Melissa Clark (3:01)

I think the lentil soup that I grew up with, maybe a lot of us grew up with, I don't know if this is true of your childhood as well, was a brown lentil soup or a black lentil soup. It was very thick, it was very hearty and very dense. And this is a much lighter brothier soup. And it also has the lemon. So it has a brightness and flavor as well as a lightness and texture, which I think isn't necessarily what people think of when they think of lentil soup. I know for me, it was a whole new thing.

Alison Stewart (3:30)

Well, I know that's my Friday night plan, is making this soup, but during the week, I don't have a ton of time. What's an example of a solid weeknight soup that won't take up too much time?

Melissa Clark (3:43)

Oh, there are so many great soups. I love to make a miso soup when I'm really pressed for time because miso has so much flavor in and of itself. And so if you just take, you know, a good, high quality miso paste and mix it with a little bit of water, that is your broth, and you can just put anything in there. You can throw in baby spinach, you can throw in an egg and let it just cook right in that broth. Sliced mushrooms, or if you don't want to slice, maybe just torn pieces of tofu. And that gives it protein and makes it a little bit more satisfying. You could put cabbage in there. You could put coleslaw mix if you have that in the fridge. It's so versatile. So that is, I would say, just have some miso in your fridge. And it is this instant freedom for soups all week long.

WNYC Host (4:31)

You wrote an article recently about transforming.

Alison Stewart (4:34)

Three dishes into soup.

WNYC Host (4:36)

Hummus, bean salad, and pasta pesto.

Alison Stewart (4:41)

How did you get the idea to make different dishes into soup?

Melissa Clark (4:45)

You know, it's funny because I love to change the form of something. I love to take a popular dish and just turn it on its head a little bit. And for this article, I got the idea because I had been seeing Italian dishes turned into soup like lasagna soup, right now is a. Have you, have you come across a lasagna soup yet?

Alison Stewart (5:05)

I have seen it.

WNYC Host (5:07)

Not in the wild, but I've seen it on the Instagram.

Melissa Clark (5:09)

Exactly. It's like all over my Instagram and I'm like, lasagna soup, okay. But then to me it seemed like pesto, pasta pesto would be a more natural soup. Adding a little bit of pesto to soup is actually pretty traditional. Or in France you add something called a pistou, which is the French version of a pesto. And it adds so much flavor. And what's great about it is you want that brightness, you know, that basil, that garlic, that oomph in the middle of winter when things are so cold and gray and you just stir in some store bought pesto that you just buy. It just makes everything brighter. And so this soup was kind of. I took all of those influences and just turned it into a soup. And then I added some orzo. So the pasta is orzo, because that's a great soup pasta. And then I added some ground turkey again just to give it a, to make it more of a meal. And some baby spinach and just threw that together. And it's. So it's. That one is actually you could do that on the weekend. That one is on the week, during the week. That one is pretty after work friendly. It goes fast. Quick question.

WNYC Host (6:10)

You said orzo is good soup pasta. What makes something a good soup pasta? What makes it not the greatest pasta for soup?

Melissa Clark (6:19)

I mean, just imagine slurping spaghetti out of a soup. I mean, I know that's ramen and I know that is, you know, a tradition. It's a specific thing. But with, I think specifically with pesto, I wanted something that you could just would stay in the spoon, sort of discreetly in the spoon. And also you can get it makes it thick. A thing about orzo, as opposed to say spaghetti is because they're small, they shed a lot of the starch, you know, into the broth. And so they will actually thicken a soup broth the way a longer pasta won't necessarily do that or bigger pastas won't do that. So for me, they make it. They're easy to eat, they cook quickly, and they just give you this nice texture on the broth, which I love. Almost like rice, except that, you know, pasta a little chewier, which I love.

WNYC Host (7:09)

My guest is Melissa Clark, New York Times food writer and recipe columnist. It's cold outside. So we are talking soup. And we're also hearing from you in our small Stakes. Big opinion series. What is the best soup? And Our number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Let's talk to Tracy in Highland Park. Hi, Tracy. How are you?

Caller (7:34)

Hi. I didn't know that Melissa was going to be on today, and it's actually a New York Times recipe that I'm calling in about.

WNYC Host (7:41)

All right, perfect.

Caller (7:43)

It's a creamy spinach artichoke articulation chicken soup.

WNYC Host (7:51)

Okay.

Caller (7:51)

And it tastes like spinach artichoke dip.

