Cozy soups and stews for chilly weeknights

Hey, hungry friend. The clocks changed and it gets dark before dinner now, which means soup season is officially open. Three pots this week, each done in 45 minutes or less and hearty enough to call dinner.

This week’s dinners

• Smoky black bean taco soup with crispy tortilla strips: 40 min, serves 4, about 25 g protein per serving. It tastes like taco night in a bowl, and the leftovers get even better.

• Miso ginger udon soup with tofu and mushrooms: 30 min, serves 4, about 30 g protein per serving. It is a big, steamy bowl of comfort that comes together faster than takeout.

• Pasta e lenticchie (Italian lentil and pasta stew): 45 min, serves 4, about 26 g protein per serving. One pot, cheap pantry staples, and it eats like a big bowl of Italian comfort.

Pantry check: black beans, textured vegetable protein (TVP), brown lentils, white miso, vegetable broth.

Mash a cup to thicken any soup

Thin, watery soup is usually a texture problem, not a flavor problem. Scoop out about a cup of beans with a little broth, mash it hard with a fork or blitz it in a blender, then stir it back in. The starch from the broken beans thickens the whole pot in about 5 minutes, no flour or cream needed. It is the move in this week’s taco soup, and it works on any bean or lentil soup that feels a little thin.

Reader question: How do I make soup creamy without dairy?

You have more options than you think. For a neutral, silky body, blend in a block of silken tofu or a handful of soaked raw cashews with some of the hot broth. For something richer, a can of full-fat coconut milk is great in curry-leaning soups. Potatoes and white beans blend into creamy soups too, and they make the pot more filling. Whatever you pick, blend it smooth with a little broth first and stir it in near the end.

See you Sunday,
Hungry Vegan

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