Soup

Adding the whole basil leaves to the finished soup gives it a super-fresh taste.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

Yam Jin Gai Mom's chicken noodle is great, but this soup is all about heat and bold flavor. Thais typically incorporate soup into a menu rather than making it a separate course. Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 5 1/2 hr (includes making stock)

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Three classic heartland ingredients — corn, smoked sausage and wild rice — combine to give this appealing first-course soup its sweet-spicy flavor and interesting texture.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are reprinted from Andreas Viestad's book Kitchen of Light: New Scandinavian Cooking._Viestad also shared some helpful tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. There are different, equally authentic ways of making this soup. The big schism is between those who like to thicken the soup with a combination of flour and cream, so it becomes like a chowder, and those who prefer it thin. I think it is easier to appreciate the unique sweet-and-sour freshness of the soup when it is made with only the minimum of thickener.

When I first heard about Ari Weinzweig's delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I couldn't believe it. A deli in the home of my alma mater. It's not really a deli but more of an international food emporium like New York's Zabar's with a definite Jewish touch. Mr. Weinzweig, a drop-out Ph.D. candidate, has taken an academic and appetizing interest in updating Jewish recipes like mushroom and barley soup, going back in history to the nineteenth-century Eastern European version similar to that served at New York's Second Avenue Deli.

This garlicky shrimp scampi version of a classic bisque embraces the technique of blending seafood shells for a luxuriously silky and creamy end result.

Celebrate the best of the season—zucchini, tomatoes, corn, and more—all in one pot.

Dive into this creamy cauliflower and potato chowder for a comforting vegetarian meal.

A bowl of comfort with ricotta “meatballs,” tiny pasta, and lots of greens.