Soup

Listen, we get it. After Thanksgiving, you are so done with the kitchen. While we're apt to microwave leftovers for the next few days, it helps to have at least one meal that tastes a little different from the rest. This nourishing soup is also a light reprieve from all the heavy fare.

Whole Foods sent us a roast turkey, and alongside it, they also sent along an "after-Thanksgiving turkey soup" recipe. I took inspiration from the recipe, but made it with brown rice instead of egg noodles, as well as my dad's secret ingredient for just about anything.

Keep reading to find out the secret ingredient, then make the easy leftover turkey soup.

You may be surprised to learn that it's celebrity chef Guy Fieri who created this perfect bowl of soup fit for a delicious detox. This ginger-carrot soup is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, and manganese, which helps to aid in digestion. To top it all off, there's no cholesterol whatsoever in this tasty recipe! To up the detox power and offer a more robust flavor, I added an additional tablespoon of ginger to give the soup a brighter flavor. Ready to detox deliciously? Keep reading for the healthy and fresh soup recipe.

Soup is good food! Perfect for a light lunch, soup will keep the hunger pains a bay before your evening Thanksgiving feast. For a seasonal soup recipe, we turned to Richard Blais, the winner of Bravo's Top Chef All-Stars, for a recipe featuring acorn squash. Blais lightened up the traditional recipe by using Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream. Serve the soup without garnish for an easy-to-prepare lunch, or deck it out with pomegranate seeds, a little chorizo, cilantro, and a bit of lime.

See the recipe when you read more.

Rich in flavor yet light on the butter and cream, curried pumpkin soup is an easy Thanksgiving starter or a simple entrée that can be stored in the fridge for guests to enjoy during the holiday weekend. This particular pumpkin soup has an Indian twist with the addition of ginger, curry powder, and coconut milk; however, it is not overwhelmingly spicy or palate-burning.

While you might want to forgo using fresh pumpkin in baked goods, it's a must when making homemade pumpkin soup. Yes, it takes a while for the pumpkin to roast, but once the gourd is cooked through, the soup comes together in no time. Plus, roasting real pumpkin lets you reserve the pumpkin seeds and toast them for the topping.

The pumpkin makes the soup thick, fibrous, and slightly sweet, while the freshly toasted pumpkin seeds are fun to munch on. The Indian curry and fresh ginger make this soup plenty spicy, and a dash of cayenne heightens the fiery burn. The fluffy dollop of Greek yogurt gives the soup a tart bite and mellows out the spice.

Depending on how much parsley you use, you can consider it a "dose" of green vegetables before the indulgent Thanksgiving mains are served. I like a large handful, which wilts into an easy-to-chew, spinach-like texture. Learn how to make it.

YumSugar's Chipotle Chili Hack

This is the story of how two food writers so loved a chili recipe, they sought out to re-create it at home, with no recipe or guidelines other than the memory still lingering on their taste buds.

It was the end of the day at the New York City Wine & Food Festival Grand Tasting. YumSugar editor Susannah Chen and I wearily made our way to the Chipotle stand to seek refuge from the onslaught of cupcake-infused vodkas and countless tomato sauce tastings. We knew whatever Chipotle cooked up would perk up our fatigued palates, and sure enough, as soon as we saw smiling Chipotle servers doling out steamy bowls of chili off the stainless-steel countertops, we made a mad dash.

The Original Chipotle Chili

The chili was a godsend on a bone-chilling day in New York City. Susannah and I quickly gobbled down our piping-hot bowls of chili, only breaking the silence with our intermittent exclamations of phrase like "Oh. My. God." and "Wow. Mmm-hm." Once we finished our bowls, we eagerly asked the Chipotle employees, "When can we expect this amazing chili to hit restaurants?" The employees chuckled and said, "Sorry gals. Don't expect this to be out anytime soon. If anything, we might release it to one or two locations in DC."

Our hopes of round two chili were almost crushed! Luckily, Susannah pressed on: "Well, what exactly is in this recipe?" The employee, hesitant to reveal Chipotle recipe development chef Nate Appleman's secret ingredients, replied, "If you combine Chipotle's barbacoa, pinto beans, and black beans, then you're halfway there." It was enough information to give us a jumping-off point. Susannah and I looked at each other and in jinx-like manner screamed, "Recipe hack!"

So allow me to present to you the YumSugar Chipotle Chili recipe hack, which was made in our office using a single electric stove-top burner and a nonstick soup pan. We tortured our co-workers with this dreamy clove-and beer-scented chili bubbling in the kitchen for hours, as the starches in the beans broke down to create a thick, unctuous mixture. Finally, the moment had arrived for the taste test.

Admittedly upon first bite, Susannah and I couldn't determine whether or not we had accurately hacked chef Appleman's recipe, but we knew we had made something good. The Texan in me comes out when I emphasize real good. The caramelized onions add a sweetness to the acidic tomato stew. The dark beer and cloves subtly boost the flavor of the chili, giving it that indescribable je ne sais quoi, or yo no sé lo que, since this is a Mexican dish after all. The salty, spicy broth soaks into the barbacoa beef and beans, and the crunchy radish and chip topping keeps the overall texture interesting and diverse.

Upon the first spoonful, several tasters broke down and could hardly stutter more than "Oh wow." and "Best. Chili. Ever." We think this story has a happy makeshift ending, but until Chipotle makes our chili dreams come true by putting this item on menus across America, we'll have to resort to cooking up our own Chipotle chili recipe hack.

Francophile alert: if Julia Child, the grand dame of French cookery, were still alive, then she would be celebrating her centennial birthday in just one short week (on Aug. 15). Naturally, it only seems fitting to crack the spine on her seminal masterpiece, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and get cooking, in honor of the auspicious date.

Not too surprisingly, flipping through the pages of pithy prose and detailed instructions provided ample inspiration — one could easily spend a year devoted to cooking from the hefty tome — but my penchant for anything and everything soup eventually led me to settle on her classic recipe for potage parmentier (otherwise known as potato leek soup).

Keep reading for the classic recipe.