This soup is a hug

My reader-favorite lemony white bean soup with turkey and greens is a warm hug on a crisp evening.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 23, 2024 Melissa Clark's lemony white bean soup with turkey and greens. Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Jerrie-Joy Redman-Lloyd. This soup is a hug By Melissa Clark Hello from the road! I'm writing this from the airport, en route to Istanbul and points beyond for a rose-water-grape-molasses-tahini-infused getaway that I'll fill you in on when I get back. Follow along; I'll be posting plenty of food photos on Instagram (@clarkbar). Let's meet for baklava! Whenever I fly solo, I make a big batch of soup to leave behind. It's a virtual hug for my husband and daughter, one that also ensures they eat their vegetables while I'm gone (mom vibes run so deep). Lemony white bean soup with turkey and greens is a family fave, either to put in the freezer or to eat still fragrantly steaming. Its cumin and garlicky aromas really let you know a home-cooked dinner is happening, even though Mom is halfway around the world. Featured Recipe Lemony White Bean Soup With Turkey and Greens View Recipe → Yesterday marked the official start of fall, and right on cue those amber and ruddy leaves are beginning to dot the sidewalks. I always pocket a bunch and arrange them on a platter for the table, their pretty colors oddly reminiscent (to me anyway) of burnished, melty cheese — like that on Ham El-Waylly's pastel de choclo. Ham's take on this casserole-like dish, popular throughout South America, is made from fresh or frozen corn kernels and spicy ground beef bound with eggs and mozzarella and spiked with raisins and olives. Ham rounds out the brawny flavors with a small amount of sweetened condensed milk in the corn pudding, but cooks report in the recipe notes using regular whole milk instead for a more savory experience. Speaking of convenient marvels, Yotam Ottolenghi's smoky shrimp saganaki is among his finest and simplest weeknight recipes. It's a snap to make; just bake a skillet full of cherry tomatoes, chiles and garlic until everything bubbles and softens. Then nestle chunks of feta in it and, at the end, a handful of sliced shrimp that blush bashfully as they cook. A bit of crusty bread is all you need to mop up that lovely, shrimpy sauce. More saucy goodness, this time from Kay Chun in her smart new recipe for chicken au poivre. It's steak au poivre recast with seared chicken thighs, whose browned drippings imbue the peppery pan sauce with umami richness. Serve it over noodles (or more of that crusty bread), and a bracing, herby green salad to lighten things up. Black pepper also gets billing in Ali Slagle's lemon-pepper tofu and snap peas, in which pepper and sesame season the cornstarch used to coat slabs of tofu. As the slabs sear, the pepper and the sesame toast, their flavors deepening, and the tofu gets nice and crispy on the outside while staying pillow-soft within. Sugar snap peas are seared in the same skillet, then all of it is served with a gingery tahini sauce for your dipping delectation. It's a tofu dish with serious panache. Now for a dessert that makes the most of early autumn fruit. Vallery Lomas's easy apple buckle is filled with tender slices of baked apples, held together (barely) with batter. Try to serve this warm from the oven, with scoops of vanilla ice cream melting into a silky custard sauce over all that good, sweet-tart fruit. Can there possibly be a better treat for late September? Obviously, you'll want to subscribe to get these and all the other thousands upon thousands of recipe we have at New York Times Cooking. If you need any technical advice (where did that recipe box go, why can't I print), send an email to cookingcare@nytimes.com for help. And if you'd like to say hi, I'm at hellomelissa@nytimes.com. Gotta go, we're boarding now! See you when I'm back. IN THIS NEWSLETTER Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Pastel de Choclo (Beef and Corn Casserole) By Ham El-Waylly 1 hour Makes 4 to 6 servings  Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas. Smoky Shrimp Saganaki By Yotam Ottolenghi 35 minutes Makes 4 servings Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Chicken au Poivre By Kay Chun 45 minutes Makes 4 servings Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophie Leng. Green Salad With Dill Vinaigrette By Eric Kim 15 minutes, plus 30 minutes' chilling Makes 4 servings Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Lemon-Pepper Tofu and Snap Peas By Ali Slagle 30 minutes Makes 2 servings Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Easy Apple Buckle By Vallery Lomas About 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling Makes 8 servings Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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