Week 52 -- Fresh Chili

Celebrating the end of the year with a chili chock full of fresh vegetables!

Next week's post will contain an announcement about the year 2019!

Fresh Chili

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
2 bell peppers, diced (we used one green and one orange)
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can light red kidney beans
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chili
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Saute the garlic, onions, and bell pepper in a little water.
2. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, and 4 cups water.
3.  Add the beans and spices.  Let simmer about 30-45 minutes so flavors blend.

Makes about 4 servings.

Week 51 -- Noodle-y Oodle-y Soup

After a morning spent making cookies for a work cookie exchange, I was feeling nostalgic and ready for a low effort lunch.  I've been thinking lately about how, as kids, we ate a lot of Oodles of Noodles.  This soup is a more grown-up version but still not much work.  I used bean thread noodles, which are gluten free, but you could use ramen noodles if you wanted.

I wanted little bits of parsley in the soup like in a packaged soup, but I was out, so I used kale that I dehydrated and ground to flakes last summer.

It looks different from childhood,
but it's a lot healthier with the same fun of noodles.

Noodle-y Oodle-y Soup

2 servings of dry noodles (bean thread or your choice)
water to cover
1/4 tsp each sage, celery seed, savory, and turmeric
dash of black pepper
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/3 block extra-firm tofu, cubed
1/2 carrot, grated
1 Tbsp dried greens (parsley or kale)
miso to taste

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain off some water to leave desired amount for broth.
2.  Add seasonings, carrots, tofu, and greens. 
3.  Add miso to taste.

Makes two servings.

Week 50 -- Garden Vegetable

This is not an exciting soup, but it's a little taste of summer garden on a dark, snowy night.

I used home-canned tomato sauce, but you can substitute canned tomatoes.  The exact measurements aren't super important.

Lunch for the week!

Garden Vegetable Soup

1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 yellow squash, quartered and sliced
8 oz. white button mushrooms, sliced
2 cups or 1 can cooked chickpeas
2 cups tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
3 cups water

1. Put all vegetables in crockpot or slow cooker.  Let cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

Makes about 5 servings.

Week 49 -- Kik Alicha

Let me start by saying I know this is not authentic.  I do my best, but I am an American girl who has never been to Africa, though I have enjoyed this dish at many Ethiopian restaurants.  It is my favorite of all the Ethiopian stews. 

Kik Alicha is a mild but flavorful yellow split pea stew.  (Alichas are mild yellow stews, kik are yellow split peas; you can substitute lentils for messir alicha.)  It is traditionally served and eaten on a teff flatbread called injera.  I love injera.  It's one of my very favorite foods in the world.  One of the great tragedies of my cooking life is that I have never been able to make an acceptable injera, though it's not for lack of trying.  Thankfully, this stew is also great on its own or eaten with millet (although then you have to use a fork instead of just scooping it up with flatbread).

This weekend we didn't have to resort to eating it with forks.  Mom has been making wonderful red lentil flatbread that we knew was amazing for burritos, but now we know it can substitute for injera, also! 

Again, though this stew is great on its own, I like to make it with my second-favorite Ethiopian dish -- gomen.  It's easy to make.  Double the seasoning mixture and put half with your split peas and half with chopped and cooked greens.  I love it with collards, but spinach works, too.  You can start with fresh or frozen.

I should mention that I love making green split pea soup, but I find yellow split peas much more temperamental.  I always either scorch the bottom or boil over.  This time, my first try making them on an electric stove top, I managed to do both.  Be watchful.  Also, I've said it before, but it bears repeating.  Slice your ginger against the grain first, then mince it with the grain.  If you go with the grain first, you won't be able to mince it small enough.

Kik alicha with collard gomen on red lentil flatbread.

You can see in this picture how thick this stew is. 
It should be almost a porridge consistency.
The black flecks are the nigella sativa seeds.

Kik Alicha

1 pound dry yellow split peas, rinsed
6+ cups water
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 inch ginger, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
pinch black pepper
1/4 tsp nigella sativa (black cumin seeds), optional
1/4 tsp ajwain, optional
miso to taste

1. Put yellow split peas and water in a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.  Keep an eye on them and add water as needed.  Let simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours until tender to mushy.
2. In skillet, saute all seasoning ingredients in water.  Let cook down until soft and mushy.
3. Mix seasonings with split peas.  Taste for seasonings and add miso as desired.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Week 48: Roasted Vegetable Soup in Miso Broth

This is a much different soup.  Usually, one of the reasons we love soup is that the flavors blend together.  In this soup, each of the ingredients maintains its own distinct flavor.

