What’s for dinner? It is the eternal question and, nationwide, the “I’m out of ideas” face can be spotted on folks wandering the grocery store in search of inspiration.
While even chefs sometimes get “dinner block,” there is an advantage to having a library of tricks and techniques at your disposal. And as the weather grows cool and the days grow short, top chefs look to their most coveted culinary secret: soup.
You can make soup out of anything. Which, OK, is not exactly a secret, but sometimes we need a reminder that soup is the very best, ultimate winner in the most important categories. Quick and easy? Check! Perfect make-ahead item? Check. Slow-cooker friendly? Double check! Delicious and satisfying on its own, or paired with sandwiches or salad? Check, check, check.
But just because soup is easy, it doesn’t mean you necessarily know what kind of soup you want to make, so the students at The Culinary Institute of America are here to nudge you in the right direction. We challenged Chef Martin Matysik’s Advanced Cooking class to develop a user-friendly soup that will help jumpstart your weekly meal planning. And boy, did they deliver.