I hate this time of year. The weather goes back and forth between winter and spring. It’s such a tease to get a taste of warmer weather only to have slushy snow the next day. I’m ready for longer days, farmers markets and sunshine. I look forward to winter every year, something about snow and scarves and cold nights by the fire is romantic, but I’m kind of over it four months later. Sadly, the last days of winter seem to be keeping spring at bay just a little longer. The one thing that’s made this season easier for me is soup. It’s my ultimate cold (rainy, slushy, snowy) weather comfort food, so I’m taking this opportunity to share a new favorite with you before it warms up for good (or, you know, until fall gets here again).

Lasagna is not something I ever thought about in soup form, but now that I’ve tried it I can’t help but wonder why. This soup has all the components of lasagna – pasta, Italian sausage, fire roasted tomatoes and lots of cheese – without any of the work. The soup would be delicious on its own and sort of reminded me of this soup, but the cheese mixture makes this soup truly crave-worthy. It’s hearty, comforting and easy to make, and I imagine we’ll be having it again before the cold weather disappears.

This soup has all of the components and flavors of my favorite red beans and rice recipe but without all the work. I love red beans and rice, but making it can be quite the process. Plus, since I’ve had such a nasty cold, soup has been pretty much the only thing I’ve wanted to eat. This one was exactly what I needed – spicy, comforting, and fast. Even the rice cooks right in the soup. You can’t beat that! Unless you have someone awesome to make it for you. That definitely makes it better (especially if said someone made you hot tea before cooking dinner). Sick or not, this one is sure to be appearing on our menu again soon.

I’m kind of obsessed with biscuits and gravy. Given a choice for breakfast, I’ll almost always choose biscuits and gravy. This version has been my go-to for quite sometime, and it’s also one of the most popular recipes on this site. What it lacks in glamour, it makes up for in flavor. This recipe is kind of the best of both worlds – a little glitz and a lot of flavor. Don’t get me wrong. It still has that warm comfort only a meal like biscuits and gravy can provide, but it’s also got some extra oomph thanks to the sweet potato and chorizo.

The sweet potato gives these biscuits an airy and tender texture. It also imparts a light sweet potato flavor, really just enough that you know it’s there. Since sweet potatoes and spicy chorizo go exceptionally well together, these biscuits are the perfect vessels for eating the chorizo gravy. The method for making the biscuits is pretty much genius, and I can’t believe I haven’t tried it sooner. The dough is rolled thin, then folded in half before cutting. This allows the biscuit halves to be perfectly separated after baking. The gravy is a standard sausage gravy but with extra kick from the chorizo and chipotle powder. You can make it as thick or thin as you like. I like my sausage gravy on the thicker side, but you can easily change the recipe to suit your personal tastes. With the cold weather here to stay, I predict this one will be a favorite all winter long.

Before Clara was born, several people told us that we’d stop cooking as much when she arrived. There have been a few days we got takeout instead of cooking, like when she hit her first big growth spurt and I felt like all I could do was feed her the entire day, but Eric and I are still cooking more than some people expected (clearly those people don’t know us very well). Making fresh meals is important to us, so we put a lot of effort into doing it as often as we can. We may not be making as many involved recipes these days, but even a quick homemade meal is better than eating out every night. Now that Clara is getting a little bigger, we love having her in the kitchen with us while we prep and cook dinner. She especially likes it when I dance around the kitchen with her while Eric is cooking. I love that we get to spend time together in the kitchen, and obviously the delicious results are a big perk. The thing is – it’s not that difficult to have a homemade meal on the table in a short amount of time. Recipes like this one make it easy for us to have a homemade meal and still finish in time to read to Clara before bed.

I made a few changes to this recipe after making it as written. The original recipe used loose sausage, which sort of sank to the bottom of the sauce, so I swapped it out for sliced sausage. Eric preferred it the other way, though, so make it whichever way you think you’ll like best. I increased the amount of pasta and cream, and doing so resulted in a sauce that I thought was the perfect consistency. This pasta is much lighter than I thought it would be, even with the increased amount of cream, thanks to all of the arugula. I used to shy away from wilted greens, and I honestly have no idea why. Every recipe I’ve tried with them has been awesome. In this recipe, the arugula adds a wonderful peppery bite and helps to brighten up the pasta. This recipe doesn’t require much, just a few fresh ingredients and a little time in the kitchen. So now when I get some naysayer that asks me how often we get takeout now that we have a baby, I’ll kindly point them to this post.

Have you ever had a day where nothing really sounds good for dinner? This doesn’t happen often around here, especially when we’ve planned out the week’s menu. Occasionally, though, I’m just lacking inspiration. On days like that, I’ll peruse Pinterest, food photo sites or my Google Reader in hopes that something will pop out at me. After striking out in all of those places, I saw this recipe pop up in my Facebook news feed. I had all the ingredients on hand, like it was meant to be. I love when things work out like that.

This is an ideal summer recipe. There’s minimal prep, just a few ingredients, and it cooks quickly on the grill. The tenderloin is rubbed in a mixture of coffee, brown sugar and chili powder, giving it an earthy, smoky and slightly sweet flavor. Being the coffee lovers we are, Eric and I love anything with coffee in (or on) it, but I think even non-coffee drinkers will appreciate the flavor the coffee beans add to this dish. The rub gives the pork a wonderful crust and helps keep the moisture inside. I knew this had been perfectly cooked when we sliced into it and saw just how tender and juicy it was. We served this with grilled vegetables and roasted potatoes, but next time I’ll swap the roasted potatoes for grits or polenta.