I had some leftover cut up vegetables from making a savory vegetable tart for Mom's birthday.  I love roasted vegetables, and I don't like to waste leftovers, and this soup was super easy to throw together.

You can use any roasted vegetables you like.  I used eggplant, zucchini, carrot, onion, garlic, and grape tomatoes, because that's what I had. 

You can see how all of the vegetables hold their own.

Roasted veggies before being put in the soup...

And, just for fun, this is the savory vegetable tart
(alongside a deep dish pizza pie).

Roasted Vegetable Soup in Miso Broth

3 cups mixed vegetables, chopped into about 1 inch chunks
3 tsp miso
2-3 cups hot water

1. Spread the vegetables on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake at about 390 F for 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender and lightly browned.
2. Divide the miso evenly between two soup bowls.  Add a little hot water to each bowl and stir to dissolve miso.
3. Divide the vegetables between the two bowls.  Add more hot water to cover.  Stir to mix it all up and enjoy.

Makes 2 servings.

Week 47 -- Pumpkin Pie Soup

As promised, this is the first soup from my new kitchen!  I'm limited in ingredients and cooking equipment, but I managed to pull together a holiday-appropriate yummy soup. 

This is a sweet and spicy soup.  If you'd like it a little sweeter, add an extra 1/4 cup raisins or some date paste.  It's also hearty because it's full of lentils, so it made good lunches for work.

The onions get nice and sweet, and don't forget that anytime you eat onions with grapes (raisins) you get extra nutritional power due to synergy:  https://nutritionfacts.org/video/food-synergy/

This soup was even good when eaten at my dining room folding table.  

Pumpkin Pie Soup

1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup dry red lentils
4 cups water
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1 can (2 cups) pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp molasses
1 scant tsp apple cider vinegar

1.  Saute the onion in a little bit of water. 
2.  Add the raisins, lentils, and water.  Let simmer until lentils are soft (about 15-20 minutes). 
3.  Add the spices, pumpkin, molasses, and apple cider vinegar.  Let simmer about 5-10 more minutes to let the flavors blend.

Makes about 4 servings.

Week 46 -- Apple Sweet Potato Stew

Hopefully this will be the last soup from my parents' kitchen.  I am moving into my new house and new kitchen as I write this.  In fact, after I post, I have to go dig and find my teapot. 

With my allergies, apples are like gold.  And my usual apple supplier was not in business this year (not to mention they are now two hours away from where I'm living).  Luckily, the tree outside mom's office had an amazing harvest for the first time ever.  We have eaten hundreds of apples off the tree this year, literally.  It's not an easy tree to pick from, so we adopted the habit of going out every day to see what dropped.

This stew makes use of some of those glorious miracle apples.

Mom picking some of these magical beauties.

Hot stew after cold apple picking.

Apple Sweet Potato Stew

1 cup red lentils
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
7 cups water
3 sweet potatoes, diced
3 carrots, sliced
1 Tbsp arrowroot
1 tsp each ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric
dash ground black pepper
3 apples, diced
1 Tbsp miso
1/2 cup coconut, (reduced fat, unsweetened)
1/4 cup cashews
2 dates

1. Saute onions and garlic in water.  Add sweet potatoes, carrots, red lentils, and half of the water.  Let simmer until all are tender.  Add spices and apples.

2.  In a blender, combine miso, coconut, cashews, and dates with some of the water.  Blend until smooth.  Add to soup.

3. Dissolve arrowroot into a little water that's left.  Add to soup.  Continue simmering until arrowroot is cooked and stew has thickened.

Makes about 6 servings.

Week 45 -- Red Lentil Sweet Potato Chili

Fall is the time for chili!  I usually make plain boring chili, but Mom got a little creative with this one.  The sweet potatoes give it even more of a fall feeling.

Red Lentil Sweet Potato Chili

One onion, diced
Two bell peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
1 cup red lentils

1 can light kidney beans
1 can dark kidney beans
1 28 oz crushed tomatoes
2 scrubbed diced sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp chili powder

1. Saute the onions, peppers, and garlic in a tiny bit of water.  

2. Add water, red lentils, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and spices.  Let simmer until lentils are cooked and sweet potatoes are tender.  

Makes about 6 servings.

Week 44 -- Hot and Sour Soup

This is one of my mom's favorite soups, and it was nice on a chilly fall day.  She wanted to make it, and I just hovered.  This soup was never one of my favorites, but I appreciate it much more as an adult than I did as a kid. 

