Soup – Crystal Rivera

curry roasted eggplant and coconut dal

Featuredby Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

My home-alone cooking is looking a lot like the postpartum-cooking I’ll be doing for my beautiful friend–and it’s fuckin’ delicious. If I wanna be Jamie Oliver (I don’t, really) I’d call this a two-ingredient recipe (eggplant & red lentils) with some layering of flavors–but I’m not here for the eye-rolls.

Curry-roasted eggplant gets simmered in a pot of spiced red lentils with coconut milk and beef bone broth. There’s a slight tang from the dried black lime but you can create that same tang by using fresh lime or lemon juice towards the end, or even a bit of zest in the beginning. I used galangal here because I had plenty from an Asian market and I do enjoy it’s sweet, floral heat. Ginger is obviously perfect to use here instead. Sofrito is absolutely NOT traditionally used in any dal, but I had it and the onion/garlic/pepper/cilantro ingredients work very well so, why not? Dal is meant to be thick but if you’re looking for a soup-like consistency, just add more broth or water. Serve with rice or enjoy on it’s own. Love y’all!

curry roasted eggplant and coconut dal

Print Recipe

Cook Time 30

Course Main Course

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

for the eggplant

4-5 small Indian eggplants or 1 larger variety, cubed
olive oil for coating
curry powder to taste
salt to taste

for the lentils/coconut dal

1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp dried black lime or lime juice towards end, to taste
1-2 dried red chiles
1 inch knob galangal or ginger finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tbsp sofrito recipe linked above
14 oz can full-fat coconut milk
2 cups beef bone broth plus more for desired consistency
1 cup red lentils
roasted eggplant
salt to taste
celery leaves or cilantro for serving

Instructions

for the eggplant

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast the eggplant til golden brown and tender. Set aside.

for the coconut dal

Heat ghee and add spices. Stir in sofrito, galangal, and tomato paste and saute for a minute or so before adding the coconut milk, stock, and lentils. Simmer for 15 minutes then add in the roasted eggplant. Simmer another 15 minutes, adding more stock or water to reach desired consistency.

Caramelized Cabbage, Jewish Cuisine

Caramelized Cabbage Matzah Balls

September 9, 2022September 9, 2022by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

September is for mourning the end of tomato season (ANY DAY NOW, Y’ALL), begrudgingly welcoming all them fancy (and seemingly endless) gourds, and planning for Rosh Hashanah. I find myself torn between these matzah balls, where sugary brown bits of cabbage get added in, or my festive Puerto Rican recipe for sancocho matzo ball soup. I suppose it depends how many people I’m feeding this year. This one might make my life a bit easier (less costly, too!)

This was originally shared on The Nosher last Passover, with the recipe for my chicken soup included should you need to check that out as well. Now I get to share it here right in time for the holidays and cooler days. Ladle these darlings into any brothy soup you might be making soon.

Just rolled and ready for the boiling pot of water

Caramelized Cabbage Matzah Balls

Print Recipe

Course First Course, Soup

Cuisine Jewish

Servings 10 matzah balls

Ingredients

for caramelizing cabbage

1 1/2 cup green cabbage chopped
3 tbsp schmaltz or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp kosher salt
couple of pinches of sugar optional

for the matzah balls

3/4 cup matzo meal
3 egg whites from large eggs, whisked til light and fluffy
3 yolks from large eggs
1 tbsp grated sweet onion
caramelized cabbage with schmaltz (or oil)
3 tbsp broth from soup cooled down
1 heaping tbsp chopped fresh herbs dill, cilantro, parsley
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

for the cabbage

In a small pan under low heat, melt your schmaltz then add the chopped cabbage. Stir every 8-10 minutes (be careful to not interrupt the browning process by moving the cabbage around a lot) until the mix turns a deep brown, about 45 minutes. While you begin with 3 tbsp schmaltz, it reduces to about 1 ½ tbsp. Set aside.

for the matzah balls

In a medium bowl, beat your egg yolks, grated onion, cabbage with schmaltz, broth, herbs and salt together. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites and matzo meal til fully incorporated. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
Bring a large pot of water to boil, stir in 1 teaspoon of salt.
With wet hands, form walnut-sized balls and drop them into the pot. Cover and boil for about 50 minutes.
Ladle them into your favorite soup. Enjoy!

