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Clear Chicken Soup with Homemade Sourdough Roll

Serve this awesome soup any day, everyday, when you have the snuffles or when you need basic comfort food.

Got the snuffles? Seek your basic comfort with a bowl of homemade organic clear chicken soup. You will need chicken wings or a chicken leg and a pot of water. Season with salt to taste. Cook for an hour after water comes to a medium boil. Simple, comforting, amazing, nature's best antibiotic in a bowl. Serve it with a homemade sourdough roll.

Kharcho - Organic Georgian Lamb Soup

Serve this awesome soup when you are so cold that the very thought of "spicy" warms you up and lightens your spirit.

Georgia is a small country in the Caucasus famous for flavorful and spicy food. It's hard to imagine but the mountainous areas of Georgia get even more snow than Chicago. Georgians enjoy socializing during their meals and drinking wine with lengthy philosophical toasts. To feel like a Georgian on this winter day enjoy a bowl of hearty kharcho, a spicy lamb and rice soup. You will need lamb stock, minced lamb meat, white rice, minced pickles, coriander, chili pepper, garlic and tomato sauce. Simmer, simmer, simmer until well done, sipping your glass of red wine. Garnish with cilantro. Don't forget to invite some friends for Supra or Georgian Table.

Organic Veggie Feast with Quinoa

Serve this awesome soup when you want to add a touch of sweet to your savory palette.

This soup just happened when I looked around the kitchen one day unsure what to make. I found a couple of sweet potatoes, squash, regular potatoes, onions, tomatoes and garlic. Hiding in the far corner of the shelf was a small pack of quinoa, a grain-like crop from the grass family famous for its high protein content. Turns out quinoa is just what you need to make a hearty vegetable soup. I used turkey stock as a base, cut up my veggies and cooked them with quinoa. In the meantime, I sauteed some onions, garlic and tomatoes which I added to the soup when sweet potatoes were tender. Vitamins and proteins in one awesome bowl!

Russian Cabbage Soup

Serve this awesome soup as your farewell to dreary winter days (which can happen in April if you live in Midwest).

This soup happens to you in April when it is cold against all odds, there is only cabbage left over from last winter and you are lucky to have a beef soup bone around. Savor it with sprouted wheat flat-bread while you wait for chives to bloom in your garden. To make fine beef stock, simmer your soup bone for a long while - 4 to 6 hours, at the very least. In the meantime, shred some cabbage and relax. Add cabbage to the stock, bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes. Season with some salt and pepper. This soup is generations proof comfort food.

Cream of Shiitake Mushrooms with Chive Flowers

Serve this awesome soup when your herbs start blooming, but new season veggies are still a month away.

This soup is a nice way to switch seasons. I use dried shiitake mushrooms soaked overnight and cooked to perfection in the soak water to preserve the flavor. Blend, season and garnish with purple and green chive flowers to make your spirit dance with joy in your very own Monet garden.

Raw Greens Summer Soup with a Hint of Lemon

You've been craving it all winter: something raw, fresh and energizing.

This soup has lettuce, parsley, apple and a hint of lemon all blended together into a green treat. Try other greens and herbs and add some fruit for sweetness and texture.

Chilled Beets and Cucumber Soup

Serve this awesome soup to stay cool during a summer heat wave.

My Eastern European roots call for beet roots twice a year. In winter, I crave the comfort of warm borscht, and in the middle of summer heat wave I reach out for a cooling sweet and sour chilled beet soup with raw cucumbers. You will need to cook beet roots and beet tops adding lemon juice when beets are almost cooked to preserve color and create a distinctive sweet and sour taste. When the soup is chilled, add chopped cucumbers, dill and garnish with a hard-boiled free-range egg (egg white will turn a romantic pink and egg yolk will stand out like a summer flower). Finally, add a touch of sour cream or yogurt. In Lithuania, they serve this chilled soup with sizzling hot boiled potatoes.

Organic Raw Gazpacho

Serve this awesome soup when fresh tomatoes are in season.

Tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes with a touch of garlic, sweet red pepper, fresh basil and chives. Blend to perfection in your favorite blender with a touch of salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream. Serve immediately. Wash the blender. Leftovers can be cooked to make the best ever pizza sauce (organic and home-made).

Organic Sorrel and Potato Soup

Serve this awesome soup warm or chilled depending on the onset of Indian Summer.

