From the Kitchen of ... Linda Fishman, Atlanta

Who knew that three familiar ingredients could create something so unique? This soup can be served hot or cold, and it makes a great start to a supper of stir-fried vegetables with beef or chicken, a main-course salad or just sandwiches.

The cook: Linda Fishman of Atlanta loves food and loves reading about food, but she prefers to keep the cooking simple. “My greatest cooking achievement is finding things that are really easy,” she said.
The recipe: Fishman once served her Curried Apple Soup to a friend who was a bit of a curmudgeon. “He’s the kind of person who walks into your house and goes, ‘That’s terrible,’ ” she said. “But he was just raving about the soup.” Fishman offered to give him the recipe, but he insisted he could never make anything that good. “I said, ‘Yes, you can — it’s three cans!”

Tips: You can make this soup meatless by substituting cream of celery soup for the cream of chicken. And you can make it healthier by opting for reduced-salt and reduced-fat versions of the soup and broth.
-- Deborah Geering, for the Journal-Constitution