Hi everyone,
Hope you’re having a wonderful week! Even though it’s still been 90 degrees here in LA, I’m starting to feel the fall vibes (mostly from seeing all the Halloween candy on the shelves at the store lol).
Something shifts for me after Labor Day. It finally starts to feel like a new season, and I get excited to revisit recipes I haven’t made in a while. I also start craving soup, which is one of my favorite things to eat this time of year.
So today I’m sharing my three all-time favorite soups. If I had to pick just three from every soup recipe I’ve ever made, these are the ones I’d choose. They’re the recipes I come back to again and again, and I’m so excited to share them with you!
But first, here’s a recipe for my grandpa’s Korean pickled radishes. They explode with flavor and are the kind of thing I can never stop eating. I love having a jar in my fridge, and I hope you give them a try!
As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:
Thank you so much for your support!
What I Cooked Last Week! ↓
Grandpa’s Korean pickled radishes
A simple and healthy snack we’ve been making in my family for years and years. The radishes explode with flavor from the inside out.
You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)
Sicilian Shaved Melon Salad
I had this salad on my trip to Sicily, and it was so simple but mind-blowingly good. Sweet melon and fresh mint with crunchy pistachios and a bright lemon dressing, on the table in 15 minutes.
Banana Pudding Tiramisu
An easy and delicious spin on the classic, with layers of coffee-dipped ladyfingers, banana pudding, mascarpone cream, and fresh banana. Hope you love this one!
My Starting Soup Lineup 🍲
I’ve made a lot of soups over the years, but these are the three I keep coming back to. Which one I make really just depends on the mood I’m in…
When I’m feeling like something hearty and comforting:
This is my mom’s pastina soup with basil chicken meatballs, and it’s pure comfort. You start with basil chicken meatballs, which you just bake on a sheet tray and then add straight to the soup, so there’s no standing over a pan browning them. The broth is a simple chicken base built on onion and garlic, and then in goes the pastina, those tiny star-shaped pasta. If you can’t find it, feel free to sub any other little pasta or orzo. At the very end you stir in escarole, which is a slightly bitter green, and you want to cook it just until it wilts so it keeps a little crunch. It adds such a fresh finish to a soup that’s otherwise so cozy. Plenty of Parmesan on top, always.
You can find the recipe here.
When I’m feeling like something healthy and nourishing:
My favorite healthy lentil soup has been on repeat in my house for over ten years now. I always come back to it because it’s so easy to make and it just feels good to eat. You build it with onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, then add a bunch of warm, flavorful spices (cumin, turmeric, and thyme) before the lentils go in. At the end you mix in baby spinach, which turns bright green, and finish with lemon so it has a fresh, tangy pop. It also reheats beautifully, so I usually make it knowing I’ll be happy about leftovers all week.
You can find the recipe here.
When I’m feeling like something spicy and nostalgic:
My grandpa’s Korean soup is one of the dishes he always made when he came to visit. My grandparents lived in San Diego when I was growing up and we were up in Orinda, in the East Bay near San Francisco. Whenever they made the drive up, they would cook something incredible, and this soup was always in the rotation.
Last year my mom and I finally perfected the recipe. The version we had written down never felt quite right, so we worked on it together until it tasted the way I remembered it.
It’s packed with vegetables: a ton of daikon radish, a whole bunch of scallions, and lots of bean sprouts, plus beef and garlic. The heat comes from gochujang, a Korean red pepper paste, and gochugaru, a Korean chili pepper powder. Then there are eight eggs beaten into the soup at the end, which adds even more protein. If this one is in my fridge, I’m genuinely excited to keep eating the leftovers. It’s spicy and nourishing and tastes like my childhood.
You can find the recipe here.
One honorary mention that’s just as nostalgic for me: my grandpa’s jjigae, a hearty Korean stew, which is in my cookbook on page 68.
So there you have it, my top three soups for fall and the ones I come back to year after year. I hope you try them out!
I’m also starting to think about new soup recipes to create this fall, so if there’s a favorite you think I should make, please let me know. I’m always looking for inspiration!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Love,
Maxine