Tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich

My childhood home is at the end of a dirt track at the top of a hill, and in the winter we often woke up to waist-high snow drifts. We couldn’t get out to go to school, so we’d spend the day throwing ourselves into heaps of snow, or watching the dogs disappear, bewildered, into… Continue reading Tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich

Pea soup with roast potatoes & a soft boiled egg

I’d been warned that the drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles wouldn’t be especially scenic. Though Highway 101, which meanders along the coast, is spectacular, the fastest route is the I-5, which cuts a straight line through hundreds of miles of the Central Valley. For most of the way it’s a dual carriageway, and… Continue reading Pea soup with roast potatoes & a soft boiled egg

Red lentil soup with harissa & lemon

As we head into chillier days, soup is back on the menu. We love having a big pot of this in the fridge for weekday lunches when there isn’t always time to make something from scratch. This recipe uses very modest and cheap ingredients, but the whole thing is elevated by the spicy harissa and… Continue reading Red lentil soup with harissa & lemon