#044: When in doubt, make some soup

A soupy summer orzo recipe to combat summer loneliness and feed your soul

It’s true, summer is the best time ever but it can also often feel like the loneliest time too. And it’s a different kind of loneliness from that of wintertime because the latter almost expects you to be cozying up at home with candles and movies and fuzzy socks. Summer promises something else, and you therefore expect something else. It promises activity, lots of it, and hangs and laughter and hours on end spent outside with the people you love. But the lull in work, friends traveling all over the place and empty calendars make for a lot of time alone and a lot of contemplative afternoons with no plans at all. It’s an odd feeling when just outside your apartment, you’re overwhelmed by crowded streets and large sidewalk group dinners that have you wondering how everyone coordinated their schedules. But how lucky am I to even have afternoons with no plans at all! I like to turn them into an opportunity to reconnect with the things and people I love. Usually that means over a gorgeous meal, and even better if it’s homemade.

This past Sunday, it was 5pm and sunny and New York was calling me to be outside. I found myself with no dinner plans and a fridge full of summer produce I picked up from the farmer’s market. I panicked thinking about how I’m leaving for a trip soon and I have all these veggies to use up. I texted one of my best friends and asked him to come over for dinner. I wanted to make something warm and nurturing, the opposite of what one would normally crave in the midst of a heat wave. But I needed it as an antidote to the feeling I described above. Enter: the soupy summer orzo that we whipped up that felt like the hug I so needed. It’s loosely inspired by a recipe that came in my inbox a few days prior but reworked almost entirely in a way that felt more intuitive and easy. I hope you enjoy and get to feel its warmth :)