50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker (8 page)

Serves 4 to 6

Posole
(or pozole) is both an ingredient and a soup that can be found in Mexican restaurants and on tables across the Southwest. Its characteristic ingredient is posole (hominy), dried field corn that has been soaked in lime to loosen its tough skin, which is then removed. (This is the same process used to render field corn suitable for making tamales and tortillas.) You can use canned hominy in a pinch (and your cooking time will be greatly shortened), but good quality dried posole will yield a much more satisfying flavor and texture. I order white posole from the
Santa Fe School of Cooking’s
online market in order to avoid the hassle of trying to find good quality posole locally with its skin already removed. Posole (the soup) can be red or green, depending upon what color chiles you use.

Rinse the dried posole thoroughly, then place it in a 7-quart slow cooker along with the water. Cover and cook on LOW for about
6 hours, or until the posole kernels are beginning to burst open.

While the posole is cooking, heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Crush the cumin and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle or grind it in a spice grinder. Add the cumin, coriander, chile powder, oregano, garlic, and tomatoes to the onion and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer.

Add the mixture to the slow cooker and continue cooking for 1 to 2 hours longer, until the flavors meld. Stir in the
lime juice
and add the salt to taste. (Posole requires a lot of salt, so don’t be stingy.)

Ladle the posole into bowls. Serve with assorted garnishes so that people can add their own toppings.

Serves 4 to 6

This is a luscious, bright red soup, but to fully realize the
bell pepper
flavor, I recommend serving it the day after you make it. I find the bell pepper flavor is quite faint when the soup is freshly made (one neighbor couldn’t even detect the bell pepper flavor), but after it stands overnight, the flavor ripens and the soup blossoms. Serve it hot or cold, topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of basil chiffonade.

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Do not let the garlic brown.

Transfer the mixture to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the bay leaf, bell peppers, carrots, and tomato. Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, or until the peppers and carrots are tender.

Add the water, then using a handheld blender, puree the contents of the slow cooker until the desired texture has been reached. Stir in the half-and-half and add the salt to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a dollop of sour cream and some basil.

Serves 4 to 6

I wrote all the recipes for this book one winter. How perfect—all that cold weather, and all of those great, hot soup experiments. In my close-knit neighborhood, everyone wanted in on the kitchen magic. Like minestrone, ribollita is an Italian (Tuscan) classic, and its name means “reboiled.” It was originally made by reboiling yesterday’s minestrone. Same basic soup, different day.

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer.

Transfer the mixture to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the water, beans, Parmesan rind, tomato paste, celery, and carrots. Cover and cook on LOW for about 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.

Thirty minutes before serving, stir in the chard, cabbage, and zucchini. Add the salt to taste and continue cooking until the zucchini is tender. Stir in the vinegar.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a sprinkling of parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6

I have always been a
rhubarb
hound. I love its tart, fruity flavor, and as a child, I remember clamoring for my mom to make rhubarb pie; the more tart, the better. It was my favorite thing. I have since found a number of different ways to enjoy rhubarb, among them a traditional Norwegian rhubarb soup. It can be served hot, warm, or cold. And should you have any left over, you can use it as a sauce over yogurt or ice cream, or use it as a base for a delicious smoothie. You can add cinnamon if you like, but I am a purist and prefer the unadulterated rhubarb flavor. The dish is especially beautiful when served either in clear glass or white porcelain bowls.

Place the rhubarb, water, and sugar in a 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours, or until the rhubarb has “melted.”

Using a handheld immersion blender, puree some or all of the rhubarb to your preferred texture. Add the raspberries and cook for 30 minutes longer, or until the soup is once again hot.

Serve the soup warm in bowls topped with a tablespoon of sour cream or whipped cream, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Serves 4 to 6

There is a Mexican restaurant in my town that specializes in caldos, or Mexican broth-based soups. Everyone goes there to get caldo on a cold day, but everyone especially goes there for take-out caldo when they feel a cold or flu coming on. All that garlic and hot broth clears the head—even if you don’t have a cold.

Place the oil, onion, and garlic in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours or until the garlic is quite tender.

Add the water and cook for 2 hours. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree the soup. Add the lemon juice, then add the salt to taste.

To serve, place some of the avocado, cheese, and tomato in the bottom of each bowl, then ladle in the broth over the ingredients. Top each bowl with a sprinkle of cilantro and some scallions.

Serves 4 to 6

In southern India, dal is soupy and served over rice; in northern India, dal is a thicker consistency for scooping up with roti, the traditional Indian wheat flatbread. You can vary the amount of water in this recipe in accordance with whether you want a proper soup or a more stewlike consistency.

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Rinse the lentils thoroughly and place them in a 7-quart slow cooker along with the onion and garlic mixture and the water.

Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, grind the cumin and coriander seeds to a powder, then add them, along with the turmeric, cardamom, and cinnamon to the lentils. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, until the lentils are quite tender.

Stir in the coconut milk and spinach, and add the salt to taste. Cook for 20 minutes longer, or until the soup is once again hot and all the spinach is wilted.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Top each with a bit of chopped chile, a sprinkle of cilantro, and some coconut.

Serves 4 to 6

If you’ve got a burning desire to keep ’em down on the farm during the fall or winter holiday season, here’s the perfect way to do it. Fill the house with the smell of spiced
apples
. I recommend using Granny Smith apples, as most other apple varieties are likely to produce a weaker version of this soup. You need acid and flavor, and the Granny Smith delivers both. Try to find organic apples, then leave the skins intact as most of the flavor and nutrients are found in or just under the skins of the fruit. Use your imagination when it comes to garnishes: perhaps some chopped, toasted walnuts, grated sharp cheddar cheese, or a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, grind the cinnamon, cloves, and allspice to a fine powder.

Place the butter and apples in a 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 3 hours, until the apples are soft and the juice nice and browned. Mash any large pieces of apple, then add the water, spices, and raisins and continue cooking for 2 hours longer.

Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and honey.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the yogurt.