cioppino

Italian influenced seafood soup fits right in with my food goals for the new year.  I want foods with more veggies, more seafood, simple preparations, and big, bold flavors.  And seafood soup checks that list off in every aspect.  Veggies?  Check.  Tomatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, peppers.

a quick saute of the veggies builds a base for the soup

I happened to have some cooked garden tomatoes from last summer in the freezer, though canned tomatoes would work as well.  But I have to admit that there is nothing quite like the flavor of home-grown tomatoes in January.  A little thyme, some dried tarragon, ground fennel seed, orange zest and juice, some red jalapeno, and a dash of salt and pepper rounded out the broth, which I thinned with a bit of seafood stock, available at most groceries.

tomato soup of the gods, slightly spicy with peppers, rich with vegetables,

and scented with orange and fennel

All I needed was some seafood to round things out.  I wanted some mussels, but the ones at the grocery didn't look that great, so I settled for scallops, shrimp, and flounder.  The beauty of cioppino is that what goes in just needs to be fresh.  Doesn't matter what it is.  Mussels, clams, fish, shrimp, crab.  Who cares?  Whatever looks good rules the day.  The end result?  A fragrant, rich, tomato broth brimming with tender seafood that takes just minutes to prepare.

the seafood poaches to perfection in the broth in just minutes over very low heat