WNYC Host (7:53)

Ah, there's the magic words.

Melissa Clark (7:56)

See, there we go. There we go. We're turning a dip into a soup. It's that same exact instinct. You take a dish that you love, and you. You make it brothy. You make it some warming for winter. I, you know, I know that recipe, and it is a great one. It's absolutely great because it's so creamy, but it's so much lighter than a spinach artichoke dip.

WNYC Host (8:14)

All right, we got a text that says for vegetarians, creamy coconut chickpea stew. Yum. That's from Annie from the Upper west side. Portuguese sausage, kale potato soup. Gets my vote. I think they mean linguista is what they're talking about. Bright flavors and quick to cook. That's a great one. Let's talk to Miguel from Queens. Hi, Miguel. Thanks for calling, all of it.

Caller (8:37)

Thank you for having that. You guys doing.

WNYC Host (8:39)

We're doing all right.

Caller (8:41)

I am surprised that in New York City, they did not mention Sancocho, the Dominican. The main Dominican dish. It was once served to Queen Elizabeth when she visited Dominican Republic. It is a very hearty soup with every single ingredient you can find. We love it.

WNYC Host (8:58)

You mentioned it, Miguel. It belongs to you. Thanks so much for calling in. I want to ask you a question. I literally had this conversation the other day with a friend. We were talking about broth. We were talking about stock for soup. Then we were talking about, well, what's bone broth? Can you explain the difference between broth, bone, broth, and stock?

Melissa Clark (9:22)

Yes. You know, it's. They overlap, and the definitions are not. They're not set. You know, they're so. They're changeable. So people will use bone, broth, stock, and just broth interchangeably. But I think they are three different. Well, I think they're two different things. I would. I would argue. And again, this is, you know, different. People see it differently. But from my perspective, broth and stock are the same thing. They're just two different words for what you get when you simmer it can be vegetables and bones, vegetables and meat, just plain vegetables, or even just garlic, just anything. Or when you're simmering aromatics to get a flavorful liquid, I would call that stock broth. Bone broth is a specific subcategory of those two things. For bone broth, you need to use bones, and you need to use bones and let the broth simmer for long enough with a little bit of acid, some sort of acidic ingredient, usually a little bit of vinegar or sometimes a little bit of wine in the pot to dissolve some of the collagen. You know, if you've ever made broth, you know how you put chicken or beef in there, and there's little bits of collagen, like little bits of sinew and things sticking to those bones. All of that needs to dissolve into the broth, and that's what makes it bone broth. Because you have all that, all those dissolved nutrients in the broth, which you get, you'll often get in regular broth and regular stock. But for bone broth, you are specifically looking to get that protein content, that nutrient content, and that body. Bone broths tend to be thick into the. Into your soup pot.

WNYC Host (11:03)

Raina has texted this question directly to you. Melissa. Melissa Clark. Are red lentils the same as red split peas?

Melissa Clark (11:14)

I think they are. I think they are. They're a type of dal. So I think you will see them as. So they're split lentils. I mean, I'm not sure if they're peas. I think they're labeled similarly. But so they're a legume, and they're a lentil or a dal that's been split, so they're peeled. And when you peel a lentil, they tend to fall apart into two pieces. So that makes them split very naturally. And because they're peeled and because they split, they cook really quickly. So if you look at a red lentil, it's like this teeny, weedy little disc. And when you add water to that and you start to simmer it, it will cook in like 20, 30 minutes. It doesn't need a long time. If you have a whole lentil or an unpeeled lentil or say a pea, like a dried green pea, it will take much longer. It could take. Or like a chickpea, for example, which, when it's not split, it could take an hour or more to cook. So a red lentil is always split. It's always peeled. And I think it might be called a split red pea. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd see it marketed that way.

WNYC Host (12:19)

My guest is Melissa Clark, New York Times food reporter and recipe columnist. It's cold outside, so we're talking soup. And we're also hearing from you as part of our Small Steaks Big Opinion series. What is the best soup and why? Our phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. After the break, we'll talk about vegetables, using noodles and how to get rid of all that stuff in your refrigerator.

Alison Stewart (12:56)

You're listening to all of it on wnyc. We're talking soup. That would be me, Alison Stewart, and my guest, Melissa Clark, New York Times food reporter and recipe columnist. And we are talking to you. We're asking you to tell us what your favorite soup is and why. Here are some texts. Melissa. African sweet potato. African sweet potato carrot chickpea soup with peanut butter and coconut milk. It's so good it makes people cry.

