I am nearing the end of my first soup season as an official soup (business!) lady. It’s been nearly nine months of rushing out the door, tossing a beef jerky or piece of fruit into my bag knowing I’ll have to eat it in my car at a stoplight. It’s been filling Thermoses to send to soccer practices, sandwiches in the car after aikido on our way to a birthday party. Life has been dense these past many months, and food has needed to keep up with us rather than the other way around.
And yet I still cook.
We have gobbled picnic fare in the middle of winter for its portability, like this slow-cooker Braised Chicken that makes Herbed Chicken Salad, Barbecue Chicken Sandwich, and Cilantro-Lime Tacos – all perfect for on-the-go meals. Or maybe I will have made a steak (with radishes, a good excuse!) like this, then eaten it in a spring salad like this, or in sandwiches like this. Or maybe it’s a marinated salad, like this Lemon + Olive Oil Marinated Fennel with Burrata + Mint stunner. Perhaps these Marinated Cucumber and Feta Sandwiches. Or pasta salad: Penne Salad with Sundried Tomatoes + Grilled Eggplant, Dilly Yogurt-Orzo Salad with Cucumber, this literal Picnic Pasta Salad. Grain salad? Mine today would be millet in place of the grains in either of these bulgur salads (Moroccan Carrot, anyone?). I have layered green salads into mason jars – some version of this Favorite Summer Salad, and some version of this Winter Kale Salad, too. I’ve also poured smoothies like my go-to 5-Ingredient Avocado Smoothie into those very same mason jars and attempted to put them in my car’s cupholder as I run out to fetch carpool. Glamorous life I lead.
When a modest stretch of unscheduled time presents itself on a weekend, I make, make, make: Road Trip Snack Squares; Summer Fruit Muffins with any fresh fruit I have on hand, diced; some version of this springtime strata, spooned into muffin tins. The product of each recipe is then painstakingly wrapped in plastic film and tucked into my freezer, pulled out one by one by whomever needs it.
When in doubt, a Thermos of soup hits the spot. (I have a cache of frozen soup portions in my kitchen freezer just for this purpose.) Can’t argue with a Thermos full of Roasted Fennel and Tomato Soup, crackers tucked into a wax bag with an apple for dessert. Otherwise, I have two books full of soups I love, Soup Club and Seconds, filled with your next favorite soup recipe (or five!). As often as soup, believe it or not, I find myself stashing away “bowl” food, the stuff spooned over a grain (or charred cauliflower rice) and called a meal, like this sheet-pan Roasted Paneer and Greens, my all-time favorite simple Curried Chickpeas, and even the catch-all delicious dinner called Buddha Bowl.
There’s no wrong way to feed yourself and your family when keeping up with a busy schedule. Be kind to yourself. My version of that is eating nutritious homemade food all the time, no excuses, but yours might look different. (I hope it involves a massage, maybe some tea, and all the love you can muster.)
To all, thanks for reading here. For the paid subscribers among you – a bit extra thanks, as your $70/year subscription actually helps me to slow down a little—I have an extra recipe for you that, no joke, I’ve kept constantly on hand in my freezer from the first week of soup season to eat at work an hour before my family even wakes up. See you all here next month! In the meantime, soak in spring, feverish as it might be.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Wright Recipes Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.