I asked mom if she needed carrots for this soup, and she gave me a strange look and said, "Why would I put carrots in this?"  Then, half an hour later, as we sat down to eat, she looked in her bowl and said, "Oh, yes, I guess I do usually put carrots in this."  So, the moral of that story is that you should feel free to add some matchstick carrots when you make this soup.

Note that this soup does contain oil.  It is the only soup you will ever see on this blog that includes oil.  The sesame oil here is used only for flavor, not for cooking.  It adds some heat and deeper flavor.  Mom keeps some in the cupboard that is really used only for this soup.  It is only a tiny bit of oil, and it really adds to the flavor, but it is totally optional for those who are strictly oil-free or don't have sesame oil on hand.

This soup is very spicy.  It is about the upper limit of spice that I can handle (and only because the tofu mellows it a bit).  Feel free to cut down on the red pepper flakes if you want it a little calmer.  It should be noted that I am a spice wimp, so if you are a spice lover, go ahead and add some more pepper. 

Hot and Sour Soup

1 cup sliced mixed mushrooms
1/2 T molasses
1 T miso
4 cups water
1 T arrowroot dissolved in a little water
1/2 block tofu
1 Tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 T apple cider vinegar

1. Saute the mushrooms in a bit of water. 
2.  Add the other ingredients.  Let cook until arrowroot cooks and thickens the soup (it will become clear when it's cooked).

Makes 2 servings.

Week 43 -- Simple Chili

Fall is definitely the time for a long-simmered chili.  My crockpot is still packed in storage with the rest of my belongings (just a couple weeks until my new house is ready for me -- we're getting there).  So I've put off making chili, because chili that is made and eaten right away just isn't the same as one that's been bubbling for a few hours.

But this week Mom had an afternoon off from work (in exchange for spending a Saturday working -- I helped but didn't realize it would entail hiking in the mud, but we survived and came home that night to the chili leftovers), so she had time to make chili and let it simmer on the stove top for a few hours.

Veggie chili is a simple crowd-pleaser, and it can be served over millet (my favorite), in a bread bowl, over baked potatoes, with tortilla chips, or as a crucial ingredient in plant-based chili "cheese" fries.

You can see my millet peeking out underneath!

Simple Chili

1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cans of beans (we use light red kidney, dark red kidney, and pinto)
1 quart of crushed tomatoes
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder (we use a single-ingredient ancho chili powder)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp each sage and thyme
1 tsp miso mixed in a tiny amount of water
(optional: 1/2 tsp lemon juice -- this was in our home-canned tomatoes already and reduces the need for salt)
1 Tbsp carob powder
1/2 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp gluten free flour blend mixed in a tiny amount of water

1. Saute onion in a little water.  Add pepper and garlic and continue to saute until soft.
2. Add other ingredients.  Let simmer for several hours until you are ready to enjoy.

Makes about 6 servings.

Week 42 -- Creamy Butternut Soup

I'm still at my parents' house for just a few more weeks (my new kitchen is getting so close I can almost taste it!).  This week Mom and I decided together to make a butternut squash soup, but she started on it before I got to the kitchen, so it's a little rich and quite miso-heavy.  But it is a really nice, soothing soup for a fall evening.

We like to steam our squash in the microwave.  This is really easy.  Use a knife to carefully poke a few holes in the squash, then microwave it until it's soft.  Make sure you let it cool quite a while before cutting into it.  If I know I'm having squash with dinner, I get it steaming as soon as I get home and then let it cool for at least half an hour before I cut in.  Still, be careful of steam.

If you don't do microwaves, steam or cook the squash however you like.  Keep in mind that raw butternut squash, especially if it's freshly picked, has a substance in its skin that will make your hands dry out and peel.  Be careful and don't say I didn't warn you.  You can get around this by cooking it some before you try to peel it or by wearing kitchen gloves.

Creamy Butternut Soup

1/4 cup cashews
1 Tbsp coconut
1/2 large butternut squash cooked
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
1 Tbsp miso
2 1/2 cups water

1. Steam the squash.  Let cool until safe to handle.

2. Blend the cashews and coconut with about 1/2 cup of water.

3. Scoop the squash out of its skin.  Add it to the blender with the seasonings and more water.

4. Blend until smooth.  

5. If the squash has cooled, you may want to gently reheat the soup.

Makes 2 large servings.

Week 41 -- Mushroom Miso Soup

When I was out travelling in California and the western US this summer, I mostly ate from my food supplies I brought with me.  I cooked a few meals in hostels and occasionally ate some brown rice cakes.  On my last night in San Francisco, I went walking to explore the mission district with a new friend I met on the trip.  We tried to eat an Ethiopian restaurant with vegan options, but when we got there I found out they made their injera with wheat flour, so that was out. 

