I started working on this recipe a few years ago in the dreary depths of winter. Flooded with grief and struggling with a bout of severe depression, I wasn’t particularly inspired to cook. But something kept drawing me to the idea of a chicken in a pot. So back I went.Let me be clear—it wasn’t nostalgia calling. Chicken soup doesn’t warmly transport me to my childhood. Simply put, it wasn’t an arrow in my mom’s vast quiver of cold remedies. And on the rare occasion when she did make a soup with chicken, it was so dense with barley and tart with lemon that I found it more of a burden than a comfort to eat.As I tinkered with the soup, I kept returning to saffron, lemon, turmeric, and black pepper. At some point, I spooned a little cooked rice into my bowl and drizzled it with warm cardamom ghee. Sitting and sipping, childhood memories of my mom’s poached chicken with saffron and lemon flooded into my head. My brothers and I always fought over the broth, which we used to douse our tahdig so that it’d soften a bit. So while my childhood chicken soup may not have inspired this one, a warm memory found its way into the pot.

Spicy, vibrant Thai red curries inspired this creamy soup. The multilayered flavors of curry paste, rich coconut milk, and savory fish sauce perfectly complement the sweetness of the carrots. But it’s the crunchy, umami-packed topping—a spin on miang kham, a snack full of peanuts, coconut, and chilies found throughout Thailand and Laos—that’s the real standout.

We’re obviously big fans of plantain. Its nutritional value and versatility make it one of our favorite ingredients. The bodegas always have plantains on deck. Pierre’s Bajan grandmother called her version of this dish “strong man soup.” She made it with cassava, pumpkin, and other ground provisions and served it to her kids every Wednesday. It was filling enough to satisfy them all day, and Pierre’s father, Andrew, says her rendition would make them feel invincible. This lentil stew marries Latin American and Caribbean influences.

"Gazpacho is a summertime favorite that is a quick and easy meal when it’s too hot outside to cook. Use the best tomatoes you can find—it truly makes a big difference. Traditional gazpacho is made with bread, but at goop Kitchen we like to keep it gluten-free with cashews. Be sure to plan ahead, as it’s best when it marinates overnight."

It doesn’t get more comforting than congee. The creamy rice porridge is easy to make, and finishing with fresh ginger at the end adds brightness and keeps it light. Don’t skip the crispy shallots—in fact, make extra, because you’ll want to sprinkle them on everything.

“‘Kitchari’ means ‘mixture’ in Hindi, and it is a traditional Ayurvedic dish typically made with mung dal (split mung beans) and white basmati rice, delicately flavored with herbs and spices, and cooked with your choice of vegetables. It’s the ultimate comfort food. Kitchari is suitable for all mind-body types (doshas) and adaptable to suit your preference—light and soupy or hearty and filling. It’s my go-to. I could make it blindfolded.” —Jasmine Hemsley

Don’t get hung up on the pronunciation of "sinigang"—this tangy, savory Filipino soup is perfect for when you’re under the weather. Toss everything together in one pot and you end up with a colorful bowl of delicious soup. To make it heartier, add your favorite rice or quinoa.

Making homemade broth is not difficult, per se, but it sure does take a long time. That's where the pressure cooker comes in: You'll get deeply flavored broth in a fraction of the time, and you'll want to save all the leftovers for making soups, cooking grains or even sipping on for a warming savory treat. We added a few key ingredients (ginger, star anise, coriander) to make this broth work for pho, but you could totally use this process with different aromatics in other dishes.

"This soup is all about that broth—bone broth, that is. Collagen-rich bone broth is a key gut healer, as it helps to essentially coat the gut lining and prevent and heal leaky gut (which is incredibly common, and can cause systemic inflammation). The rest of this soup is umami-rich and ultra-immune-boosting, with spicy garlic and ginger, some leafy greens for fiber and Vitamin K, and a protein-packed egg to round out the meal."