Lunch for the Brrrrr Winter Days! Bread and Soup Pairings from Panera Bread

By: Finance Foodie

Brrrrrrrr! The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And since we've no place to go, we might as well get some bread and soup delivered so we don't have to go out in what feels like snow!

Haha. So my lyricsit skills are probably questionable, but one thing is for sure: nothing beats a steaming bowl of soup with fresh baked bread on a cold winters day. Luckily, Panera Bread has a whole host of options for warming your head, shoulders, knees, and toes (and they deliver for those days where stepping outside even for lunch is painful!).

After listening to my plight, the Panera Team sent me some fun and creative options to try for my next lunch week!

Low-fat Vegetarian Black Bean Soup - pairs well with the Asiago Cheese bread. The slightly spicy with flavors of cilantro, cumin and garlic blend perfectly with the nutty flavor of the Asiago cheese in the sourdough-based bread.

Vegetarian Creamy Tomato Soup - pairs well with the Three Cheese bread. The tomato soup has a rich and creamy tomato flavor with hints of oregano. Dipping a piece of Three Cheese bread in this soup reminds me of sopping up homemade marinara with great piece of bread.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup - pairs well with the French bread. The rich and cheesy soup with chunks of broccoli soaks in nicely to the open crumb of our French bread. Save a little of the bread for the last bit of soup at the end of the bowl so that you can use it to scrape the bowl clean!

French Onion Soup - pairs well with the Sourdough bread. A classic at Panera since they started 23 years ago. The soup soaks into the sides of the tangy bread bowl, making the mix of the slightly sweet and beefy soup compliment the sourdough perfectly.

Low-fat Chicken Tortilla Soup - pairs well with the Jalapeño Cheddar bagel. The flavors of cumin and lime along with ancho and chipotle chilies of the Chicken Tortilla soup blend nicely with the slightly spicy jalapenos and salsa spice mix in the bagel. Roasted corn flour in the bagel dough balances the spices of the bagel and the soup.

Can't wait to try them all!

***Giveaway***

Congrats #58 - ABostonFan 

So Panera wants one of my lucky readers to try these combos for a week along with me! The team at Panera will send one reader a $25 gift card redeemable at any of their restaurants!

There are THREE ways to enter:
1. REQUIRED In my comments section, tell me which combo you are most excited to try! Please leave an email address so I can contact you. 
2. Follow Finance Foodie on Twitter (leave separate comment telling me this)
3. Reblog / Retweet this giveaway (leave separate comment telling me this)

This is a quickie! Contest ends Friday December 17, 2010 at 5pm EST. Winners will be chosen via random integer generator on random.org announced on the financefoodie.com site shortly afterwards that night!

Disclosure: Panera Bread provided me with the gift card for the giveaway.  Photos also courtesy of Panera Bread.