Funny how a photograph that we intend to be perfectly normal can turn out to be mighty strange-looking. This is a picture of the wonderful vegetable soup that I eat almost every single day for lunch . . . and it comes in the kind of tall styrofoam cup from which one might drink a large shake. But something about the angle of this photo with the street in the background makes it look like I’ve filled one of those plastic kid’s swimming pools with soup. This is some of the best soup I have ever eaten in my life, but even I wouldn’t seriously consider swimming in it. But eat it? I do so every day, and gladly.
I buy it at a little place on the north side of Kenosha called The Soup Depot. From the outside, it looks like nothing special at all – but they make the kind of soup that your grandma might have made for you. And this vegetable soup- which they serve every day but Tuesday- is the best of all. One of these days I need to try and count how many different kinds of vegetables are in it . . . and there are at least a couple that I can’t even name . . . and they blend together just perfectly. And for me, it’s a terrific way for me to catch up on my vegetables, which have never been the centerpiece of my diet. My typical lunch these days consists of a quick stop at Subway for my standard 6-inch turkey sub – and then I swing by the Soup Depot (which is right on my way to Carthage) and grab a bowl of this vegetable soup (for $3.11) – – – and am happily satisfied for the rest of the day. And once in awhile, if I am really hungry and know that there will be no chance for a quick mid-afternoon treat and/or a particularly late supper, I opt for the quart of soup for $6. What is especially interesting is that I find myself craving this soup the way I used to crave Big Macs or Whoppers- – – and on Tuesdays, when they inexplicably don’t serve vegetable soup, I always find myself in a bit of a funk and can hardly wait for Wednesday to roll around so I can indulge myself again. How weird is that?!?!
What is it about soup that makes us feel so good? That takes us back to simpler days? One doesn’t even have to be eating something basic like Chicken Noodle or Tomato. Even if we’re eating some sort of rather exotic concoction like Carrot Ginger Soup or Corn & Bacon Chowder, it still feels like the stuff of home.
My soup hall of fame:
Stewps- That’s not a misprint. This is a place in Milwaukee that serves a rotating menu of soups and stews – including some of the most incredible and fascinating combinations ever created. The chef who created the place (who is no longer there) graduated from the CIA – as in the Culinary Institute of America, which is maybe America’s premiere cooking school. ( I interviewed the guy once on the morning show.) Kathy and I have visited this place many many times- and it’s also a place Trevor and I have frequented- although I have not been there in the longest time, thanks to the craziness of life. But just typing these words about the place makes me want to jump in the car and GO!
Panera’s- I grew really fond of their Turkey Chickpea Chili over the last few months, even though I have only the vaguest notion of what a chickpea is . . . Unfortunately, it was a temporary element on their menu and now it’s gone, and I have to settle for Black Bean – but at least a bowl of it has something like -5 calories in it.
Olive Garden- Their Pasta Fagioli soup is good and good for you. . . and anything where they keep bringing you more of it is okay by me.
Lone Star- Chicken Pot Pie Soup. . . it always looks a little odd to me, as though they came up with it by accident when somebody accidentally dumped someone’s chicken pot pie into someone else’s bowl of soup – sort of like the old commercials depicting how the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup was created when two roller skaters collided and got their chocolate and peanut butter mixed together. Well, accident or not, this soup is amazingly wonderful.
Noodles and Co. / Applebees- Tomato Bisque Soup. I really hoped that the term “bisque” was some sort of fancy French term for soup which has been especially prepared so as to make it exceptionally low in fat. . . but in fact “bisque” means “a heart attack in a bowl.” Bisque is probably the most sinful of all soups- and the most sensationally delicious. When I break down and have a bowl of this, I feel like I need to be eating nothing but celery for a week afterwards.
Qdoba- Mexican Gumbo. I’m pretty sure I haven’t indulged in this since I started my weight loss regimen. . . They put rice in a bowl, black beans on top of that, then ladle in some delicious chicken tortilla soup, some pieces of grilled chicken, whatever salsa you want on top, plus shredded cheese, and tortilla shards on top. By the way, thinking about Qdoba reminds me of the guy who’s the manager of the place – and back when I was eating a meal there almost every other day, he would certainly recognize me and be very friendly . . . and then always without fail, as I would start to order my thing – mexican gumbo – he would try to anticipate my next choice, and always get it wrong. e.g.:
me: I’ll have the Mexican Gumbo. him: And you want that with steak, right? me: Nope, chicken. him: That’s right, chicken. And pinto beans, right? me: Nope, black beans.
him: Right. And you like the pico de gallo, right? me: No, actually I want the chili corn salsa. etc. etc. It’s like he wants me to feel like I’m at Frank’s Diner, where the proprietor knows what all of his regulars order before they’ve even opened their mouths. It’s cute that the Qdoba guy tries to do that. Too bad he fails at it so miserably. But it doesn’t change how wonderful the Mexican Gumbo is!
Sweet Tomatoes- This is an awesome place and I have to thank Polly and Mark for inviting us to go with them. It’s a small buffet chain – but with incredibly delicious food- much of it from organic ingredients- and much of it incredibly healthy for you. Every day they serve eight different soups – and most of the time I am unhappy if I haven’t tried seven of them. (Usually there’s one kind made with mollusks that I wouldn’t eat if I were stranded on a desert island with two broken legs and vultures circling overhead. If you look up the word “hideous” in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of a bowl of clam chowder for the illustration. At least there is in my dictionary.) This place is heaven on earth for me. But I have to stop raving about it around Kathy because apparently when I start talking about the place I get the same look in my eyes as someone who has just sold all their belongings and joined a religious cult. So just trust me – the place is divine.
Our Own Kitchen- There is something about soup which comes right off of one’s own stove . . . and I guess I will always have a very special place in my heart for a soup that actually my mom made many times. . . Ham and Cheese Chowder. You put about 50 cans of Campbell’s Cheddar Cheese soup into a pot, add carrots and potatoes and celery and diced ham, and cook and cook and cook. Stupendous. And a nice walk down memory lane, as well.
Campbell’s- There’s something oddly comforting about being able to open up a can of Campbell’s Vegetable Beef or Chicken Noodle and realizing that the soup you’re pouring into the kettle is EXACTLY the same soup as you would have gotten out of a similar can 30 years ago. Not that it’s anything to write home about – but still, it’s like an old, familiar friend. And sometimes that’s what you need more than anything.
Hungry? Me, too.