Fresh Soup Recipes Perfect for Fall

   by Hope Loman Rowan Public Library       

            As we say goodbye to summer and the fall season approaches, there’s nothing better to warm you up on a cold night than a hearty soup or stew.  Food historians say that people have been eating soup for as long as there has been a recorded history of cooking (which goes back as far as 20,000 BC!); and why not, when it’s so healthy, filling, and easy to make?

The word soup is French in origin, and has roots from both the Latin phrase “bread soaked in broth” and the Germanic word “sop,” or a bread that soaks up soup or stew. Soups have long been used as sustenance for sick individuals, a tradition that stretches back to the 16th century when vendors would sell soup as an antidote to exhaustion in the streets.  Soups have only increased in popularity here in the United States as immigrants have shared recipes from their homeland with their new American neighbors, and Doctor John Dorrance of the Campbell Soup Company began canning his tomato, cream of mushroom, and chicken noodle soups in 1897.

            If I’ve whetted your appetite, then the Rowan Public Library is your one-stop soup recipe resource. Soup’s On! Sixty Hearty Soups You Can Stand Your Spoon In offers a wide range of soups to make, from a traditional tomato soup to a North Carolina-style fish chowder, with details on making soup stock instead of using canned versions. Lee Bailey’s Soup Meals is also a good starting point, as it promises 32 soup recipes, complete with complimentary appetizers, breads, and desserts to go along with each. If you entertain a vegetarian lifestyle, be sure to check out Love Soup by Anna Thomas, who gives recipes for meat-free soups (most of which are also vegan-friendly) that are still just as filling as their counterparts. Stop by the library any time this fall to get a copy of these and other great recipe books and get cooking!

Can’t get to the library before dinner time? No Fear!  The NC Digital Library has several great cookbooks devoted to soups--download them to your device before you make your meal, and you can have the recipe you need on hand without needing to flip or weigh down pages. New England Soup Factory Cookbook brings more than 100 recipes straight from Boston to your table, from standards like beef and barley and split pea to new innovations like butternut squash soup with Calvados (for the culinary ignorant like myself, that is a kind of French apple brandy). Both 50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker and The Slow Cooker Cookbook are also handy if you like your meal waiting for you at home at the end of the day. Even more are available to you online, so don’t be afraid to log on!

With these resources, you can now have effortlessly delicious soups for supper at home, lunch for work, or when fighting that inevitable nasty cold. Summer might be ending, but now you can look forward to the new, delicious season ahead!