Chicken Khao Soi (ข้าวซอย)

Khao Soi is a delicious chicken soup, with history in Laos and northern Thailand. As you may have noticed recently, we’ve been in love with Thai food as an indulgent take-out choice over the past few months. Khao Soi translates to “cut rice” in Thai, but we decided to leave noodles out of this dish. We tried making this a few different ways, and noticed that the noodles increased “splash” factor (which increased 1000x every time I had on a white dress shirt), but didn’t add to the flavor. Our favorite method to add “noodles” was to use zoodles (like in our chicken zoodle soup)—right at the last few minutes of cooking so they would not be too soggy.

We think you’ll love this recipe as a change of pace for your soup routine. As the weather is cooling rapidly here, this spicy soup is fantastic for staying healthy (thanks, turmeric) and satisfied. We’ve mixed some of the traditional toppings from the Laotian and Thai versions, because pork rinds.

Let us know how you like this Khao Soi in the comments, and keep on cooking.

Cream of Celery Soup

Creamed soups are a fairly regular staple in our house, ranging from mushroom soup to curried carrot soup. Even in warm weather, we enjoy the variety of a good soup. Growing up, the only cream of celery soup I could recall came from a Campbell’s soup can—and when it was used, it was part of a stew or casserole. That being said, I was curious if I could make a cream of celery soup that could stand on its own.

I’m happy to report that cream of celery soup is delicious. Heather was fine with me making this for part of another recipe (coming soon), but didn’t think it would have a lot of flavor. To my surprise, she was a big fan. We are adding this to the list of things she previously didn’t enjoy, including: brussels sprouts, asparagus, mushrooms, onions, and the list goes on.

Salmorejo (Cold Spanish Tomato Soup)

Salmorejo is a cold tomato soup like gazpacho, but it is richer in flavor and more pinkish-orange in color because it is traditionally made by puréeing bread soaked in water with the tomatoes. Rather than learning to bake a paleo-friendly baguette, we decided to replace the bread with unsalted cashews.

Cock-a-leekie Soup

Chicken soup is a staple meal that seems to exist in every culture, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see that the Scottish also have a great, and unique, chicken soup–cock-a-leekie soup. Traditionally, it has been made with barley (or rice) rather than potato, but this substitution does not take away from the taste.

Known by some as Scotland’s national soup, cock-a-leekie soup may have roots in French cuisine. As far as I’m concerned, I could care less who came up with this great soup. It’s hearty, filling, and really easy to throw together. For now, this will take the place of our chicken noodle soup. At least, for a little while.

Grandma Dean’s Oyster Stew

Oyster stew is one of the few things that I normally refused to eat growing up—until I was in college, I was confident that oysters were the last thing I should ever eat. Thankfully I’ve lost that perspective, and Heather and I go out for raw oysters fairly regularly at a local raw bar happy hour. This recipe is based off of my late Grandma Dean’s, who I remember for infamously “teaching me my first word: mine.”

Oyster stew is a big tradition in many households, and has roots in the Americas going back to the late 19th Century. Dishes like this one are especially popular for those who celebrate a meatless dinner on Christmas Eve—you may know Italian families that celebrate the Festa dei sette pesci, or Feast of the Seven Fishes. This is an amazing fresh first dish for a meatless dinner, a special occasion, or a light yet savory treat.