Farida Abdel Malek 
With soups we tend to stick to what we know, the classics, international, but still well known classic soups. Soups are like a comfort zone, you want to make sure you're going to enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling up until the last slurp. However, sometimes it's nice to have some fun in the kitchen and test out recipes that are unusual to us from around the world and see if our taste buds welcome them happily. If you're up for that, check out the below four recipes and tell us if they're a yes! Or nope!
The Ukrainian Sauerkraut Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp of olive oil
- 8 ounces of chopped beef bacon
- 1 stick of finely diced celery
- 1 finely diced onion
- 2 thinly sliced carrots
- 3 peeled potatoes, chopped into thick cubes
- 1/4 cup of quinoa
- 2-3 cups and sauerkraut, rinsed really well and drained (sauerkraut is fermented finely cut cabbage)
- 8 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups of water
-1 can of white beans
- Salt and pepper according to taste
Steps:
1. Heat the oil in a big soup pot.
2. Add chopped bacon, cook until golden brown. Remove it from the pot when done.
3. Add the onion and celery, sauté them till they're soft and golden for around 5 min.
4. Add in the carrots, potatoes, quinoa, broth and water.
5. Bring the soup to a boil, then soften the heat to let it simmer for around 15 min.
6. Drop in the sauerkraut and the cooked bacon. Also add the white beans with their juice, and 1 bay leaf.
7. Cook until you see the potatoes start to be tender.
8. After around 10 min, start seasoning the soup.
9. Best to serve it with nice crunchy bread!
Image & Recipe Credit: Natasha's Kitchen
Chilean Chilled Avocado Soup
Ingredients:
- 4 ripe avocados
- 2 cups of sparkling water
- 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 ice cubes
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1⁄4 cup of small basil leaves
- 4 thinly sliced red radishes
- Around 15 thin slices of seeded toasted bread.
- 1 tsp of sea salt
Steps:
1. Cut one avocado into cubes and leave it to the side.
2. Scoop the flesh of the 3 other avocados and blend them with the sparkling water, olive oil and ice in the blender until smooth.
3. Season to preferred taste with salt and pepper.
4. Pour soup into your choice of bowl and garnish with avocado cubes, basil, radishes, and toast.
5. Immediately before serving add a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt.
Image & Recipe Credit: Saveur
Latvian Rye Bread Dessert Soup (Soup for dessert? Yes please!)
Ingredients:
- 120g of Rye bread
- Raisins, dried apricots, prunes, cranberries sliced to same size (60g)
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- Sweetener, sugar or honey according to preferred taste (or 1 Tbsp)
- 500ml of water
Steps:
1. Dry and slightly toast the bread slices under medium low heat or in an oven at around 160 degrees. Don't get burnt!
2. Pour boiling water over the dried bread and let it soak fro 20 min.
3. With a fork mash the soaked bread.
4. Add the dried fruits, cinnamon and sweetener. You can add a some fresh lemon juice to add some zest and sourness.
5. Cook the mix on low heat for 5-10 minutes. Stir often while on heat. The soup should be thick but if necessary add a little bit of water to fix the consistency.
6. Let it cool before serving.
7. You can add whipped cream or natural/Greek yogurt.
Image & Recipe Credit: J.M
Tuscan Potato Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 garlic heads
- 2 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil
- 2 cups of finely diced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 2 1/4 pounds of peeled and cubes Yukon gold potato
- 4 cups of fat-free chicken broth
- 1 cup of milk
- 4 ounces of pecorino Romano cheese
- 6 ounces hot Italian sausage
- 1 ounce of finely beef bacon
- 1 cup of chopped kale
- 1/4 cup of fresh sage leaves
- 2 Tbsp of toasted pine nuts
Steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut off the end of each garlic head, without peeling the cloves. Place each separately in the center of an aluminum foil sheet. Cover each with 1/2 tsp of olive oil and wrap individually in the foil. Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees and let them cool for 10 minutes before squeezing the pulp out of the skin.
3. Over medium-high heat, place 2 tsp of oil and add 1 1/2 cups of onion, sauté for 4 minutes. Add in the pepper, 1/8 tsp of the salt, and potatoes and sauté for 2 minutes.
4. Add the chicken broth bringing it to boil then letting it simmer on lower hear for 20 min, until you see the potatoes getting really tender.
5. Pour the potato mix and garlic pulp into a food mill. Press through the food milll to the pan. Add the milk and finely grated 1/2 cup of cheese, stirring into the soup. Cook under medium heat for 5 minutes.
6. Add 1 1/2 tsp oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add remaining 1/2 cup of onion and cook for 6 minutes. Add 1/8 tsp of salt, the sausage, and bacon. Cook for 8 minutes while stirring the sausage to a crumble.
7. In boiling water, cook the kale for 4 minutes and then strain. Reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid. Grate the remaining cheese and combine with the kale, cooking liquid, sage, and nuts in a food processor, until finely ground. With the processor working, gradually add 1 tablespoon oil.
8. Pour the soup into desired bowl. Top with the sausage mixture. and drizzle in the kale mixture.
9. You can also add extra shaving of cheese if you want.
Image & Recipe Credit: My Recipes
Main Image Credits: Food Network
