A good bowl of chicken enchilada soup should taste like comfort food and a Tex-Mex favorite met in one pot. It needs tender chicken, a creamy broth, warm chile flavor, and enough cheese to make every spoonful feel rich without turning heavy.

Sunday night cooking has a mood all its own. The house gets quiet, the week starts tapping at the door, and dinner needs to feel like a warm hand on the shoulder. That is exactly the spirit behind this soup, a cozy, spoonable take on Lucille Ball’s Sunday Night Special.

A great clam soup tastes like the sea without tasting muddy, fishy, or flat. The difference usually comes down to three choices: how the clams are cleaned, when they are cooked, and what seasonings surround them.