This winter has been incredibly mild compared to our first two in Virginia. So far, there hasn’t even been any snow. It’s been wavering between spring-like and bitter cold outside, which has me craving comfort food more than ever. When it’s cold, I have a tendency to turn to cream based soups. I’m so glad I decided to make this one instead because it turned out to be exactly what I wanted. It’s rich and hearty without being heavy. Served with a piece of crusty baguette, this simple and unassuming meal was one of the best I’ve had in a while.

This recipe was written as a vegetarian one, but I couldn’t resist adding some andouille sausage to it. We’ve actually had mostly meatless meals lately, and I thought it would be nice to add something a little spicy to this soup. (Spicy foods are one of my few pregnancy cravings and meat has been my only aversion.) However, you can easily omit it without sacrificing any flavor for a vegetarian option. The smoked paprika in this adds a lot of flavor, and that smokiness is enhanced by the sausage. I had originally planned to make this with chorizo, but the andouille worked nicely. I hadn’t yet used lentils in soup and wasn’t sure how well they’d hold up, but their texture was perfect – just tender and not mushy at all. We really enjoyed the different textures from the beans, lentils and tomatoes. Because I was concerned about over blending, I think I may have under blended just a little. Either way, this soup was a big hit and has made for awesome leftovers this week.

Lentil and Black Bean with Andouille Sausage
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces (2 links) Andouille sausage, halved lengthwise then cut crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 cup dried brown lentils
4 3/4 cup low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth, divided
3 cups water
1 can (14 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook for about 8 minutes, until well browned. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Add more oil to the pot if needed and then add the onion and celery. Cook until the vegetables begin to soften, 6-7 minutes. Add garlic, paprika and bay leaves and cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and their juices, lentils, 3 cups of chicken broth and 3 cups of water. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, 25-35 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Discard the bay leaves. Transfer half the mixture to a blender or food processor, along with half the black beans and 3/4 cup chicken broth. Pulse until combined but not pureed. Add mixture back to pot, along with remaining black beans and 1 cup chicken broth. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Stir in sausage and cook soup over medium heat until warmed through. Stir in parsley and serve.

Source: Adapted from Cookin’ Canuck

Sausage gravy, with its whopping three ingredient list, is simple, down home food. There’s nothing fancy about it, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious. The biscuits we made, which don’t require cutting in butter or rolling dough, are also super simple. In terms of our Sunday breakfasts, this one wasn’t involved at all. I have a biscuit recipe that I adore, but these cream biscuits are wonderful when I’m feeling lazy or am in a hurry. They’re light, fluffy and can be shaped by hand. Of course, they’re wonderful on their own, but it’s hard to beat a biscuit that’s been smothered in smooth, peppery sausage gravy.

Cream Biscuits
Makes 8 biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions:
Place oven rack in the upper-middle position and preheat oven to 425º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in 1 1/4 cups of cream with a wooden spoon until a dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, leaving behind any flour left in the bottom of the bowl. Use the remaining 1/4 cup of cream to moisten any flour left in the bowl and add to the dough. Gather into a ball and knead for about 30 seconds or until smooth.

Using your hands, shape the dough into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Using a 2 1/2-inch floured cutter, cut the biscuits into rounds and place on prepared baking sheet. Reshape the dough once to cut additional biscuits. If desired, the baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 hours before baking. Bake biscuits until golden brown, about 15 minutes, making sure to rotate halfway through baking.

Sausage Gravy
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
12 ounces bulk pork sausage
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
Heat a medium skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned and cooked through, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate and set aside.

Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and whisk for about 1 minute. Continue whisking while slowly adding the milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 2 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Stir in sausage and serve immediately over split biscuits.

Biscuits from The New Best Recipe, gravy from Food Network

Just as a note, we always use Conecuh sausage when we make this.  It’s a smoked sausage made in Alabama and can be found in most southern states.  We always make sure to stock up when we’re there visiting family.  You can use Andouille or any other type of smoked sausage for this recipe.

Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients:
For the beans:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 to 16 ounces smoked sausage, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium green bell peppers, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 quarts water
1 pound red kidney beans, rinsed and picked of debris
For the rice:
3 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups long-grain rice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
-Heat the oil in a Dutch oven set over medium-high heat.  Add the sausage and lightly brown.
-Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, salt and pepper to the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions and celery are semi-translucent and the bell peppers are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
-Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
-Add the bay leaves, thyme, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, water and beans to the pot and increase the heat to high. Cook, stirring frequently until the mixture comes to a boil.
-Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
-Uncover, increase the heat slightly to maintain a steady simmer and continue to cook for another 30 to 40 minutes or until the beans are tender and the sauce is thickened to your liking. If you prefer an even creamier texture, mash some of the beans with a potato masher.
-Prepare rice during the last 30 minutes of cooking the beans. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan.
-While the water is coming to a boil place the butter into a 3-quart saucepan, set over medium heat.
-Once the butter begins to bubble, add the rice and stir to combine. Add the salt and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
-Carefully pour the water over the rice and stir to combine. Decrease the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve the beans over the rice.

Serves 8

Source: Adapted from Alton Brown