By Pam Ohno
What’s the Soup Exchange? Before Top Chef and all those other competitive celebrity cooking shows, there was the Soup Exchange. It’s like a cookie exchange, only much better.
For those unfamiliar, the concept is simple, yet challenging. Eight people make eight quarts of soup, seven to swap and one to taste. The best soup wins a prize and the cook is honored as “Soup Queen” for the year. Our soup exchange is going on ELEVEN years now and we are kind of celebrities around PV in our own minds. It’s amazing we have all managed to stay friends for that long.
As a two-time not-so-humble champion, I am the self-appointed spokesperson for the group. Even after my crushing defeat this year, I am sort-of happy to share this year’s winning recipe for Swedish Meatball Soup from Kristi Mansouri. While not an original Soup Girl, Kristi gradually worked her way to the top, and narrowly defeated Catherine Snowden’s Coconut Curry Chicken Soup in last night’s thrilling finish. See the recipes below:
First Place: Swedish Meatball Soup (Kristi Mansouri)
http://www.carlsbadcravings.com/swedish-meatball-noodle-soup/
Second Place: Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup (Catherine Snowden)
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/coconut-curry-chicken-soup
Third Place: Chicken Tortilla Soup from the Pioneer Woman (Lucy Miller)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/chicken-tortilla-soup/
Did not place but still tasted good:
- Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup (Patti Ann Farrar)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/roasted-eggplant-and-tomato-soup-recipe.html
-throw in grilled cheese croutons - Creamy Coconut Cauliflower Soup (Laurie Davidson) – only 262 calories per serving!
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/creamy-coconut-cauliflower-soup/ - Could Be Carrabba’s Italian Lentil Soup (Chanda Martin)
http://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/recipes-could-be-carrabbas-italian-lentil-soup-and-sesame-chicken/ - Miso and Green Curry Ramen with Shitake and Chicken (Ann Fishman)
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/425942077234523759/
– Added 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 ½ tsp green curry paste, substitute chicken stock for water - Smoky Minestrone with Tortellini and Pesto (Pam Ohno), I can’t believe this one didn’t win
https://food52.com/recipes/4661-smoky-minestrone-with-tortellini-and-parsley-or-basil-pesto
This is great time of year to hold your own Soup Exchange. Just make sure to invite really good friends who are willing to make eight quarts of soup, because it takes much longer than you think. The unreliable and lame need not apply. Even though it’s a competition, remember that you get to take home seven quarts of really great homemade soup. There really are no losers in a Soup Exchange.
Read more about our Soup Exchange in my humble-brag here:
http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/winter2012/purpleprose/index.html
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What a fun tradition! Well done ladies – keep it going.