Dinner Tonight: Hearty Winter Vegetable Soup and Popovers

I had one condition for dinner tonight, no meat. Sitting at my desk this afternoon, as I was trying to come up with ideas, I spotted the January issue of Martha Stewart Living in a pile of magazines and catalogs. On the cover was dinner, a chunky vegetable soup and popovers.

The soup is loaded with vegetables; leeks, carrots, celery, butternut squash, potatoes, chickpeas and escarole. Herbs and lemon juice added before serving compliment the savory flavors while the squash provides bites of surprising sweetness. Three of us loved it, my youngest son took as few bites as possible. He did manage to scarf down his popover though.

Oh, the popovers. I can't believe how beautifully they turned out. These are basically Yorkshire Puddings. The difference is they are made with butter instead of beef drippings. I make Yorkshire Puddings with rib roast at Christmas. They look like this when they come out of the oven, but, inevitably, they fall to half their height. Not these beauties, they maintained their perfect shape.

I am left with lots of leftover soup and six popovers. Can't wait until lunch tomorrow!