Casseroles also freeze well and are comforting. Make any kind of casserole you're comfortable with, but use matzah or matzah meal instead of pasta or rice (or buy kosher for Passover pasta). You can make any kind of strata using dampened sheets of matzah between layers.

Thank you, both! Those recipes are beautiful!

Gellchom, I will almost certainly be making one or more of the recipes you provided. Thank you so much. Can you tell me what the Meyer lemon dressing is intended to go with?

Whoops -- that goes to a smoked trout salad. For some reason it got stuck onto the end of that soup recipe.

Gellchom, thank you so much for those recipes. I made enough of all three of them for our family and to give to our neighbor and all three were lick-the-bowl delicious. My son requested more trout chowder today. You are awesome!

Oh, thank you, kiwigem! You made my day. I'm so glad they were helpful and your family and neighbors enjoyed them. Soup is always useful and comforting, isn't it?

The trout chowder recipe is near identical to mine and delicious. Made just as is.

A variation dairy-free is to add fresh corn off the cob, (or frozen fresh) or grocery fresh/frozen off season...1/4 red bell pepper chopped fine. Before adding the trout, or smoked salmon, take 1/4 or 1/3'd of soup out and blender smooth, then add back to soup. Leek is also a nice addition. Skewered grilled shrimp, scallop, salmon, firm whitefish kabobs any combination placed across the bowl for an entree meal.

-i had weekend houseguests last summer that brought a friend we had not yet met. As they were traveling the first night we made the chowder and kept it on a low burner without the cream and trout to be added later after arrival. Shrimp prepped.

Good thing as she was no dairy or shellfish so you never know. She was not sure about the trout but loved it. I just served the shrimp and cream at the table. Self serve. And bacon croutons.

kiwigem, I'm late to this party and definitely not qualified to give you kosher recipes, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear about your neighbor, and that it's very nice to pitch in and help with meals at such a difficult time. Right around a holiday too, that makes it harder, sometimes. My condolences to you and all the family and friends who have lost their loved one.

Annie

gellchom, I just came back to this thread because I'm going to make the acorn squash soup for Thanksgiving, and doing so reminded me how often I return to the recipes you offered and that my neighbor still tells me how much she enjoyed them and how much comfort they brought her. I'm a little emotional as I think back on that time, but it was so helpful to have something constructive to do, and you doing the thinking for me was such a gift! We never know how much small things can bless another person. Thanks again.

Another late to the game, but after my MIL passed away, all the widows brought my FIL catasteroles and he didn't know what to do with all that food! (Being a wealthy Doctor, he was quite the catch!)

Had I been there with my foodsaver, I could have frozen food for at least 6 months for him!

I always made double portions of soups and things like lasagne and other easily freezable meals and froze in 2 portioned meals. We would go visit and fill his freezer with meals a couple of times a year.

He told me on his deathbed I was his favorite cook! (SIL is a chef!) Just cause I made him managable sized meals!

kiwi_bird, your sweet words brought tears to my eyes. How right you are that little things can mean so much more than we'd ever dream, and how nice of you to tell me that those recipes meant something to you and your friend -- who I hope has made a complete recovery. Your doing so is another of those kindnesses, one I will not forget.

To thank you both, I want to give you another soup recipe, and I know just which one it has to be. It was given to me by another very kind gw poster, Teresa_mn, 8 years ago when I was making soup once a week for a friend undergoing some especially horrid chemo, and asked this forum for some recipe suggestions. She sent it to me along with a bag of wild rice that she grew herself! It's very good.

Wild Rice Soup

6 tablespoons margarine or butter

2-3 tablespoons minced onion

1/2 cup flour

3 cups chicken soup [vegetarian substitute works fine]

2 cups cooked wild rice*

1/2 cup finely grated carrots [Teresa uses more]

1 cup minced ham or leftover cooked chicken [I have used vegetarian "ham," and it was great]

3 tablespoons chopped slivered almonds (you can put them in the soup OR toast and top as a garnish)

Salt to taste [I added pepper, too]

1 cup half and half [Teresa used fat free; I used nondairy substitute]

2 tablespoons dry sherry

Directions

In large saucepan, melt margarine; saute onion until tender. Blend in flour; gradually add broth. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in rice, carrots, ham, almonds and salt; simmer about 5 minutes. Blend in half and half and sherry; heat to serving temperature. Garnish with snipped parsley or chives.

*Here is Teresa's favorite way to cook the wild rice:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. You will need a covered casserole or pot (a 2 quart size is good). She uses a glass casserole.

Place in casserole

1 cup raw rice

2.5 cups of boiling water or stock

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Test rice for doneness. Cook another 15 minutes if you want it more tender. Use excess water in wild rice soup.

One cup raw rice will make 4 to 4.5 cups of cooked rice. It freezes well.

gellchom: Your soups sound yummy and I love soups, especially this time of year. Are the 3 cups of chicken soup supposed to be stock?

Whatever you have on hand. Broth, stock.

I made your "Crema di cavolfiore con pomodori secchi e rosmarino" tonight--easy and delicious! Thank you for the recipe!

LOL Sooz! I take it you were dictating --

That soup is a winner, isn't it? Impresses the heck out of guests :-) And so fast and easy, especially with a stick blender, which I learned of from jessyf on this forum. Sounds so fancy in Italian, too. But it's not a good choice for chemo patients because of the tomato.

LOL!!!!! I fixed it! Apparently your dictation name is yelp dot com!