Disappointed, we started walking back toward the hostel, and on the very next block my friend spotted an all vegan Japanese restaurant!

With my allergies, I need to be very careful with what I order, but generally vegan miso soup is safe for me.  This restaurant not only had miso soup, they also had a mushroom miso soup, and I took a chance on it.  I didn't have an allergic reaction, and the soup was delicious!

This is my own version of the soup.  The soup in the restaurant was simple and good, but for religious reasons most of their recipes were made without garlic or onions.  I just couldn't resist adding some onion into this. 

I bought the dried wakame in an Asian grocery store, but you can usually find it in the organic or ethnic sections of large grocery stores.  This uses just two tablespoons and it expands quite a bit, so don't get overly exuberant. 

Look at the beautiful oyster mushroom sitting on top!

Mushroom Miso Soup

1 small red onion, sliced into strips
3 cups mixed sliced mushrooms (I used 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, 1 cup oyster mushrooms, and 1 cup baby portobello mushrooms)
2 Tbsp dry wakame
1/2 block tofu, cubed
2 Tbsp miso
About 6 cups water

1. Saute the onion in a little water until soft.  Add the mushrooms and let them also cook until soft.  

2. Add the water, wakame, and tofu.  Let simmer until wakame expands and softens (it will happen fairly quickly.
3. Add the miso, mixed with a little water.  Try not to let the soup boil after you add the miso.

Makes 3 meal-size servings or about 6 small servings to go with a meal.

Week 40 -- Sunday Evening Stew

I'm still at my parent's house (just a few more weeks until my new house is really mine), and today my mom took pity on me and gave me a break from struggling in her kitchen.  She made her delicious Sunday Evening Stew with dumplings.  When I could still eat wheat, she used to make a seitan log and cook it on this stew, but now we eat it without the seitan and it's still just as good.

This is a good old fashion stew that's great for serving to people who are afraid that eating WFPB means giving up their traditional comfort foods.

Vegan nostalgia.

Sunday Evening Stew

about 4 cups of chunked gold potatoes
3 small onions, cut in half
4 large carrots, chunked
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
4 stalks of celery, chunked
2 tsp each sage, savory, thyme, garlic, and onion powder
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp miso
4 cups water
1 Tbsp gluten-free flour blend mixed with 1 cup water

Dumplings
2 cups gluten free flour blend
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp hemp seeds blended 1 cup water
scant tsp lemon juice
a few drops of apple cider vinegar

1. Spread veggies in one layer in large skillet.  The liquid should just reach the top of the veggies.  Let simmer until everything is tender (no need to stir), about 30 minutes.  Save the flour to add after the veggies are tender, then cook until the flour cooks into a gravy.
2. Mix the dry dumpling ingredients.  Mix the liquid ingredients together and then mix into the dry.  Plop the batter on top of the stew, cover, and continue cooking and dumplings are firm.
Let cool before eating.

Makes about 6 servings.

Week 39 -- Apple Crisp Soup

I'm still working without my own kitchen, which is being a little challenge for keeping this blog going, but I did get one done for this week.  I didn't have time (or enough molasses) for the soup I was planning, so I threw this one together instead.

It doesn't really taste just like apple crisp, but it's sweet and cinnamon-y and it does have apples, and we had apple crisp earlier today so I have it on my mind.  Just use your imagination.

This is a terrible photo.

Apple Crisp Soup

1/2 onion, diced
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup red lentils
4-5 cups water
1 apple, diced
1 Tbsp cinnamon

1. Saute onion in a bit of water until softened.  Add raisins.  Cook until onions are translucent.

2.  Add lentils, sweet potatoes, and water.  Cook until sweet potatoes and lentils are tender.

3.  Add apples and cinnamon.  Turn down heat and let simmer about 10-15 minutes until apples are soft.  Add more water if needed.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Week 38 -- Cream of Mushroom Soup

This week's soup almost didn't get made.  It was super busy at my new job, and I am missing my own kitchen (along with my soup equipment: slow cooker, stock pot, immersion blender, etc.).  And then I wasn't feeling well this weekend. 

