It's a good time of the year for it

I realized recently that I have been pretty much living on soup for several weeks now.  I love soup. Soup and good crusty bread is my idea of a great cold weather meal.  But this began when a month ago, I got a cold......that never left.  I think it really was a cold in the beginning, but has morphed into bronchitis and a sinus infection.  Soup sounded really good with all that going on, so during this time I have made all kinds of soup, and really enjoyed this simple but good food.

One of my favorites during this time has been a basic turkey-vegetable recipe I made with some turkey stock I made and froze at Thanksgiving.  I sauted lots of onions and garlic in olive oil until soft, added the stock and veggies, then minced some of my homegrown/canned jalapenos and added them.  It was wonderfully spicy - good for keeping those sinus passages open - and chock-full of of vitamins.

An easy-easy soup I like all the time, starts with basic potato soup.  I steam or simmer cauliflower, broccoli, or brussels sprouts (or a combination) until very tender, then mash them and add them to the soup.  It adds thickness and nutrition, especially with a handful of shredded cheese stirred into the hot soup.

I found a recipe for hot-and-sour soup (my favorite when eating at a chinese restaurant) but haven't tried making that at home yet.   It may be a while because we have a combo of ice/snow and slush on the ground that makes anything other than necessary travel - to and from work - unthinkable.  So I will wait to go out to buy some of the exotic ingredients it takes.

Do you have a cold-weather soup recipe that is a favorite?