Soup season

The weather hasn't been all that chilly lately, but these long dark days have still triggered that synapse in my brain (stomach?) that makes me crave soup. There's something so satisfying about a warm bowl of soup, with the added pleasure of enjoying something homemade.

Last year, my plan was to attempt to make a soup a week. It must have been the sleep deprivation talking - I  was barely able to get fish sticks on the table or correctly place an order with Swiss Chalet, let alone cook something from scratch. This year, I'm going to be a bit more realistic: I will make soup whenever I can, mixing tried-and-true recipes with some new ones, based on what appeals to me in the moment and what ingredients I have handy.

Here are some of the favourite new and tried-and-true soups in our house:

• Beer Cheese Soup (from allrecipes.com)
• Best Ever Tomato Soup (from Indigo ... yes, Indigo)
• Cabbage Soup (from my Aunt Carol)
• Italian Meatball Zuppa (from my friend Catharine)
• Roasted Cauliflower and Aged Cheddar Soup (found on Pinterest, from the blog Daydream Kitchen)
• Roasted Parsnip and Pear Soup (from Leslie Beck's Heathly Kitchen cookbook)
• And the latest addition to the list, pictured above, Tomato Basil Soup (from the special Valerie Bertinelli insert my most recent issue of Cooking Light ... go figure)

I've also been leafing through all my cookbooks, random pages ripped from magazines, my Pinterest pins and the "Save This Recipe" folder in my Inbox and have flagged these recipes as ones that sound yummy:

• Spicy Thai Coconut Soup (found on Pinterest, from cookinglight.com)
• Weekday Hamburger (from The Soup Sisters Cookbook)
• Celeriac and Apple with Maple Cream (from The Soup Sisters Cookbook)
• Red Lentil Coconut Soup (found on Pinterest, from the blog Scaling Back)
• I'd also like to learn how to make homemade miso soup - I love it, but hate that those little packages have so much salt in them

Are you drooling yet? Me, too! Good thing I have some leftover tomato soup in the fridge ...