So late at night Mom helped me make one of her regular soups.  She uses this cream of mushroom as a base for green bean casserole, stroganoff, and other casseroles, but it's also good on its own, even though it's pretty rich.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 onion, minced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
about 1/2 lb mushrooms, diced
2/3 cup cashews
1 tsp each savory, sage, and thyme
1 Tbsp miso
1 tsp molasses
1 Tbsp arrowroot
2 cups water
1 Tbsp parsley

1. Saute the onion and garlic in a little water until cooked.  Add mushrooms and cook until dark and softened.
2. Put cashews, savory, sage, thyme, miso, molasses, arrowroot, and water in blender and blend until smooth.
3. Pour cashew cream over mushrooms.  Heat until arrowroot thickens.  Add parsley.

Makes about 4 small servings.

Week 37 -- Plum Lentil Stew

I'm calling this soup "Plum Lentil" because it uses dried plums for some wonderful sweet and deep flavor.  What's that?  You don't have dried plums?  You may know them by their old name: prunes.

I don't know why prunes get such a bad reputation.  They're sweet and delicious!  Sure, they keep things moving smoothly, but that doesn't mean they're only for old people.

I like the prunes cut into pieces.  The easiest way to do this is with a pair of kitchen shears or scissors.  Prunes are fabulous in oatmeal (especially in oatmeal mix because they add so much sweetness and flavor) or on top of nut butter on crackers.  In this soup, they cook down right into the lentils.  Don't tell anyone they're in there, and they would never guess your secret ingredient.

The warm spices make this perfect for cool, rainy fall days.

The molasses and spices make this so dark,
you'd think they were brown lentils!

Plum Lentil Stew

1 lb dry red lentils
1 cup dried plums or prunes, cut into smaller chunks
1 small sweet onion, diced
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp molasses
About 6 cups water

1. Boil the red lentils in about 5 cups water.  Add the dried plums and onion.  Cook until everything is tender (about 15 minutes).
2. Add spices, molasses, and more water as needed.  Let simmer on low heat about 30 minutes (you can speed this up if needed, but the longer it simmers the more the flavors will meld).  Let cool before eating.

Makes about 5 servings.

Week 36 -- Not Chicken Soup

I'm now moved out of my apartment and living with my parents until things are settled with me buying a house, so I'm cooking in mom's kitchen for a few weeks.  Mom and I, though we both eat WFPB, have some very different cooking styles (and the different cooking equipment that comes with that), so it's taking some adjustment.

But the perk of living at home for a while is mom-made comfort food when you aren't feeling well.  I was feeling sup-par and mom and I (but mostly mom while I moaned melodramatically from my bed) made the classic comfort food of Not Chicken Soup.

This soup uses one of mom's favorite WFPB ingredients:  soy curls.  We avoided them for years, thinking they were highly processed protein chunks like those "chicken style" tvp chunks we ate in our early vegan days, but they are actually just whole soybeans that are somehow magically transformed into "meaty" strips.  Don't question the magic.

My dad loves his Not Chicken Soup with noodles.  We dove into the Bag O' Pasta that I brought from my apartment and decided to try the green bean vermicelli.  They were very strange looking -- clear and goopy and not unlike a sea creature -- but they tasted surprisingly perfect in the soup.

Tastes like coming home!

A big bag of soy curls ready to be transformed.

Not Chicken Soup

1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sage
1 tsp savory
1 tsp thyme
Black pepper
2 Tbsp parsley
1/2 onion 
3 garlic
3 celery with leaves
4 carrots
1 tsp molasses
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
Miso 2 Tbsp
Soy curls 1 cup
Noodles (optional)

1.  Chop all vegetables.  Put in pan with seasonings (except miso) and about 3-4 cups of water.  Simmer as long as you can stand it. (Add about 2 more cups of water eventually.  Add it gradually as needed.)
2. Rehydrate soy curls according to directions on the bag.  Add miso and soy curls to the soup and simmer a few more minutes until soy curls pick up some of the flavor.
3. Serve over noodles if desired.

Makes about 3 servings for hungry people.

Week 35 -- Red Lentil Curry Stew

This is the last soup I cooked in my apartment.  My next soup will have to be made in my temporary home at my parents' house while I wait to finish paperwork and such for the house I'm buying. 

Because this was at the height of packing, I had limited cooking equipment and I was trying to use things up from my pantry.  However, I had a picnic to attend and I needed a dish to pass.  I made this stew nice and thick so it works well for picnics and potlucks and can be eaten off plates, not bowls.

This is not the world's healthiest stew.  Coconut milk, even light coconut milk, is really high in saturated fat.  This is definitely a special occasion stew, and it is good for picnics or parties where everyone will just be eating a portion, not one person eating the whole batch.  With that said, it's very crowd friendly.  It's flavorful without being too spicy.  If you love spice, feel free to add more curry powder.

