup. Luckily, I bookmarked a tomato soup recipe that I’d seen on Guy Fietttti’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown series a couple of weeks ago.

I don’t typically watch many of the showdown/competition type cooking shows that seem to have gobbled up most of the regular cooking shows on the Food Network schedule, but I’ve been watching this one because it features home cooks who have some pretty tasty sounding recipes. One of the recipes that piqued my interest was by Rick the retired SWAT guy, who ended up winning the Comfort Food episode with a first round mac and cheese recipe that looked like it kicked butt (I have to try it soon) and a second round chunky tomato bacon soup and heirloom tomato grilled cheese sandwich combo.

Honestly, I never thought that I’d be craving tomato soup, as it’s something that I’ve disliked since I was a kid. My sister loved the Cambell’s tomato soup in a can and would wave it in my face every time she had some, which was way too often, because she enjoyed torturing me with food that I didn’t like. She also did this with my mortal childhood enemy, pickles.

Where was I? Oh, yes, tomato soup. For some reason, Rick the retired SWAT guy’s soup really appealed to me, and I found myself thinking about it even after the show had ended. I just had to make this soup, and I wasn’t disappointed when I did. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find non-shriveled fresh basil at the grocery store, which would’ve added even more to the flavor, but dried worked well and the bacon really added a nice, smoky depth of flavor. I’m not sure if the amount of stock called for in the original recipe is a misprint, but I more than doubled it, and the soup was still very, very thick. This made it perfect for dipping, but I wonder if it wouldn’t work better as a sauce for pasta?

Every autumn, without fail, I get the overwhelming urge to make soup. Cozying up with a warm bowl of tasty soup on a chilly day is undeniably comforting, so comforting that it can become an addiction. Yes, I suppose I’m a soup addict. As I type this, my freezer is filled with three types of soup, and I look forward to thawing each and every container so I can have more “warm and comfy” time. Saccharine, but true.

I always used to shy away from recipes containing lentils because, first, I wasn’t confident that I would be able to cook them properly and, second, I associated them with “health” food and thought that they would taste like cardboard. Thankfully, I stepped out of my comfort zone long enough to try them, and now I’m always looking to try new lentil recipes.

I adapted this lentil and sausage soup recipe from the October issue of Gourmet and found it surprisingly flavorful. Though I love a hunk of warm, buttery bread with soup, I can’t always find the time to make my favorite gluten free bread (recipe to come in a future post), and pre-made gluten free breads aren’t exactly easy to find at the grocery store. Because I didn’t have a substantial side with this soup, I was worried that it wouldn’t fill me up, but between the lentils and the sausage it’s quite hearty. I won’t tell you that you shouldn’t have bread on the side because that would just be criminal, but I will tell you that you don’t need it.

I used vegetable stock instead of the chicken broth called for in the original recipe, and if you want to make it vegetarian, just leave out the sausage, too.

Before this week, I had only encountered artichokes in the form of dip for chips and such. The thorny little buds didn’t seem very user friendly, but I recently saw a food show that made me forget my intimidation. One segment on the show focused on a restaurant that made the best artichoke soup around. After hearing all of the customers rave about how wonderful this artichoke soup was, I knew that I had to have some for myself.

I didn’t have a recipe, so I started with a pared down version of a base that I use in many of the pureed soups that I make. I roasted the artichokes for added flavor, and I used a bit of chicken broth powder to give more depth to the flavor to the soup. Actually, once you get past the processing of the artichokes, this is a very simple, tasty soup to make.

Yes, I got poked by artichoke thorns a couple of times, and yes, I thought that I had ruined the artichokes after I roasted them because they turned dark brown on the outside, but I kept going. And, after all was said and done, I was left with a rich, silky smooth soup that made me glad that I had embarked on the adventure. So, don’t be afraid of artichokes because, if you can get past their pokey exteriors, you will be greatly rewarded for your efforts.