50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker (3 page)

Serves 4 to 6

Borscht, or some variation of it, has been a mainstay of peasant food all over eastern Europe and Russia. In the winter, the soup is served hot and may contain
beets
,
carrots
, and potatoes or other root vegetables; in the summer, the same soup (usually called
chlodnik
) may be served icy cold and mixed with cream, yogurt, or buttermilk and garnished with sliced radishes, beet greens, cucumbers, lemon slices, and hard-boiled
eggs
. Serve this soup hot or cold. Puree it or leave the vegetables whole. Eat it as you like it.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Place the onion, beets, potato, carrot, and water in a 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours, or until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork.

Using a handheld immersion blender, blend the vegetables until smooth. Add salt to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Serve hot, garnished with sour cream and fresh dill.

Variation:
For
chlodnik
, try mixing in 1 quart of plain yogurt and top with a small peeled, sliced cucumber and some chopped fresh dill, hard-boiled egg, and scallions.

Serves 4 to 6

My friend Julie and I were discussing the merits of slow cookers (she was about to spring big), and my findings with them. Funny how your ideas can become so much clearer when talking to a friend. “What I want to do is to show people that if they learn a few simple tricks about handling ingredients, they can turn out a delicious first-rate dish with a minimum of effort and without buying a bunch of exotic stuff that they’ll never use again,” I said. I love
potatoes
and just about any kind of cheese, and this soup is a perfect example of what I was talking about. The soup is made with a few simple ingredients, and you add flavor by sautéing the onion and celery and also by adding garlic. (Adding the garlic at the last minute retains its very pungent, garlicky flavor, which I like. If you prefer a milder garlic flavor, then add it along with the onions at the beginning of the cooking time.)

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the celery and cook for 2 minutes longer. Transfer the onion and celery to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the potatoes (but no water). Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, or until the potatoes are very tender.

Add the water and blue cheese. Using a garlic press, mince the garlic into the soup. Add the salt to taste.

Using a handheld immersion blender, puree some of the ingredients to give the soup thickness and texture. For a more rustic feel, you can simply mash some of the potatoes with a potato masher. I like to leave it very lumpy and rustic looking with plenty of skin intact.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Grind the fresh pepper over the top and serve garnished with rosemary.

Serves 4 to 6

For several years, I worked as a yoga instructor at the
Chopra Center for Wellbeing
in Southern California. As a part of their Perfect Health program, a young Indian woman prepared a different dal, the classic ayurvedic dish for internal cleansing, each day. If I close my eyes, I can still smell and even taste Aparna’s wonderful dal, all of which started me on a quest of my own for the perfect dal recipe.

Rinse the lentils thoroughly, then place them in a 7-quart slow cooker. Add the water and half the onion. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, until the lentils are quite tender. At this point, you can mash some of the lentils to give the soup a thicker consistency.

In a large sauté pan, melt the ghee over medium heat and sauté the remaining onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the mustard seed and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer.

About 10 minutes before serving, add the onion and mustard seed, the turmeric, and cabbage and stir. Add the salt to taste.

Serve either in a soup bowl or ladled over the basmati rice. Top with the shredded coconut and chile.

Serves 4 to 6

A more truly
British
soup would be hard to find. You could even include some good cheddar in addition to the Stilton.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the celery and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer.

Transfer the onion and celery to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the cauliflower and water. Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, or until the cauliflower is nice and tender.

Using a handheld immersion blender, puree the ingredients until smooth. Stir in ½ cup of the Stilton, the cheddar, and half-and-half. Add the salt to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish each bowl with the remaining Stilton and some of the herbs just before serving.

Note:
For more flavor, you can substitute ½ cup dry white wine for ½ cup water.

Serves 6 to 8

Chickpeas, or ceci as they are called in Italian, are found widely in the cucina povera (or peasant cuisine) of Italy and most countries of the Mediterranean region. This soup is especially good if you have saved some Parmesan cheese
rinds
and can add them to the soup as it cooks. I like to press in garlic at the last minute to maximize its strength and flavor.

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Rinse the chickpeas thoroughly and place them in a 7-quart slow cooker. Add the onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, chile flakes, bay leaves, and Parmesan rind. Cover and cook on LOW for about 8 hours, or until the chickpeas are tender.

Add the oregano and thyme. Using a garlic press, mince the garlic into the soup, then add the salt to taste. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree some of the mixture to thicken the soup. (I usually puree about one-quarter of the soup.)

Ladle the soup into bowls. Serve each bowl garnished with parsley and basil.

Note:
To make the chiffonade, stack the basil leaves, roll them up lengthwise, then slice thinly across the roll.

Serves 4 to 6

For centuries, root vegetables like potatoes, turnips, carrots, and rutabagas were the dietary mainstay of people throughout northern Europe during the winter when more fragile crops that grew aboveground were unobtainable. The
celery
root (also known as celeriac or the turnip-rooted celery), though not as widely accepted as the potato, can be found in salads and soups during the colder months of the year. It is easy to clean (peel it like you would a potato) and offers the same pleasant flavor and aroma of its stalky, leafy cousin.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the leeks for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Transfer the leeks to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the celery root and water. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, until the celery root is tender.

Add the half-and-half, then using a handheld immersion blender, puree the soup. Add the salt to taste. Cook for about 30 minutes longer, or until all the ingredients are hot.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top each bowl with a bit of apple, sliced celery rib, and celery leaves.

Serves 4 to 6

It’s an odd combination, admittedly, but I got this idea from a friend who once served skewers of prune and
butternut squash
grilled over an open fire at a backyard dinner party. I loved the flavors and decided to try them in a soup, accented with fresh tarragon. The results won the approval of my neighborhood taste testers, hands down.

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Transfer the onion to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the celery, squash, mushrooms, rice, prunes, and water. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, until the squash is quite tender and the rice is done.

Add the salt to taste and stir in the tarragon and parsley. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.