When I saw the cover of last month's Real Simple, I thought, "What could be more boring than chicken soup?" I am not a big chicken soup fan, and that includes real chicken stock from a chicken carcass, chicken noodle and matzoh ball (although I'd be willing to try a really good matzoh ball soup if someone knew where I could get some). To me the only reason to eat chicken soup is if you're sick.

But when I finally read the RS recipe, I decided to try it. In addition to 3 tablespoons of minced ginger it had parsnips, carrots, a turnip and sliced scallions sprinkled over the top. It starts with sauteeing the ginger with a couple minced garlic cloves and a thinly sliced onion. Then add the chicken broth and the vegetables. The recipe uses a rotisserie chicken, but I don't get the point. I just added cubed raw chicken to the soup, and it was cooked by the time the vegetables were soft, 20 minutes later.

It was pretty good, with all that ginger. I also made the maple-walnut biscuits (a half-recipe, since the whole one made 8 biscuits). The best part of the biscuits is the maple syrup you brush on top for the last 5 minutes of baking. (There's maple syrup in the dough, too, but I felt like it was less detectable.)

Oh, the photo is courtesy of my coworker, Julie, from when I ate the leftover soup for lunch. Thanks!