Good Food, Fast Food : IN THE KITCHEN : The Simplest Soups

It’s not easy being a simple soup these days. Pick up a cookbook and flip through it. What catches your eye? Odds are it’s something unexpected, something surprising. Too frequently we bypass what may seem humdrum and go straight to the unusual. So where do simple pleasures fit in?

Is there room--in the midst of all the intricate spicing combinations, elaborate textural constructions, far-flung cuisines and extraordinary ingredients--for something that simply tastes good?

I think so. At its essence, good cooking, as all other forms of love, is about long-term satisfaction, not passing amusement.

What brought all this to mind was a pair of soups I made last week. Neither were grand experiments. Neither included much more than a half-dozen ingredients; neither took more than elementary cooking skills, nor much more than a half-hour to throw together.

But there is nothing more homey and satisfying than a simple broth. And these two soups are examples of the kind of dish I can cook and eat over and over again without getting bored. I usually make the Swiss chard soup almost once a week during the winter--usually on week nights when I’m too tired to cook something more involved or too broke to go out. I make the mussel soup less often, but only because mussels sometimes seem so difficult to find in stores.

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There is nothing especially fancy about either recipe. The Swiss chard soup tastes like, well, Swiss chard. By itself, it is filling but a bit dull. Add a tablespoon or so of grated Parmesan cheese and it becomes something quite satisfying. But add a tablespoon of very good olive oil, and it becomes something fairly extraordinary, with deep round flavors.

I was reminded of the mussel soup on Halloween morning, when I was wandering the Hollywood Farmers Market and came across the fabulous Eco-Mar stand. They farm aquacultured shellfish in Santa Barbara and sell them at several local markets. I put the soup base together while doling out candy. I finished the broth when my daughter returned--already partially stuffed--from trick or treating. Never mind. She finished nearly a pound of mussels while my wife and I were still picking over the remains in her trick-or-treat sack.

I figure that when a 12-year-old who’s been eating candy all day gobbles down anything--especially mussels--that is something worth writing about.

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There are two imperatives with this dish: Use good chicken stock (or a combination of chicken and beef), and use white Swiss chard. Red-ribbed Swiss chard has a pronounced beet flavor that doesn’t work as well.

SWISS CHARD SOUP

2 cups penne or other dried pasta Salt 2 pounds white-ribbed Swiss chard Olive oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 1/2 cup white wine 4 1/2 cups chicken stock Freshly ground pepper Freshly ground Parmesan cheese, optional

Cook penne in rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and keep warm. Undercook pasta slightly; it will be heated again in soup.

While pasta is cooking, cut away chard leaves from stems, making deep V in leaves to remove as much stem as possible. Thinly slice stems horizontally and coarsely chop leaves. Set aside and keep separate.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until tender. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until onion is lightly golden. Add sliced chard stems and cook, continuing to stir, until stems begin to soften. Turn heat to high, add white wine and cook until wine reduces by half. Add stock to completely cover stems by at least 2 inches and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Add coarsely chopped chard leaves and cooked pasta and cook until leaves are tender, about 5 more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, ladle soup into wide, shallow soup bowls. Top either with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving, without cheese or olive oil, contains about:

227 calories; 956 mg sodium; 1 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 1.47 grams fiber.

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MUSSELS AND BROTH

Butter 1 shallot, finely minced 1 clove garlic, finely minced 2 tablespoons, finely chopped parsley 3 cups white wine 3 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded 1 baguette, cut in 1/2-inch slices

Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in lidded kettle large enough to hold mussels and add shallot and garlic. Cook until shallot is tender and garlic is fragrant. Add parsley and stir. Add white wine and turn heat to high. Add mussels and cover tightly. Cook, occasionally shaking kettle, until mussels open, about 5 minutes.

When all mussels have opened, immediately remove from heat. Using tongs or slotted spoon, remove mussels to bowl and keep warm. Do not overcook.

Pour accumulated broth through fine strainer into saucepan and bring to boil. Add another 1/4 cup butter, cut in chunks and whisk into broth until smooth.

While mussels are cooking, lay baguette slices over bottom of wide, shallow soup bowl in 1 layer. Reserve any extras to serve beside soup. Divide mussels among bowls and pour broth over all. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

774 calories; 1,570 mg sodium; 144 mg cholesterol; 27 grams fat; 55 grams carbohydrates; 48 grams protein; 0.23 gram fiber.