Melissa Clark (13:24)

That sounds amazing. I want that recipe.

Alison Stewart (13:27)

This says my favorite soup is chicken matzo ball. Not difficult. You just have to make sure you have the following dill, it's in giant letters with an exclamation point, parsnips, turnips, carrots, onions, celery and add a whole chicken and let her boil low, bubble, simmer, couple of hours. Then you make your matzo balls according to the package. No need for bouillon or store bought stock. The most flavorable soup. Enjoy. I do want to ask about we, you know, we do a little sort of like getting people ready and checking out their voice on sound check. And we asked you about your clean the fridge soup. What is your clean the fridge soup?

Melissa Clark (14:07)

So I was asked what my favorite soup is. And I was talking, I was talking about a soup that I just made a couple of days ago. And I call it, you know, the clean out the fridge soup. And I think a lot of people have their own versions of clean out the fridge dishes. You know, clean out the fridge frittata or clean out the fridge pasta. Clean out the fridge stir fry is a big one, but mine is clean out the fridge soup. And I always have random root vegetables in my fridge because I belong to a csa. So I get like a box of produce from, from the farm. And often I'll get like one giant turnip the size of my head and a leek. And you know, all these herbs. And so I love to make a soup just using all of that. And what I do is I base it on a potato leek soup, which is one of my Favorites, because it's just the leeks just make it so sweet and delicious. And so I saute a bunch of leeks to start, and then to that, I just add whatever I have. And the other day, so I had this giant turnip. I had a kohlrabi. I had two parsnips kind of shriveled. They've been sitting there for a while. And some potatoes, and I just put it all. And celery. I used celery because I wanted the. I love the flavor of celery in soups. And I threw it all in the pot. I let it simmer, added a little bit of butter, and when it was nice and soft, I pureed it with all of the wilty herbs that I had left over from different recipes. I had some parsley, I had some cilantro, and I had some thyme. And I threw it all in, and I pureed, including the stems, and just let you know, just took the immersion blender and went were. And I ended up with this delicious, sweet, speckly green soup. And then what I. What my secret thing that I do with soups, whenever I make a soup that's sweet and lovely but needs a little bit of a kick, I make some kind of spice oil. So for this one, I heated up whole cumin seeds with olive oil and thinly sliced garlic and chili. Just, like a red pepper flakes. Let it toast the garlic and toast the spices. And then right before serving, I pour, like, little drizzles of that into every bowl with some flaky salt. And it just makes it just this really lovely, garlicky, spicy contrast to the sweet, soothing soup. We absolutely love it. I will never make it again. It's one of those soups. You make it once. That's it. It can never be replicated.

Alison Stewart (16:27)

We got this. Texas says chicken and dumplings.

WNYC Host (16:30)

My favorite.

Alison Stewart (16:31)

This is a question for you.

WNYC Host (16:33)

Can your soup expert please finally definitively solve the eternal question? Is chili a soup?

Melissa Clark (16:42)

Oh, gosh. That's like. Is a hot dog a sandwich?

WNYC Host (16:45)

There you go.

Melissa Clark (16:46)

Is brownie a cookie or brownie's a cookie? I think that it could be whatever you want it to be if you add enough broth. Sure, it could be a chili soup, but I would. I think that chili is inherently a stew, so. And our stews, soups, again, it depends on how much broth you have. So my answer would be no, But I know there are people out there who would disagree with me, and that's fine, too.

WNYC Host (17:08)

This text says Slovak sauerkraut Soup warming, zingy, easy. It's considered a hangover cure. I also think it cures cabin fever. I wanted to ask you about another one on your website, which is incredibly popular on the New York Times website, is your lemony white bean soup with turkey and greens. It's got five stars, over 20,000 ratings. What do you like about this combination?

Melissa Clark (17:35)

That's, you know, it's funny, you never know what's. What recipe is going to be the hit. You know, you. I create so many recipes and I'm like, oh, everyone's going to love this one. But then it's this other one, this white bean turkey soup with greens. It's such a simple recipe. It's so good. But I didn't think it would hit the way it has. And I don't know why. I don't know why. I know. I will tell you that I love it. I make it. It's one of the few recipes I actually follow because it's. It's just. It just works. It's just really easy. My guess is it's the combination of the tomato paste and the cumin, and together they really just make the turkey and the broth just so aromatic. It's not a lot of work, not a lot of chopping. And then you can add whatever greens or whatever beans you have. So it's very flexible. So I think that's probably why it's such a popular recipe. And it's very hearty, too. It's almost like a stew. It's got just, you know, your one pot meal, your protein, your greens, your beans, and tons of flavor.

