Paleo Soups & Stews

OK, my new favorite paleo cookbook arrived in the mail today: Paleo Soups & Stews, the newest offering by Simone Miller of Zenbelly fame, who began her culinary career as a ‘soup line cook’.

I’m a huge fan of soup and have quite a collection of low-carb and paleo soups and stews in my own recipe files. This book, however, isn’t just another 100+ paleo recipes, many of which are also low-carb, it is a veritable gold mine of ideas and tips and important info for serious soup-a-holics, like me.

And I love the way it is organized.

It begins with a short treatise good explanation of the basics, the various techniques you’ll use, how best to season, what tools you’ll use. (Now here, I might quibble just a tad with her omission of a sous vide water oven, but on that point I’ll admit to a soupçon of bias.) Then soups by type, beginning with great recipes for every sort of broth — roasted vegetable, beef, pork, dashi, fish, mushroom, shrimp, pho and a whole lot more.  There are even recipes for dairy-free, cream-like agents, such as cashew cream, flax milk, and yogurt for those paleo devotees who eliminate dairy. And things to put ‘in the soup’ such as noodles, ‘on the soup’ garnishes and textural additions, and ‘on the side’ go-withs, such as grain-free and relatively lower carb versions of baguettes, croutons, rolls, drop biscuits, breadsticks, and crackers These rely chiefly on almond flour and cassava flour, the latter of which while not particularly low carb, at about 75 grams to the cup, is at least somewhat lower than the 93 grams for wheat flour and without the gluten. These I’d view as treats, not staples, but it’s always nice to have a treat now and again to look forward to.

If you are a soup lover, like me, you’ll want to make room for this must-have addition to your cookbook shelf!