Aromatics and fresh herbs lend to the amazing smell and taste of this hearty, easy Mushroom, Bean and Couscous Soup

It was the middle of a snowstorm, and I had some cooking to do.

Not for myself or my family, but for a friend recovering from a hospital stay; I had signed on to a meal-train plan, my turn had arrived, and unplowed roads meant I couldn't go to the grocery store. My only choice: to make use of my freezer and pantry, to get creative.

I know this wouldn't excite everyone, but it did me. A chance to play!

Let me stop here and acknowledge how privileged I am to be able to afford to keep my house well-stocked with food. For far too many people, the question isn't what to do with all the stuff they have; it's about how to get by on far too little. I know because I've been there myself - and I'm grateful that I'm not there now.

I try not to take for granted the fact that I can almost always go to the store and buy more food, even when I really don't need to. But the truth is, I too often fall prey to my own cravings and my husband's and teenager's, too, meaning that even though we might have the makings of a great chili or casserole in the house, if the kid feels like a pizza, I usually get what I need to make pizza - or order one.

This time, that was out of the question, so I got to pretend I was on “Chopped,” competing against nobody but myself.

The request was for a satisfying meal with a good balance of vegetables and protein. Shopping in my own pantry, I soon realized I had the makings of a mushroom soup. Fresh produce was a little sparse, but years earlier, my husband had bought me several bags of beautiful dried porcini mushrooms that I hadn't touched. I had onions and garlic, as always, and several dried pastas and grains. Fregola, toasted pearl-sized couscous from Sardinia, would add heft while cooking quickly. A quart-sized jar of navy beans I had cooked the day before (of course I did!) sat in the fridge, ready to add bulk, protein and, thanks to their cooking liquid, flavor and silky texture.

My spice drawer is overstuffed with flavor enhancers. I dug up one bag I couldn't even recall buying, of dried Sicilian peppers, and a hazy memory of a friend returning from a trip started taking shape. (When your career revolves around food, friends and colleagues bring you all manner of little edible souvenirs.)

I loved how the soup came together, but I'm also lucky enough to know how to cook. If I had needed to look up a recipe that fit all my criteria, it would've taken me longer to figure out all the substitutes than it did to just build the flavor as I went, tasting and adjusting and making use of the bounty that all too often I don't appreciate as bountiful.

For you, I've taken the guesswork out and gotten specific. I based this recipe on my snowbound day in the kitchen, after adapting it to use not the exact things I had in my pantry that day, but what you probably have in yours - or what you could easily get. I'm not going to ask you to hunt down dried Sicilian red peppers just to make this soup. Instead, since those peppers were sweet and not spicy, in further tests I successfully made it with sun-dried tomatoes instead. The raft of dried porcinis my husband mail-ordered at a decent price in bulk would cost way too much at a grocery store, if you could even find them, so I instead used a little mushroom powder (which I highly recommend as a super-powerful pantry staple, and which you can grind yourself if needed) plus fresh mushrooms. The fregola became pearl couscous (and could be any other small pasta or hearty grain).

The most important thing about the soup is this: Once our roads were plowed, I got it to my friend's townhouse in time for dinner, and it helped her and her family make it through one more night without having to worry about food. I hope it can do the same for you.

MUSHROOM, BEAN AND COUSCOUS SOUP

SERVINGS: 4 to 6 (8 cups)

Active time: 30 mins; Total time: 45 mins

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 6 months

Make ahead: Make ahead: If you soak the beans (see Notes), that needs to happen 8 to 12 hours before making the soup. Cooked beans can be refrigerated, in their liquid, for up to 4 days before making the soup.

This hearty soup gets its deep flavor from a combination of dried and fresh mushrooms, and heft from beans and pearl couscous. With the exception of the mushrooms and aromatic vegetables, it depends mostly on shelf-stable ingredients, making it particularly well-suited to snow days or any time you're trying to clean out the pantry.

• 3/4 cup navy beans, cannellini or other white beans, soaked for 8 to 12 hours (see Notes) and drained

• 6 cups low-sodium homemade vegetable broth or store-bought vegetable broth or water, divided, plus more as needed (see related recipe)

• 2 medium yellow onions (1 pound total), chopped and divided

• 6 garlic cloves, chopped and divided

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon fine salt, divided, plus more to taste

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• 1 tablespoon dried mushroom powder, such as porcini or shiitake

• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

• 1 pound fresh cremini mushrooms or button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

• 1/2 cup oil-packed or dry sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

• 1 cup pearl couscous or fregola

• Freshly ground black pepper

STEPS

In a multi-cooker such as an Instant Pot, combine the beans with 3 cups of the vegetable broth. Add half of the onions, half of the garlic, the bay leaves and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Secure the appliance's lid and make sure the steam valve is sealed. Select PRESSURE (HIGH) and set the cook time to 30 minutes. (It should take about 10 minutes for the appliance to come to pressure.)

When the 30 minutes of cooking is up, release the pressure manually by moving the handle to “Venting.” To do this, cover your hand with a towel and make sure to keep your hand and face away from the vent when the steam releases. Open the appliance and check to see if the beans are tender. If not, return them to PRESSURE (HIGH) for 10 minutes at a time, manually releasing the pressure and steam each time, until they are tender.

While the beans are cooking, in a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the remaining onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the mushroom powder and thyme and cook, stirring, until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the mushrooms and tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms collapse, exude their liquid, it mostly evaporates and they start to brown, 6 to 7 minutes.

Add the couscous and the remaining 3 cups of the vegetable broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the soup is at a simmer, cover and cook until the couscous swells and is tender, about 10 minutes.

When the beans are cooked, drain them, reserving their liquid. Add the beans, plus 2 cups of their cooking liquid, to the pot and return to a simmer. (If you don't have 2 cups of the cooking liquid, add water for a total of 2 cups.) Cover and cook until the flavors meld, about 2 minutes. Taste, and season with more salt as needed.

Divide among bowls, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with pepper and serve hot.

Substitutions: Instead of white beans >> use chickpeas, pinto beans or cranberry beans. Want to use canned beans? >> Rinse and drain 2 cups and use water instead of cooking liquid. Fresh thyme >> 2 teaspoons dried thyme. Pearl couscous >> ditalini or orzo or 2 cups pre-cooked farro or barley. If using a pre-cooked grain, add it with the beans instead of earlier.

Variations: To cook the beans on the stovetop, use 2 cups of the water or broth instead of 3 cups. Bring them to a boil over medium-high heat, boil for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook until tender, up to 1 hour or longer, depending on the age of the beans and whether or not you soak them.

Notes: If you don't have time to soak your beans and/or you know they're particularly fresh, you can skip soaking them and add 10 to 15 minutes to the cooking time. Feel free to use previously cooked beans, or cook a pound's worth, and use 2 cups of the beans plus liquid for this soup and save the rest for another use. You can also make your own mushroom powder: Grind dried shiitake, porcini or any other dried mushroom in a dedicated spice grinder until fine.

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