Keyword Cabbage, Comfort Food, High Holidays

Caramelized Cabbage, Jewish Cuisine

Caramelized Cabbage Matzah Balls & Keftes: Passover Ebook

March 28, 2022March 29, 2022by Crystal Rivera2 Comments

I am excited to announce that The Nosher and Jewish Telegraphic Agency have recently included my recipes for Caramelized Cabbage Matzah Ball Soup and Keftes in their ebook: 15 Recipes For a Modern Passover. Please do check it out! Other recipes included are absolutely beautiful.

When Janna Gur first shared Hadassah Kavel’s recipe for Matzo Balls in her Jewish Soul Food cookbook, I knew adding caramelized onion to my own recipe was just the thing that was missing. That is, until I became cabbage-obsessed a few years ago. While I know we have entered a new year, I’d like to think cabbage is still trending. I would recommend adding these to any of your favorite broths or soups for your upcoming holiday table, but I have included a basic chicken soup recipe as well.

Recipe for chicken soup with caramelized cabbage matzah balls on The Nosher.

Caribbean, Fusion Cuisine, Jewish Cuisine

sancocho matzo ball soup

October 7, 2021July 26, 2023by Crystal Rivera1 Comment

The two ultimate comfort soups from both of my worlds have come together to hug the heck out of me.

Developing this recipe was nothing short of WOW. “Wow” was the only sound I heard on the holiday table during Rosh Hashanah when sazón-seasoned matzo balls were ladled into piping hot bowls of sancocho, a hearty soup (sometimes stew) of meat and veggies from the Caribbean. Following my mom’s recipe but needing to cut down on some of the root vegetables to make space for the matzo balls, I’d say this is close enough to hers, which always has had a combination of oxtails and chicken. You can always play around with the proteins and veggies, but if mom doesn’t see yucca, pumpkin, sweet plantain and corn – then Imma get an earful. She has also added, when available, chayote and white yautia roots.

Feel free to use your favorite matzo ball recipe (and hey, add in some sazón and cilantro while you’re at it).

If using sofrito, I have a recipe for it here: mom’s small batch sofrito.

Sancocho Matzo Ball Soup

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 2

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Caribbean, Fusion, Jewish, Puerto Rican

Servings 8 or 10 people

Ingredients

for the soup

1.5-2 lb oxtails (or beef, short ribs) seasoned with salt
3 tbsp sofrito optional
1/2 of a whole chicken bone-in
1 head of garlic the top cut off to reveal cloves
1/2 of a small Spanish onion
2 celery stalks
2 sprigs of thyme optional
1 large bay leaf
12 cup water or beef broth
2 carrots sliced
1 cup squash or pumpkin cut into chunks
1 ear of corn cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large yucca cut into chunks
1 semi-sweet plantain sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 large potato or yam cut into chunks

for the matzo balls (makes about 12 medium)

3/4 cup matzo meal
3 tbsp schmaltz or fat from oxtail
1/4 cup broth (from soup)
3 egg whites (from large eggs) beaten til frothy
3 egg yolks (from large eggs)
2 tspn sazón Organic, not Goya
1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

for the sancocho

Brown the oxtails for a few minutes on both sides. Add in the celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf, sofrito if using. Continue to fry for about a minute then add in chicken, and water/broth. Bring to a light simmer, not to a boil.
Skim often, then reserve 3 TBSP of the chicken and oxtail's oil that sits on top of the broth. Use this for the matzo meal if you do not have chicken schmaltz.
After about an hour and half, discard the onion, celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Set the chicken aside. When cool enough to handle, shred for serving.
Add in the yucca and carrots and cook for 30 minutes before adding in the rest of the vegetables. Simmer for about 15 minutes more.

for the matzo balls

In a medium bowl, beat your egg yolks, schmaltz, broth, herbs and seasonings together. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites and matzo meal til fully incorporated. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
With wet hands, gently form walnut-sized matzo balls and slip them into a pot of boiling water that was generously salted. Cover and boil for about 50 minutes. Serve in a bowl of sancocho.

Notes

Make sure the oxtails you get have less fat on them than meat. You’ll be spooning fat out of the pot for days! I reserve 3 tbsp of this fat for the matzo balls.

