Valley Bounty: Soup

We’ve been well into the clutches of “deep” winter for a few weeks now. It’s been so cold recently that I was delighted to leave my apartment this morning to a positively balmy 17°F. Making it through the frigid cold we’ve experienced recently with enough warmth and sanity to persevere can be made somewhat easier, I think, by properly nourishing oneself with warming foods—and it’s hard to make any list of warming foods that doesn’t have soup right at the top.

I make a lot of soups this time of year because it satisfies both my desire for food that warms me up and my habit of prepping a big batch of food on Sunday so I can eat something healthy quickly and easily throughout the week. I usually start with homemade chicken or beef broth, but several local farms have great homemade broth for sale if you want to pick some up at the farmers’ market. Lately I’ve been enjoying a simple soup of kale, sweet potatoes, and sausage (I think something spicy adds a nice element), all of which are easy to find locally all winter long. I’ll usually serve it with a scoop of yogurt or sour cream and a slice of crusty bread.

Valley Bounty is written by Brian Snell of CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture)