Soup Swap: Comforting Recipes to Make and Share

by Kathy Gunst, Yvonne Duivenvoorden (Photographer)

There's no better way to cultivate community, foster friendship, or simply nourish family than over heartwarming bowls of homemade soup. And here, soup lovers will find 60 terrific recipes, featuring such classics as creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled-Cheese Croutons plus international favorites like Thai Red Curry-Chicken Noodle Soup. Each recipe has suggested sides to make it a meal and tips for easy transporting, which makes them just right to bring to a soup swap where everyone can sample the offerings and then take home a variety of leftovers to enjoy all week. Whether taken to the party or savored at home, this trusted collection of soups, stews, and chowders is sure to satisfy all year long.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

176 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2016

Reviews

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathy Gunst is a the Resident Chef for NPR's Here and Now and became a soup lover when a long and fierce freezing New England winter had her thinking about, making, and eating soup for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and afternoon pick-me-ups. She and her friend and neighbor Hope started a wintertime Second Sunday Soup Swap Supper where soups were made and swapped and those taking part could go home with a variety of soups to chose from. Although I live in a tropical climate and eat soup year-round, I can get behind any soup-centered function and think that Gunst and I would get along well.

Soup Swap has the basic info for hosting your own soup swap party (including some Soup Swap stickers for labeling your soups), more than 60 recipes for soups, toppings, side dishes and accompaniments. Gunst covers the basics of making broths and stocks, and recipes are divided into Vegetable Soups, Chicken & Turkey Soups, Meat Soups, Fish & Seafood Soups & Chowders, Side Dishes, and Garnishes & Toppings. Although I don't know that I'll ever host an actual soup swap, I frequently make and give soup to friends and Gunst offers handy To-Go tips for making her recipes portable for swapping or giving. Although I don't eat meat or poultry, there are plenty of vegetable and fish and seafood recipes that I can enjoy in the book like Asparagus and Leek Soup with Chive Oil, Miso Soup with Tofu and Scallions, Mulligatawny, Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder with Saffron Cream, Provencal-Style Fish Soup with Rouille, and Baby Turnip Soup with Miso Butter and Toasted Hazelnuts, and Cioppino, to name just a few.

Soup Swap is a paperback, with a thick and and touchable textured cover. It lays flat and will stay flat when opened--important when you are busy in the kitchen. The recipes all sound tasty, instructions are clear and step by step, and many of the soups have mouthwatering color photos to look at. The recipes have introductions and there are boxes with soup making tips scattered throughout the book. If you are a soup fan, Soup Swap would be an excellent addition to your cookbook collection or it would make a great gift for a soup-loving friend.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Destined to a be a constant recipe companion this autumn and winter! Highly recommended.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't read introductions to cookbooks, but Gunst's description of how this book came to be is an interesting read. Faced with an unreasonably harsh and long New England winter, Gunst found herself having soup for breakfast, lunch, dinner and "afternoon-pick-me-ups." With all the winter isolation ahead, Gunst and a friend (aptly named Hope) created a "Second Sunday Soup Swap Supper" event for a group of neighbors and thus a new soup communing group was born.

Soup Swap contains instructions for hosting your own soup swap party and three adhesive stickers to label your soup jars or containers. There is a section on creating your own broths and stocks along with a collection of suggested side dishes, garnishes and toppings. Along the way, Gunst gives tips on how to transport and store the soups. This book is definitely a great collection and includes sections on vegetable soups, chicken and turkey soups, meat soups, and seafood soups and chowders. Most recipes are accompanied by beautiful photographs.

Stay tuned for a celebration of this book at Coobook Club's #SoupSwapParty starting September 11, 2016.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book is really interesting. It offers tips and suggestions for hosting regular soup swap parties. It sounds like a great way to share food with friends and try new soups. The basics are that everyone brings a soup to share and ends up with leftovers for later, a great way to have a variety of warm winter soups without so much cooking. The fact that I already own several cookbooks focused on soup means that I already had recipes for most of the types of soup. However, the tips for toppings, sides, and transporting the soups are pretty cool. Grilled cheese croutons sound particularly tasty and awesome.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a spring day when winter seemed to come back, I grabbed a stack of books about soup from the library. This was my favorite, with beautiful photos and delicious looking recipes. I might change my review after making some of these soups.

[Brianna Sowinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love soup, and this book had a ton of recipes from basic tomato to chorizo black bean. Awesome ideas especially as fall is coming up fairly soon. I saved quite a few recipes to try out. Formating was pleasant and it included photos for most of the recipes which I enjoy.

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read because I wanted "soupy inspiration" and more recipes for soup club. It was a quick book to get through on a rainy, dreary night when a cup of soup would have been welcome, but I didn't find any recipes I wanted to cook.

[Mary C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this cookbook in a little shop in Maine and so enjoy it!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the recipes in this book and especially how it tailored them for soup swapping/ sharing.

[Violet Laflamme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved all the attention to the concept of Soup Swap parties! I also really love soup, and all the vegan options were so clearly labeled :)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the concept and layout. I found that many of the soups were familiar recipes, with the exception of the baby turnip soup, and the smoked haddock soup, both of which I noted with excitement. The section on broths is really great, and I like Gunst's thorough explanation of how to host a swap. I also like that she is from Maine, which is a fun fact, with no bearing on the strength of this book... though we do eat a decent amount of soup in Maine.

[Saskia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love any type of soup and on my quest for recipes other than traditional ones I cam accross this cook book. I tried a couple of them already and found them easy to make and not as time consuming as recipes I found in other books.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made the soup that was on the cover. I made it with spinach and added pork. It was very, very good. My husband even said he liked it. There’s several more recipes I’d like to try from the book. I appreciate the clear instructions and the author’s notes.