Keyword Comfort Food, Hearty Soup, Matzo Balls, Sazon, Sofrito

Sancocho Matzo Ball Soup by @cookonyournerve

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Grilled Spicy Corn Chowder with Cilantro and Basil

August 3, 2021September 3, 2021by Crystal Rivera1 Comment

Sitting at the corner table in Estia’s Little Kitchen with Connie, a spoonful of corn chowder in my mouth, I’m immediately taken back to my previous home in Jamaica, Queens. A burst of heat and plenty of cilantro in the broth is exactly how I enjoyed Momma Lupe’s soups. I called a gentleman over and asked in a single word, “tomatillos?” And in a single word returned, “poblanos.” Again I was back in a little kitchen of my own, in another time and place, where sounds of the blender filled the room as poblanos and cilantro became one, beautiful green.

Gratitude to this garden-to-table family restaurant for allowing me a taste of memory. Our waiting area was the best wait I’ve ever experienced in my life. They serve iced coffee in a truck out back where they are currently growing many lettuce greens and herbs, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes. Check out that dragonfly chillin’ on a garlic scape. We walked around til our names were called and made sure we would return before heading back into the city.

Inspired by their chowder (I had never seen a green corn chowder, have you?), I made my own and I am loving every morning, afternoon, and night with a bowl of this. It’s good hot and room temp, probably even cold. It goes perfectly with an egg, avocado, a sprinkle of cotija, crispy tortillas. To make it a bit light, I use coconut milk instead of cream and I leave out potatoes. I also grilled the ingredients to get that summer flavor I love.

Grilled Spicy Corn Chowder with Cilantro and Basil

A corn chowder that gets it heat from poblanos

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Course Main Course, Side Dish, Soup

Cuisine American, Mexican

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

6 ears of sweet corn
3 poblano peppers deseeded if you prefer less heat
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1 small spanish onion diced
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp cumin
1.5 tsp dried oregano or few sprigs of fresh oregano
2 c cilantro chopped, stems ok
1 c basil
5 c chicken or vegetable stock hot*
13.5 oz organic coconut milk full fat
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Place 4 ears of corn in a cast iron skillet, or on a grill, and char them a few minutes on each side, turning often. This should take no more than 8-10 minutes. The other 2 ears of corn you will cut into 1-inch pieces and set aside.
Spend about 10 minutes charring the peppers as well, 5 minutes a side.
When cool enough to handle, stand each ear of corn into a bowl and cut kernels off of them. Slice your poblanos, deseeding if you'd like.
Take about half of the kernels and put them into a food processor along with the poblanos. Blend for a few seconds then add your cilantro and basil. Continue to blend til it reaches desired consistency.
In a pot, warm up your coconut oil and sauté your onion, garlic, oregano, and cumin for about a minute. Then add the green mixture along with the rest of the kernels and 1-inch pieces, sauté for another minute. Stir in your coconut milk and hot stock. Simmer for about 8. It doesn’t take long!
Enjoy <3 Corn is making their summer appearance now but soon, it’ll be EV-ERY-WHERE.

Notes

*I use stock that has been heated up beforehand so that the greens do not over cook. I like the bright, fresh green look of it. We are only waiting for the corn pieces to cook through, which only takes a few minutes.

The broth thickens up once you take it off the heat, in case you’re wondering why it seems loose at first!

Keyword Fresh, Green, Grilled, Light, Quick, Simple

Caramelized Cabbage, Fusion Cuisine, Jewish Cuisine

caramelized cabbage soup with flanken and golden beets

May 25, 2021August 28, 2022by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

This soup is a cross between a meaty borscht and my modern-day obsession with caramelized cabbage. Both flanken and cabbage lend a hand in it’s richness, sweetness, and color. Brown food is beautiful.

Some notes: If you choose to make this vegetarian, I would add dried mushrooms to create an umami broth. To make it heartier, add more of the vegetables listed here. Barley would be a nice addition, too. If you can’t find golden beets, any beet would do. I just love the goldeness it creates in the broth.

One thing you should refrain from is cutting time spent on cooking the cabbage. The longer you cook them, the better. I like to go the extra step of patting them down with a paper towel just to take away some excess oil. I also like to spoon some of the fat out of the pot as the flanken simmers. You might find it easier to do that once the soup cools down, though. Up to you!

