snow. soup. snow. repeat.

With all this freezing weather, I've been on a bit of a soup kick. Kurt has solidified his role as pasta master in our house, so I'm hoping to lock down soups as my specialty. Plus, they usually only require some chopping and simmering to get a meal on the table. Bone warming. Easy. Quick! Here are a few of my current favorites that have been in rotation:

[Purple] Carrot Soup     I used this recipe for Coconut Carrot Soup but didn't bother with the coconut flakes. Kurt found some purple carrots* at our local food co-op which gave the soup that awesome color. Next time I might add some cream or not-light coconut milk to give it a little more heft. We've also made it once and sprinkled in some bacon after pureeing (LOVE my immersion blender, btw). You really can't go wrong with bacon :) 

*Did you know carrots weren't always orange?! Apparently they used to come in all sorts of shades (red, yellow, purple etc) until the Dutch bred them to match their national color. Now it's really hard to find the other colors! 

**Also, don't peel your carrots. Most of the nutrients live in the outer layers of the skin, so just give them a good scrub before chopping.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili     I started with this recipe as my inspiration for quantities, but used sweet potatoes instead of butternut squash, sour cream instead of yogurt, and added some chicken sausage. I also used cumin instead of coriander and oregano. I think I will use more black beans next time because they get lost in the mix. It's pretty tasty and made a ton, so I'll be eating it all week for lunch. It's great paired with cornbread.

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Sausage and Kale Orecchiette Soup     This soup is so tasty but so surprisingly easy. Kurt and I eat an obnoxious amount of kale salads at our house, so this is a nice way to mix it up. I made it once and added white beans to make it more filling, but I like it better without. It's a pretty solid meal on it's own.

So that is what we've been eating to survive the winter. Do you have any favorite soup recipes? I'd love to add some new recipes to our rotation.