Soup
Best Lentil Soup
Summery soup featuring brown or green lentils, carrots, your favorite green, and a generous amount of lemon.
Tips and Tricks: Our immersion blender works wonders for this recipe. Just don't get carried away and blend too much of your soup!
Difficulty Rating: 4 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 1 hour
Source: Cookie + Kate
Caldo Verde (Portuguese Potato and Kale Soup With Sausage)
This broth-based soup with two types of potatoes brings winter warmth (in temp and slight spice).
Tips and Tricks: If you are low on time, cut up the potatoes and put them in the microwave for a few minutes (we recommend covered with a paper towel). Since they cook at different rates, the broth gets creamy from the starchy breakdown.
Difficulty Rating: 3 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 1 hour 15 min
Source: Serious Eats
Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup
Gooey Tex-Mex soup featuring black beans, diced tomatoes with green chilies, and sharp cheddar cheese.
Tips and Tricks: Easily sub vegetable broth and remove the chicken to make this a vegetarian option.
Difficulty Rating: 3 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 30 min
Source: Wishes n Dishes
Chicken Noodle Wonton Soup
Classic chicken noodle soup with upgraded homemade wontons stuffed with herby ground chicken.
Tips and Tricks: We opt for homemade wonton wrappers, but this soup recipe includes store-bought options found in the refrigerated section of the Chinese grocery store.
Difficulty Rating: 7 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 2 hours 30 min
Source: The Woks of Life
Chongqing Hot and Sour Glass Noodle Soup (suān là fěn)
Tasty, sizzling broth poured over raw veggies and sesame seeds.
Tips and Tricks: If using dried soybeans, be sure to soak them for about 3 hours. We have omitted them for our rendition and topped with roasted peanuts.
Difficulty Rating: 3 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 1 hour
Source: The Woks of Life
Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup
A twist on the Midwest-favorite, this soup has mushrooms, sweet potatoes, kale, and coconut milk.
Tips and Tricks: Although it's tasty, we infrequently make recipes with Old Bay Seasoning, so we prefer to use a copycat recipe.
Difficulty Rating: 5 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 1 hour 15 min
Source: Gimme Some Oven
Creamy Crack Chicken Soup
Certainly addicting, this cream-cheese based soup is great for gatherings.
Tips and Tricks: Add in carrots or other crowd favorites.
Difficulty Rating: 4 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 1 hour
Source: Diethood
.jpg)
Creamy Tuscan Garlic Tortellini Soup
Hearty tortellini soup with protein-filled white beans and leafy spinach.
Tips and Tricks: If you prefer to cook your chicken in place of the rotisserie chicken the recipe suggests, try using your standup mixer to effortlessly shred it! Homemade tortellini is also a game-changer (we use Serious Eats' classic fresh egg noodle pasta for the outside, and stuff it with whatever cheeses sound good that week).
Difficulty Rating: 6 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 3 hours
Source: The Recipe Critic
Easy Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Ever crave Olive Garden bottomless soup? This is our copycat recipe for their chicken gnocchi soup.
Tips and Tricks: If you don't have time to start the soup in the crockpot, simply cook the soup over the stove as you would any other creamy chicken soup.
Difficulty Rating: 3 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 6 hours (30 min active)
Source: Scrummy Lane
Healing Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup
Blended homemade tomato soup with a dash of red pepper.
Tips and Tricks: We reserve this recipe for summers - farmers market tomatoes and peppers are hard to beat. When broiling the peppers, don't be afraid to blacken them for extra yummy flavor.
Difficulty Rating: 4 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 45 min
Source: Robust Recipes
Kimchi Ramen With Shiitake Mushrooms and Soft-Cooked Egg Recipe
Quick version of a delicious bowl of ramen.
Tips and Tricks: We get pork belly from our local butcher shop and highly recommend trying Chashu Pork! Also try this homemade chili oil for drizzling!
Difficulty Rating: 6 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 45 min (without pork belly), 3 hour 45 min (with pork belly)
Source: Serious Eats
Pasta e Ceci (Italian Pasta and Chickpea Stew)
Tomato-y broth soup with short, hollow noodles and chickpeas.
Tips and Tricks: The pasta noodles will expand, so be careful not to over-add. We choose to add more broth and tomatoes to make it more like a soup and less like a stew.
Difficulty Rating: 2 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 30 min
Source: NYT Cooking
Sunday Chili
Chili simmered with bacon, topped with sour cream, avocado, and cheese.
Tips and Tricks: It sounds crazy, but dip and/or top with Doritos. You will thank us!
Difficulty Rating: 4 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 1 hour 30 min
Source: Pinch of Yum
Thai Curry Vegetable Soup
Sweet potatoes, wilted greens, vermicelli noodles, and lime juice shine in a red curry paste and coconut milk broth.
Tips and Tricks: We add chopped broccoli to supplement the bok choy greens. We also lightly sauté the red onion to remove some of the bite.
Difficulty Rating: 6 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 45 min
Source: Budget Bytes
Salads
Best Classic Cobb Salad
Crisp iceberg lettuce and salty bacon chunks paired with soft bleu cheese, creamy avocado, and other classic salad veggies.
Tips and Tricks: Sub any cheese and any dressing! We recommend grilled chicken from a charcoal grill and bacon cooked in the oven.
Difficulty Rating: 3 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 45 min
Source: Kitchn
Charred Broccoli With Manchego, Hazelnuts, and Honey Recipe
Salty, sweet, and nutty side dish. We like serving with a simple meat dish or easy sandwich.
Tips and Tricks: We try and buy hazelnuts in bulk (and look for sales whenever possible). If you can't find manchego, pecorino or another sharp, hard cheese will do.
Difficulty Rating: 2 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 30 min
Source: Serious Eats
Chicken Avocado Caprese Salad
Mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, and avocado with grilled chicken and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.
Tips and Tricks: Keeps best in the refrigerator if avocado and dressing are stored separately.
Difficulty Rating: 3 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 45 min
Source: Cafe Delites
Italian Chopped Salad
Think house salad with the addition of kalamata olives, peperoncini, and garbanzo beans topped with parm.
Tips and Tricks: Do yourself a favor and double check that your kalamata olives are pitted!
Difficulty Rating: 4 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 1 hour
Source: The Harvest Kitchen
Salad with Goat Cheese, Pears, Candied Pecans and Maple-Balsamic Dressing
The closest thing to a dessert salad while still featuring greens.
Tips and Tricks: Add grilled chicken or another protein for a more filling meal.
Difficulty Rating: 3 out of 10
Time it Takes Us: 45 min
Source: Two Healthy Kitchens