Caramelized Cabbage Soup with Flanken and Golden Beets

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Russian

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

for the cabbage

1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 lb green cabbage chopped
1/2 cup leek, sliced – or other onion, diced
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tspn sugar optional

for the broth

vegetable oil to coat pot
1-1 1/12 lb flanken cut into pieces between the bones
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 head of garlic halved crosswise
1 onion
fresh herbs of your choosing
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
10 cup water

for the soup

2 1/2 cup beets peeled and diced
2 carrots peeled and sliced
caramelized cabbage and onion
flanken and it's broth
salt and pepper, to taste
dill or cilantro to taste

Instructions

for the cabbage

Set a deep, large pan over medium-high heat. Add your oil.
When it’s hot you’ll add the cabbage, leeks, salt, and sugar. Immediately turn the heat down to low and slow cook the cabbage, being careful to not interrupt the browning process by moving the cabbage around a lot. You’ll stir it once every 8-10 minutes til they have deeply browned, about 45 minutes or more. If at any point the pan looks too dry, you may gradually add a bit more olive oil. Set aside in a bowl lined with a paper towel as you work on the broth.

for the broth and soup

In a large pot set over high heat, brown the flanken in batches. Return them to the pot when the last batch is done.
Add the vegetables, herbs, salt, and water. Bring it to a boil, cover with a lid, and turn it down to a simmer. For the first 15 minutes, check on it to remove any foamy crud that rises to the top.
After 1.5 hours, discard the vegetables and herbs and add the beets, carrots, caramelized cabbage. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes, or til tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and fresh herbs if you’d like.

Keyword beets, Cabbage, caramelized, flanken, soup

Originally featured on The Nosher.

Roasted Beet Borscht with Meat

Once I became in love with the roasted beet, (let’s say 8 years ago) I knew it was only a matter of time when we’d roast a few and add them to our borscht. I’ve been making it this way for awhile now! Yesterday I received a box of forono beets, January King cabbage, red […]

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whatever-you-have minestrone

April 3, 2020January 17, 2021by Crystal Rivera1 Comment

You know what I have? Canned and frozen goods. Know what I need? Soup. This is what I used:

-a small ziplock filled with saved beef bones from the freezer
-1 leek, sliced after a good cleaning
-3 cloves garlic, chopped
-2 celery stalks, sliced
-1 large carrot, diced
-2 bay leaves
-dried red pepper, I use aleppo pepper
-14.5oz can of diced fire roasted tomatoes plus same amount of water
-parmesan rind, I keep mine in the freezer
-14.5oz canned cannellini beans plus 2×water or stock, more if you want it brothy
-275g potatoes (a little over a cup), I use golden varieties but any will do
-200g zucchini (about 3/4 cup), cored if large and very seedy, diced
-handfuls of frozen peas, or any frozen veggie
-chopped greens such as kale, swiss chard, whatever you have

Literally, whatever. Any kind of bean or green or herb or saved rind. A different allium or canned tomato or root vegetable. I wish I had pumpkin or sweet potatoes, but I didn’t. Frozen peas was a nice touch of sweet that was missing. Frozen or canned corn is nice, too.

I browned the bones first in some olive oil and red pepper, then added leeks, garlic, celery and carrot. Sauted them for a couple of minutes then added the bay leaves, diced tomatoes, water, and rind. Allow that to simmer for 25 minutes before adding beans and more stock. Allow that to boil for 15 minutes then add your potatoes. After about 8 minutes when the potatoes are slightly tender, you’ll add the zucchini and peas. When they are ready, your greens come next. Turn off the stove and add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle away.

I served mine with Jamie Oliver’s baked tiella rice from Jamie Cooks Italy. Layers of cherry tomatoes, potatoes, celery, mussels, parmesan, zuchinni..cooked in prosecco say what!? It was magic. But, please, this soup is quite filling on it’s own.

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A soup of leeks, potatoes, sunchokes, roasted garlic

March 31, 2020March 31, 2020by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

Decided to share this super simple recipe with you after a few requests from friends on Instagram. Especially from those who just got their Misfits delivery in and now have lots of potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes) to use.

This soup becomes super silky and creamy with no milk added and serves 4-5. All you need is:

-few tbs butter or long drizzle of olive oil
-1 large leek, light green and whites cleaned well and sliced, or 1 small onion, diced
-2 sprigs of fresh thyme or dried herbs
-550g potatoes (a little over 2 cups), diced, I used a golden variety but any will do
-200g Jerusalem artichoke, about 1 large, peeled as much as possible, then diced
-200g carrot, about a cup, peeled and diced
-roasted garlic (optional but totally a game changer)
-good quality stock, veggie or chicken
-salt and pepper to taste

In a pot under low-medium heat, saute your leeks til they break a part, about 10 minutes, stirring often. As Nigel Slater warns several times in his books, do not scorch them, like I tend to do. Add everything else plus enough stock or whatever to cover, and simmer til both potatoes and sunchokes become tender. Discard any sprigs and puree with an immersion blender or any blender. You can serve as is but it does really well with any leftovers you have.

