What do you eat in winter?

"Chunky soup."

Justin, Texas, USA

This soup is so simple yet so packed with flavour and texture. It is smokey, spicy, savoury, crunchy, soft and soothing. Here, I serve it with toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), tortilla chips, and chopped cabbage. Normally, I also top my bowl of soup with avocado and lime juice, which I absolutely recommend.  

I think this dish really lends itself to experimentation;  you could try using another legume of instead of chickpeas, or even add a bit of chicken or chorizo if you're feeling a bit more carnivorous. The possibilities really are endless with soup....

Smokey tomato soup with chickpeas and rice

1 onion, chopped

2 small dried chipotle peppers

2 carrots, cut into rounds

10 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup rice

1 cup cooked chickpeas

2 tsp finely chopped cilantro

Avocado, tortilla chips, chopped cabbage, lime juice and toasted pepitas, to serve.

1.   In a large pot, heat a bit of oil and add onions, chipotles and carrots. Sautee until the vegetables are fragrant and a little soft.

2.   Add broth, tomatoes and spices.  Season with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to boil.

3.   Add rice, reduce heat to a steady simmer, and cook until rice is soft; about 20 minutes.

4.   Add chickpeas and stir through chopped cilantro. Re-season with salt and pepper.

5.   Serve hot with toppings! 

What do you eat in the winter?

"Lots of food. Different sauces. Egg and lemon sauce...it's only good in the winter. Too heavy in the summer."

Athina, Rhodes, Greece

Avgolemono soup became a staple in my apartment last year when my best friend Chloe got obsessed with it. She called it lemon drop soup and made it about three times a week. It has Greek origins and is excellent in winter, especially if you’re not feeling so great (which unfortunately is the case for me today)

Soup is not avgolemono’s only claim to fame. This rich marriage of egg and lemon is often used as a sauce or condiment in Greece. I had it spooned over dolmades when I was there, and my inspiration for this dish comes from a photo I saw in a Greek cooking magazine, where it was served over meatballs.

This soup is so simple, it’s fun to play around with! Give it a try with some shredded chicken instead of meatballs, or omit the meat altogether for a filling vegetarian soup.  

Avgolemono soup with lamb meatballs

For the meatballs:

1 lb lamb mince

1 onion, grated

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup rice

For the soup:

1 quart chicken broth

1/4 cup rice

2 eggs, thoroughly whisked

The juice of two lemons

1 cup of boiling water

1.   In a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients with your hands. Season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Form into balls about the size of walnuts.

2.   Heat a bit of oil in a large pan. Brown the meatballs in batches. Do not overcrowd them! Set aside on a covered plate.

3.   Prepare the soup. In a large pot, bring your broth to a boil.

4.   Add rice and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. At about 15 minutes, add meatballs to the soup.

5.   In a medium bowl, whisk lemon juice into the eggs. Whisking constantly, add the boiling water.

6.   Remove the soup from heat. Add the egg-lemon mixture to the soup and stir to combine.

7.   Season and serve.

What do you eat for dinner?

"Savoury bread and butter pudding. It's a family tradition."

Jake, Derbyshire, England

Bread and butter pudding, which hails from the UK, is a dessert made with leftover bread. It usually includes raisins or other dried fruits, but I've seen countless variations, from chocolate raspberry to fresh mango!

My savoury version is decidedly more Jewish-American than British. I grew up eating everything bagels with chive cream cheese every Sunday. When I saw a couple of leftover bagels sitting around my moms kitchen, I knew I wanted to try this. It would be great for brunch or a light dinner.

Bagel and cream cheese pudding 

2 everything bagels, cut into as many thin slices as you can manage

1 tbsp butter

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups cream or milk

2 eggs, beaten thoroughly

1 tbsp chive cream cheese

1.   Preheat your oven to 350°F.

2.   Butter both sides of every slice of bagel.

3.   In a small, ovenproof dish, layer the bagel slices with the shredded cheese.

4.   Heat cream in a pot. Once the cream has gotten warm, add a spoonful of it to the beaten eggs and combine to temper.

5.   Remove cream from heat. Add the eggs and cream cheese to the pot. Stir to combine.

6.   Pour the egg mixture over the bagels and cheese. Press the bagels to make sure the mixture has soaked in.

7.   Top with any remaining cheese.

8.   Pop into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.