Speaking of curry powder, I use a homemade blend from my mom that doesn't have cloves in it.  You can use whatever curry powder you like, but if you have corn or gluten sensitivities make sure to read the ingredients and watch for fillers.  The big benefit of curry powder is that it includes both turmeric and black pepper.  Turmeric is great for you, but your body can absorb even more of the great curcumin if you eat it with black pepper.

There's my stew, ready to be packed in my thermal bag for the picnic.

Red Lentil Curry Stew

1 lb dry red lentils
4 cups water
1 red onion, diced
2 cups diced apples
1 can lite coconut milk
1 Tbsp curry powder (more if desired)

1. Cook red lentils in the water.  Watch carefully to see if it needs more water.  You want the cooked lentils to be not too watery, but you don't want your lentils to burn either.  They cook fast in about 15 minutes.
2. Add the onion, apple, coconut milk, and curry powder.  Let simmer about 30-45 minutes.  Apples and onions should be very tender.
Makes about 6 large servings.

Week 34 -- Zucchini Stew

This soup is an old family favorite.  It's a great way to use the abundance of zucchini that people in many parts of the US have from their gardens this time of year.  When I was growing up, my mom sometimes added sliced leftover hot dogs from picnics.  We don't eat hot dogs anymore, so I like to add a can of beans for that same chewy heartiness.  We also used to eat this soup with a nice fluffy bread, so if you have a bread you like this is a great time to indulge in a slice or two.

Full disclosure: I made this soup with mostly leftovers.  I'm moving soon, and I had a small going away party.  I used some leftover veggies from the veggie trays to make this soup come together quickly.  I made it in a crock pot and let it cook all day while I was outside with a yard sale (trying to sell off things I don't want to pack).

Zucchini Stew

1 red onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced in half-moons
1 yellow squash, sliced in half-moons
2 bell peppers (I used one red and one green), sliced
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can beans, any kind
Water to cover (about 1 1/2 cups)

1.  Put all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Let cook on low for about 8 hours.

Makes about 8 servings.

Week 33 -- Black Bean Soup Powder

This is the last in the trilogy of soup powders.  Of course, you can make lighter soups, but for a filling travel meal I wanted really hearty bean-centered soups.

Usually I like black bean soups very chunky.  However, if I'm rehydrating soup with just hot water and I don't want to have to let it sit forever, I want powders that will turn back into soup quickly and without a lot of effort.  That's why this soup is pureed before dehydrating, like the split pea soup last week.

Because this soup contains already cooked ingredients (except the oranges), you can make it right in a blender, no need to use a pot.

Black Bean Soup Powder

3 cups cooked black beans (two cans)
2 oranges, peeled and tough membranes removed
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp carob powder
water (add just enough to make a smooth blend)

1.  Put all ingredients in a blender.  Add enough water to make it blend smoothly (this will differ with different brands of blender).
2.  Spread soup on line dehydrator trays.  Dehydrate until moisture is completely removed.
3.  Blend dried soup into powder.

Makes about 4 servings.

Week 32 -- Split Pea Soup Powder

Another week of powdered soup!  I did post a split pea soup a few months ago.  This one is a little different with more of a cheesy flavor.

As with the powdered broccoli soup, to make this a powder, you spread the soup out in a thin layer on lined dehydrator trays, dehydrate, and then blend the flakes/chunks into powder.

I've learned from past experience that you do need to puree this soup before dehydrating.  The split peas, no matter how soft they are after cooking, are very hard after dehydrating so they are difficult to blend into powder.  The dehydrated flakes/chunks are yummy to snack on even without rehydrating, but if you don't blend the soup first, the split peas will be too crunchy to snack on.

If you have a silicone spillover lid, this is a time to use it.  If you don't have one, it's worth the investment.  I paid about $8 for mine online, and it is priceless.  The foam from the cooking peas bubbles up through, but it stays on the lid instead of going all over your stove top.

Split Pea Soup Powder

1/4 red onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb dried split peas, rinsed
water to generously cover
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp miso
1 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Saute onion in a little water until soft.
2. Add garlic, split peas, and water.  Cover (with silicone spillover lid, if available) and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook until split peas are mushy (about 45 minutes).  Check occasionally to make sure the water doesn't all boil out.
3.  Turn off heat and let soup cool a little.  Add nutritional yeast, miso, and lemon juice.  Blend with immersion blender (or transfer to regular blender -- you may need to add more water this way).
4.  Spread on lined dehydrator trays.  Dehydrate until completely dry.  Blend into powder.

Makes about 6 servings.