I had a bowl with crepes, celery leaves, and bacon, and the next day I had a bowl with a sprinkling of a corn salad I made the day before for fajitas. Consider the soup a template for many unusual possibilities, for unusual times.

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roasted garlic and carrot lentil soup with crispy brussels sprouts

November 12, 2019September 8, 2020by Crystal Rivera

When I told Dan this is too simple to put on the blog, let’s just say he might’ve called me crazy. Yes, it’s simple. Ridiculously simple. But when he said “not everyone who roasts a whole head of garlic will think to turn it into a soup,” well, he makes a point.

Roast your garlic and a pound of carrots for 45 minutes to an hour, and you’ll have something so wonderfully flavorful you’ll want to do very little to it.

But maybe you’ll want to add shredded, crispy bits of brussels sprouts…which REALLY elevates this whole dang thing. I’m not even spreading lies. Just don’t buy an entire stalk of em along with other heavy things from a farm that doesn’t offer bags cause, that’s not so simple. (Totally worth it, though).

You will need:

-1 medium head of garlic
-pound of carrots, peeled or not
-1 cup red lentils
-6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
-1 tsp ground cumin
-red pepper, as much as you’d like
-salt, to taste
-olive oil, for pan and roasting

-pound of Brussels sprouts, halved and sliced
-more olive oil

Can you believe that’s it?

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Laying the garlic flat on aluminum foil, cut the tops off the head and drizzle olive oil over it. Seal it shut.

Lay your carrots on a sheet pan and toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper.

Put both the garlic and carrots in your oven. The carrots should take about 40-45 minutes to caramelize, and the garlic about an hour.

While that’s in the oven, drizzle olive oil into a preheated pan and add your shredded Brussels sprouts. Stir only occasionally, as you want most of them to be crispy.

When everything is out of the oven, carefully take the cloves out (you can wait about 15 minutes if you have the time) and add them to a blender along with the carrots and enough stock to make a nice puree.

In a pot, gently toast your ground cumin til well-scented. Add a drizzle of oil and your red pepper flakes. You want to infuse that oil with some heat. Then stir in the puree and the rest of the stock. Add the red lentils and simmer til they are cooked.

Pour into bowls and top them with the nutty goodness of Brussels sprouts. Let me know what you think!

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a light rice noodle soup for a summer day (or any day)

August 8, 2019February 5, 2020by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

No surprise here! My heart belongs to any farmers market wherever I go, and since Englewood, Fl doesn’t have one this time of year, I had to make the most of it in Venice, Fl on the only Saturday I’d be around. Which, at first, didn’t sound very promising as I was walking from farmstand to farmstand. Very few vendors (which is okay!). I still managed to nab the last of the blueberries, tomatoes, and happily nabbed apriums, pink-hued garlic, and tiny red onions. Which, btw, sat very pretty in my newest one-of-a-kind whitewashed bowl I found later that day.

But then, on our way to the parking lot, I spotted Maria from Fresh Harvest farm, a wonderful woman I met a year ago at Englewood farmers market with a farmstand I fell in love with. I was pretty much jumping for joy. Now I’m heading back with ubes (purple yams), lemongrass, young luffas, green onions that are a mmmaybe a few feet long, water spinach, and the most insanely beautiful ginger (or galangal!?) I’ve ever tasted. They are floral and delicate and I’m pretty sure it’s not ginger but galangal. Ginger’s cousin.

Who would think to enjoy a bowl of soup on a Florida afternoon? This girl. These ingredients were meant to cook slowly, together, with delicate rice noodles. I was going to top it with slices of Dan’s long hot green chili peppers that traveled with me from Brooklyn, but to make this heartier, I used them to spice up some roasted chickpeas, which is now officially how I’ll always top my rice noodle soups. The crunch is fannnntastic!