If you had enough of spinach lately, it's time to reach out for sorrel: similar in texture, it has a distinct tangy taste that makes it ideal in a chilled treat or a warm comfort soup. I hope for a hot September and often make a chilled version. You will need fresh sorrel leaves which you can find at a local farmer's market, organic potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, fresh cucumbers and sour cream for garnish. Cook some cubed potatoes and add sorrel leaves when potatoes are almost done. I like to remove the stems first, but this is not necessary strictly speaking, if you don't mind some extra chewing. Sorrel leaves need at most 3 min of cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper; then chill until ready to serve. Garnish with sliced cucumbers, hard-boiled egg and sour cream. For a warm soup, forget the chilling part and skip the cucumbers.

Organic Watermelon Rind Soup

Serve this awesome soup when watermelons are abundant at your local farmers market.

Want to make your meal and dessert from the same ingredients? Here comes mighty watermelon from your local farmers market! I serve watermelon rind soup for lunch followed by juicy watermelon chunks for dessert. You will need peeled watermelon rind, carrots, sweet red pepper, hot pepper (optional), couple cloves of garlic, one small onion, and a sweet potato. Saute all the ingredients in a little butter, ghee, or olive oil with some salt and pepper. Blend with warm vegetable stock or hot water. Ready to serve. Yum!

Organic Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Serve this awesome soup at the start of your Thanksgiving meal.

Spice up your Thanksgiving fare with this delicious creamy and unambiguously orange soup. You will need to bake your pumpkin in advance. No peeling necessary - just stick your pumpkin in the oven at 375F for an hour or so. If your pumpkin is too big to fit in the oven, you can cut it in half and also spoon out all the seeds while you are at it. In the meantime, saute garlic, shallots, carrots and hot pepper in some butter. When the pumpkin is baked, you need to peel it and take out the seeds if they are still inside. Combine pumpkin, garlic, shallots, carrots and hot pepper in a blender with some salt and pepper. When you are ready to serve, you can add some cream (optional). I served mine with some roasted root vegetables and home-baked sesame roll.

Organic Rassolnik Russian Pickle Soup

Serve this awesome soup when you crave something warm and savory.

This month be adventurous and reach out for something ethnic to spice up your traditional chicken, turkey or duck stock. Russian Rassolnik challenges you to try out something new with your plain old jar of sour pickles. You will need grated or cubed potatoes, chopped pickles and some rolled oats for thickness, cooked all together in your favorite stock. Make sure you use sour pickles, not those marinated in vinegar.

Organic Black Bean and Lamb Soup with Caraway Rye Bread

Serve this awesome soup after skiing or for a cozy evening by a fireplace.

I made this soup in early January when nights got long and dark and it seemed like the snow would never melt. In my kitchen it was warm and cozy with anticipation of this hearty soup. I used lamb stock and lamb meat from the bone, black beans soaked overnight, carrots, parsnip, and sauteed celery, tomatoes, onions and garlic. I served this soup with freshly baked caraway rye sourdough bread.

Spicy Okra, Collard and Tomato Soup

Serve this awesome soup when it's freezing outside and you feel like something spicy.

Okra makes me think of Indian spices. In soups, okra adds natural thickness. With a touch of cumin, this soup is irresistible. To start sautee okra, collards, carrots, parsley root, onions, garlic, coriander and cumin. Add some vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Serve with some cilantro for garnish.

Organic Cauliflower and Carrot Soup

Serve this awesome soup when you smell daffodils in the air.

This is a traditional European vegetable soup, like my Grandma used to make at the end of winter when there were few vegetables left in the cellar but outside spring was in the air. You will need cauliflower and carrots of course and some onions sauteed in extra virgin red palm oil for that extra sparkling gold tint.

Organic Turkey Bean with Chocolate Cayenne Bread

Serve this awesome soup on a chilly day for a hearty lunch or an early supper.

I made this soup right after Thanksgiving to pay tribute to our leftover feast of free-range organic turkey. I used drippings from the turkey, white navy beans, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery and oat bran. I served it with chocolate cayenne sourdough bread.

Winter Greens with Sesame White Bread

Serve this awesome soup on a cold sunny day when you are dreaming of a warm salad.

I made this soup on a cold sunny December afternoon looking out of my kitchen window at my vegetable garden covered white with snow. I used kale, Irish moss, carrots, tomatillos, onions, leeks, burdock root and a teaspoon of red palm oil mixed with garlic.

To get Irish moss, go to my favorite source.