Because I find making (and enjoying) a pot of homemade soup to be one of the finest comforts around, and because a lot of people keep thinking I’m joking when I mention pickle soup, here’s my inexact recipe for pickle soup. This is technically vegetarian/vegan, but yours doesn’t have to be.

• Cut up two or three onions, throw them in a big stock pot with some olive oil.
• Toss in 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of minced garlic.
• Start the pot over a low heat.
• Cut up about 2 large carrots. Toss them in the pot.
• Peel and chop a sweet potato—orange or white, doesn’t matter. Toss into the pot.
• Chop about 6-8 red potatoes. Toss into the pot.
• Chop up 5-6 large dill pickles. Toss into the pot.
• Measure out 1-2 cups of pickle juice from the jar. Pour into the pot.
• Add another 4-5 cups of water to the pot.
• Add a couple of vegetable bouillon cubes to the pot.
• Allow to simmer until all vegetables are tender (about an hour or two).
• Strain out some of the vegetables, roughly enough to fill a soup bowl. Blend the rest of the pot’s contents together. (An immersion blender is great for this.)
• Add 1-2 cups of plain almond milk to “smooth it out.”
• Add the strained vegetables back to the pot. (This allows the soup to still have some “texture” for those who aren’t fans of blended soups.)
• Add seasonings like Tony Chachere’s and/or dill, to taste.

… And enjoy! My partner likes to add a torfurkey “sausage” to his bowl of pickle soup.