Let’s make the chickpeas first.

for the chickpeas
pre heat your oven to 400

-15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-1/2 tsp cumin seeds
-1 small green chili, sliced
-tbs lemon juice
-1/2 tsp grated galangal (optional)
-salt, to taste
-generous drizzle of olive oil

Place everything on a sheet pan, tossing so that the chickpeas or coated. Roast for about 20 minutes, or til the chickpeas have browned and crisped up.

Now for the rice noodle soup

-1 1/2 tbs garlic, 2-3 cloves, minced
-2 tbs galangal (or ginger), peeled and grated, about a couple of inches
-2 green onions, sliced, greens divided from whites
-1 oz dried shitake
-4 cups water
-4 cups veggie or beef stock
-5″ lemongrass, smashed
-about 2 cups trimmed water spinach, or regular spinach (optional)
-bean sprouts, sliced red onion, crispy chickpeas
-4 oz rice noodle, cooked separately, or 1-1 1/2oz per person
-salt and pepper, to taste

In a pot under medium heat, saute garlic, galangal, and the white ends of the green onions for a couple of minutes. You’re reserving the green, sliced tops for serving. Then add your stock, water, shitakes, and lemongrass. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or til mushrooms are fully hydrated. Spoon them out and slice.

Add water spinach as soon as you turn off the heat. At this point, give it a good taste. Feel free to add other flavors, such as soy sauce, chili pastes, fresh lime juice, etc. I kept mine simple and light. Keep in mind that the chickpeas are when an additional spice comes in.

Serve immediately as the chickpeas lose their crispiness over time when sitting in broth. Which shouldn’t be a problem. A bowl of this in front of anyone and it’s gone in minutes.

Next up…what I did with apriums, blueberries, and more galangal. Can’t wait! Right now, I’m just enjoying another bowl as I write up the recipe for the sweets.

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lentil and sweet plantain chorizo soup

June 23, 2019June 23, 2019by Crystal Rivera2 Comments

This was on the very top of my list of older recipes I needed to revisit. And since every new viewer lately has been turning to it, it was time for a new look.

Using odds and ends from the fridge, I whipped up something I had to jot down and share with you–right after putting the spoon down. It’s seriously GOOD. It’s also a reminder as to how my blog got its name. Cook with what you already have, with a sort of witchery, going with your gut and, how Frank O’Hara would put it, on your nerve.

This soup is a combination of spicy, savory, and sweet. You probably already have some of these ingredients at home and if not, it’s still pretty easy and inexpensive to get. Pick yellow plantains that are heavily black-spotted if you like them more on the sweet side like I do. Not entirely black, though. That kind of ripeness turns to mush when cooked.

We’re currently growing a lot of oregano, both Greek and Italian, and that’s the perfect herb to use when involving chorizo. I’ve found beautiful bundles of them at the farmers market yesterday so check out your local market, too. Garlic scapes went into this batch which made this even easier to put together. Yay to no peeling garlic cloves! I’m grateful for easy today seeing that I woke up with flu-like symptoms. I’m adding extra hot pepper to this baby in hopes it’ll heal me!

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Lentil and Sweet Plantain Chorizo Soup (serves 4)

-7 oz fresh chorizo, 2 links
-1 small onion, diced
-3 garlic cloves or garlic scapes, chopped
-1 large carrot, sliced
-1 corn on the cob, kernels only (optional)
-1/2 cup red lentils
-5 cups chicken broth (more depending on how brothy you like it)
-1 tsp fresh oregano
-1/4 tsp cumin
-1/4 tsp hot paprika or other red pepper
-1 sweet plantain, halved and sliced
-cilantro, handful, for serving
-sliced red cabbage, for serving (optional)
-salt n pepper to taste

Remove chorizo from its casing and crumble onto a skillet that’s under med-high heat. Stir and crumble some more with a wooden spoon. After about 8 minutes, remove crumbled chorizo from pan and place onto a paper towel to absorb some of it’s oil.

Return pan to medium heat and saute onions, garlic, and carrots for a couple of minutes. If there wasn’t enough chorizo oil left in the pan, use a little olive oil to saute them with. Now add your lentils, corn, broth, oregano, cumin and hot paprika. Simmer til lentils are cooked through. Add the sweet plantain and cilantro. Stir in the crumbled chorizo, cook for another 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Variations
If you don’t have (or don’t like!) chorizo, give hot Italian sausage a try. Want it to be a heartier bowl of soup? Serve it with avocado. And if you happen to have split peas but not red lentils, use that instead! I love how both lose their shape and become very much part of the broth.

Let me know what you think!