Cozy comfort: Tea can add a subtle yet complex flavor to your homemade soups

It’s fall, and there’s nothing like a cozy cup of …

You thought I was going to say soup, didn’t you? Nope, I’m talking about tea here. Sure, like many of us, I enjoy my morning cup of coffee, but for the rest of the day, I am a tea drinker. Black, green, chai, herbal, I like them all.

Which is why I can’t believe it never occurred to me to use tea when making soup. What an excellent way to steep flavor into a broth. Once I started researching this, I found plenty of examples, including:

• Orzo and chickpea soup with a turmeric ginger tea broth

• Sencha green tea in chicken soup

• Lemongrass tea in pho broth

• Ginger tea in carrot soup

• Lapsang souchong in lentil soup

Some recipes use tea as the broth, while others use it to flavor the broth. I decided to experiment with a simple butternut squash soup, using chai tea bags to flavor the vegetable broth.

I was pleasantly surprised at the subtle yet complex flavor the tea brought to the soup, with hints of cinnamon and cardamom. A pinch of cayenne in the recipe brings the sweetness down a notch. I used two tea bags, but you might want to experiment to see how much of the chai flavor you like.

If you prefer, you can also make this soup over the stove. Just let the soup simmer until the squash is tender, and it will be fine.

In either case, relax, make yourself a cup of tea, and savor the season.

• M. Eileen Brown is the Daily Herald’s vice president of sales and marketing and an incurable soup-a-holic. She specializes in vegetarian soups and blogs at soupalooza.com/.

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Butternut Squash Chai Soup

2 cups vegetable stock

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 apple, cored and diced

1 medium (uncooked) butternut squash peeled, seeded and cubed

1 small white onion, peeled and diced

⅛ teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste

1-2 chai tea bags

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

½ cup canned (unsweetened) coconut milk

Add vegetable stock, garlic, carrot, apple, butternut squash, onion and cayenne to a slow cooker. Add a chai tea bag (or use two, if you’d like extra chai flavor) into the mixture so that it’s completely submerged in the broth.

Cook for 6-8 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on high, or until the squash is completely tender and mashes easily with a fork. Remove and discard the chai tea bag.

Blend the soup using an immersion blender or traditional blender. (Careful with hot liquid). Stir in the coconut milk until combined. Then taste and season with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper as needed.

Serves 4

— M. Eileen Brown