Alison Stewart (18:33)

Let's take a few more calls. Susan from Staten Island. Hi, Susan. Thank you for taking the time to call. All of it.

Caller (18:40)

Oh, hi. I hope you can help me. My mother used to make a potato soup that was not creamed because my father would not eat anything that was a creamed soup. And I know she used canned tomatoes and I assume she used celery and onion, but when I tried to do. When I asked her for the recipe, by the time I asked her for the recipe, she told me she had forgotten it. And as I tried to duplicate it, it just doesn't taste the same. So I was wondering if you had any suggestions.

Melissa Clark (19:09)

What was the texture like?

Caller (19:11)

Well, it was a clear broth. It was made with water and I assume maybe the juice from the tomato, the canned tomatoes and pieces of potato in the soup with some pieces of the potato and the tomato, pieces of that.

Melissa Clark (19:29)

Wow, it sounds really good and really unusual. I Don't know that I.

Caller (19:32)

Wonderful.

Melissa Clark (19:33)

Yeah. I don't know if I've ever made a soup like that. You know, I don't know because I've never tasted it, so I couldn't tell you. But what I would do is I would probably. And you said she made it with water, not with broth, right?

Alison Stewart (19:49)

I believe so, because it was.

Melissa Clark (19:51)

Yeah, I think probably more water, fewer tomatoes, and more salt. I mean, I think that that's probably. Maybe salt is the missing. Missing thing here.

Alison Stewart (20:01)

Yeah.

Melissa Clark (20:01)

If she's not using broth, you'd be surprised how much salt you need to add. And I think for. I know for a lot of home cooks, it can be off putting to actually put like an entire, you know, tablespoon of salt into something. But that might be the thing that makes it right. If you just keep increasing the amount of liquid to keep it brothy, but also the amount of salt to keep it balanced. You know, I'm going to try this. I'm going to try to make this soup because now I'm inspired. So thank you for this great idea. Watch the New York Times. Maybe we'll be able to publish it. And what's your mom's name? I'll name it after her.

Caller (20:34)

Mary.

Melissa Clark (20:35)

Mary. Okay, there you go. Mary's Tomato Potato Soup.

Alison Stewart (20:39)

Let's talk to Sharon from Middlesex, New Jersey. Hi, Sharon. You just made soup.

Caller (20:43)

Hi. Hi. Oh, my gosh. I love your show. I never miss it. And thank you for what you do, mentioning the soup. Someone just mentioned the African one. A couple people previously. I made that, and it was easy and so delicious. We just kept making it over and over. And I did hear that someone mentioned that African soup.

Alison Stewart (21:03)

They sure did. They said it was. It made people cry. I believe that's what she said. Before we go. We're getting close to the end. Melissa, what soup would you make for this week? This is a week of single digits. When you wake up, doesn't get above 20. What would you suggest?

Melissa Clark (21:21)

Oh, you know, I'm. I'm craving. I'm craving something with a lot of spice right now. In fact, I've been thinking about this a lot. Just because it's so cold and it's not going to warm up at all like you said, for the next few days. So I'm thinking maybe of a. A soup stew, like maybe a kimchi jiggae. So a soup that has lots of kimchi and it's a Korean recipe. I know we have plenty of. I think we have several versions of a kimchi jiggae on our website at near NYT Cooking. I know there's one with pork bones which I think is the one pork ribs actually. So you know, meaty pork ribs just gonna be very hearty soup. But we also have a tofu one. We have vegetarian versions. And what I love about a jiggae is the way that I love the softness of the cabbage, the kimchi and the cabbage. To me it adds texture and then you've got that lovely spicy flavor, but it's not too spicy. I love it served over rice, which is traditional. And that is what I'm thinking of making for this weekend. So if that helps you all the listeners out, I hope so. I hope it's a good one for them.

Alison Stewart (22:25)

Melissa Clark, New York Times Food Reporter and Recipe Calmness it's always great to talk to you Melissa.

Melissa Clark (22:31)

Great to talk to you. Thanks for having me.

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