BLT Soup — The Sunday Pot That Felt Like a Long Chain of Women

Week two hundred. I've been writing this for almost four years. I started it as an experiment—a way of keeping track, of having something to give Liam someday—and it's become the thing that structures how I look at my weeks. When you know you're going to write about something, you see it differently. You notice what you're eating and why. You notice when Sean does the thing with the phone face-up on the nightstand. You notice Liam saying "outside" for the twelve-hundredth time and you notice that you're glad he keeps saying it.

Thirty-one weeks. Nine more. January is long and cold and I'm at the stage of pregnancy where the body is firmly in charge of the schedule and the schedule is: smaller meals, more often, horizontal when possible, patience at all times. I'm managing. I know the terrain.

My father called on Sunday. He doesn't call often—he's a man who considers phone calls the reserve of things that need verbal handling—but he calls more now than he used to, which I've noticed and said nothing about. He called to say he'd been thinking about the name. Nora. He said it's a good name. He said "your grandmother's middle name was Nora." I didn't know this. He said "I thought you might not know." I don't think this is coincidence—I think it is, actually, but it doesn't feel like coincidence. It feels like the name chose itself the way the best things do.

Made fish chowder on Sunday, the real New England kind, with haddock and cream and potatoes and a bay leaf. Liam had three bowls. Nora moved all through it. My father's grandmother was Nora. The chain is long.

That pot of chowder on Sunday — haddock going soft in the cream, Liam asking for more before his bowl was empty, Nora turning slow loops underneath my ribs — was the kind of meal that earns its place in the permanent record. I can’t share a fish chowder recipe today because what I’ve been reaching for all week, what I keep coming back to in the cold and the smallness of January, is this BLT Soup: humble, honest, and quicker than it has any right to be. It has the same quality that Sunday dinner had — something warm made on purpose, something that filled the kitchen with a smell that made staying in feel like enough.

BLT Soup

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 8 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups chopped romaine or fresh spinach
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Croutons or crusty bread, for serving

Instructions

1. Cook the bacon. In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon pieces until crispy, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and set aside, leaving about 2 tablespoons of drippings in the pot.
2. Soften the aromatics. Add the diced onion to the pot with the bacon drippings and cook over medium heat until translucent and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
3. Build the soup. Pour in the diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, smoked paprika, and thyme. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
4. Blend (optional). For a smoother texture, use an immersion blender to partially blend the soup — you want it creamy but with some texture remaining. Alternatively, transfer half the soup to a blender, blend until smooth, and return it to the pot.
5. Add the cream. Stir in the heavy cream over low heat. Do not boil after adding cream. Taste and season generously with salt and black pepper.
6. Wilt the greens. Add the chopped romaine or spinach and stir until just wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
7. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with reserved crispy bacon and croutons. Serve with crusty bread for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 710mg