Week 31 -- Cheezy Broccoli Soup Powder

This week begins a three-week series of soup powders.  When this blog post goes up, I will be somewhere in California or Nevada on a bus tour.  This tour company involves sleeping out and cooking communal meals.  They say that most of the meals are vegetarian, but with my allergies it's safer for me to prepare my food separately.  I don't expect there to be an abundance of cooking equipment, and I don't want to spend my whole trip cooking, so I am bringing some soup powders I can just supplement with fresh vegetables on the trail.

This is similar to my broccoli cheese soup, but it's simpler to make and has beans instead of nuts. 

After making the soup, you can eat it fresh or dehydrate it into powder.  Spread it on lined dehydrator trays (line with parchment paper or inexpensive reusable tray liners).  Dehydrate until completely dry.  It will be in flakes or chunks.  Blend the flakes/chunks into powder.  Then, when you want to eat some, just add some hot water and let sit a few minutes.

Cheezy Broccoli Soup 

1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, sliced
about 3 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups white beans (or 1 can)
water to cover
2 tsp miso
1/2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1. Saute onion in a little water until soft.  Add other vegetables with about an inch of water.  Let veggies steam until tender.  Add beans.
2. Turn off heat.  Add other ingredients.  Blend with immersion blender until smooth.
3. Soup should be slightly thick.  Spread on trays and dehydrate or thin to desired consistency and enjoy immediately.

Makes about 3-4 servings.

Week 30 -- Orange Sweet Potato

I mentioned last week that I'm moving soon.  This week I'm using up things from the refrigerator.  I had a few oranges left from the winter (they're looking leathery but they're still good inside), and I didn't want to waste them.  Normally this would feel more like a winter soup, but it tasted good on a cool and rainy summer day.

This soup is delicious and simple.  It has just a few ingredients and comes together quickly.

Soup with a swirl of cinnamon.

Orange Sweet Potato

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 medium sweet potatoes, diced (cut off coarse skin)

2-3 oranges, peel cut off and tough membranes removed  (mine were small so I used 3)

water to cover

Optional: cinnamon to garnish

1. Saute onion in a little water.  

2. Add sweet potatoes and water to cover.

3. Add orange flesh.

4. When sweet potatoes are tender, turn off heat.  Blend in blender or with immersion blender.  Add water as needed to get desired consistency.

5. Top with cinnamon if desired.

Week 29 -- Italian Festival Soup

I"m getting ready to move, so I'm using up the weird odds and ends in my freezer.  This week in my freezer I found two gluten-free vegan Italian sausage patties my mom made for me.  You can see my mom's sausage making method in this demo we did for a local tv show:  https://accesschautauquacountytv.org/episode/9dIYrYrLlpg

I grew up attending Italian festivals at churches every summer, and the signature scent at these festivals was always the peppers and onions served on sausage. Forget the sausage, the peppers and onions were the good part!

To make the broth richer I added a cup of tomato sauce I also found the freezer, the remnant of some past pizza-making expedition.

This soup brings back the atmosphere of those festivals.  Sing along to Volare while you eat for the real experience!

I feel like I'm sitting in a wooden folding chair under a tent.

Mmm...can you smell the onions and peppers?

Italian Festival Soup

1 large sweet onion, sliced

2 sweet bell peppers, sliced

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

2 vegan Italian sausages (optional -- replace with one can of beans and some red pepper flakes)

1 tsp fennel seeds (increase to 1 1/2 if using beans instead of sausage

1 cup tomato sauce

water to cover

1. Saute onion in water until soft.  Add garlic and then bell peppers.  

2. Add tomato sauce and water to thin to desired consistency.  Add fennel seeds.

3. Crumble or slice sausages and add.  Simmer about 10 minutes to let flavors meld.

Makes about 3 servings. 

Week 28 -- Crockpot Surprise

This is more a cooking tip than a recipe.  Usually I make this soup every few months.  I've been better this year about using things up, but I still managed to accumulate some sad veggies.  I tend to end up with clumps of frozen veggies in mostly used bags and leftover cut up veggies. 

This is not only a great way to avoid wasting food, it's a great cheap meal for weeks when you're trying to save money, and it's low on effort.

Use any sad vegetables you have: lumps of frozen peas, limp celery, dried up carrots, wrinkly tomatoes, wimpy greens, shriveled garlic, that other half a head of cabbage left over from last week's coleslaw, etc.

I have found that my crockpot holds about 1 gallon plastic bag full of veggies.  I have one bag that I use over and over again (just wash and turn inside out to dry) and I fill it with all of my sad chopped vegetables.

Throw them all into a slow cooker with water and either a can of beans or a cup of red lentils and let it all cook together on low all day.  No matter what veggies I use, this always ends up tasting delicious and flavorful.

There it is, ready to cook.

Hours later, you magically have soup!

Crockpot Surprise

About 1 gallon mixed vegetables, fresh or frozen, chopped

1 cup red lentils or 1 can beans

Water to cover

Put all in crockpot.  Cook on low about 8 hours.

Makes about 6 servings

Week 27 -- Roasted Red Pepper Soup

It's berry season, which means I need to clean out my freezer to make room.  I just bought 10 quarts of beautiful fresh strawberries, most of which are now frozen, though some are dehydrated.

The downside is that the strawberries have basically filled my freezer, and I won't have space for the cherries coming soon, or for the blueberries next month.

I'm allergic to the sprays used on berries, and pretty sensitive.  I suspect it's because berries have such thin skin.  I can't eat any berries from stores, not even "organic," so if I don't fill my freezer in the summer there are no berries to eat come winter.

Anyway, last year I made a big batch of roasted red peppers and froze most of them.  They came in very handy for making grilled "cheese" sandwiches and hummus all year.  I had just a few left, so I knew it was time for a creamy roasted red pepper soup.

There are many places online to find directions for roasting peppers.  It's very easy. I just wash the peppers, throw them on a baking sheet (no oil!), and roast at 400 degrees about 30-40 minutes until soft and charred.  When they come out of the oven, put a bowl over the top of them so they can steam for about half an hour.  Then you should be able to slip the skin right off and gently scrape out the seeds.  If you prefer the grill or stove top method, just do a quick search.    The peppers can be frozen until you want to use them.  This is a perfect fall activity when the farmers market is full of less than perfect, almost too old bell peppers.

It's too bad you can't smell a picture!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped1 small-medium head cauliflower chopped4 roasted red peppersWater2 tsp miso, optional

1. Saute the onion in a saucepan with a little water until soft.  Add garlic.  
2. Add about an inch of water.  Toss in the cauliflower and let it steam until tender (about 10 minutes).
3. Add the roasted red peppers, torn into a few pieces.  Add a bit more water to the pan.
4. Turn off the heat.  Add the miso, if using.  Blend with an immersion blender or carefully transfer to a blender.  Add water as needed to make a smooth blend.
5.  Return to heat until warmed through, but do not boil.  Add more water to reach desired consistency.
Makes about 6 servings

Week 26 -- Creamy Vegetable Soup

I was in the mood for peas and carrots, but I didn't want a tomato-based soup.  It was a little on the cooler side today and I was home sick dealing with seasonal allergies, so I was craving something hot and comforting.

This soup reminds me of the creamed tuna on toast my mom used to make when I was little, just without the tuna.  It would be very good served over toast or cooked grains. 

This took a while to simmer, but it wasn't very difficult and that gave me time to get this week's baked oatmeal in the oven. 

There's the finished soup.

And here's what it looked like before blending.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

Creamy broth:
1 red onion diced
2 large cloves of garlic diced
1 1/2 carrots diced
2 stalks celery diced
1/4 cup dried mushrooms, broken into pieces
1 can cannellini beans with liquid (or 1 1/2 cup cooked white beans)
4-6 cups water to taste
1/2 tsp each sage, thyme, parsley
1/4 tsp celery seed
pinch black pepper

1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cup diced carrot

1. Water saute onion and garlic until soft.  Add other broth ingredients.  Simmer about 45 minutes.
2. Blend broth.
3. Thaw peas.  Steam diced carrots.  Stir into broth.

Makes about 4 servings.

Week 25 -- Creamy Roasted Garlic

I can't get enough of roasted garlic.  I used about half a good-size bulb for this recipe, but I also ate the other half of the bulb just out of the skin.  I'll even eat it cold!

Garlic is a fantastic food for fighting cancer and infections.  And it's delicious!  I have a pretty high tolerance for garlic, and I thought there was the perfect amount in this soup.  If you find garlic strong, feel free to use less.  Keep in mind that it has a milder less-spicy flavor when roasted so it might not be as strong as you think.

I roasted my cauliflower and garlic the night before when I was cooking other foods in the oven.  Then I was able to throw this soup together really quickly the night I ate it.  It was after a full-day field trip and I was exhausted, so fast and easy was a must!  The flavor was amazing, too.

The finished soup, garnished with parsley.

Can you smell it through your screen?  

I don't think any other soup smells this good when simmering.

Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

1 small-medium onion
1/2 small head cauliflower
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups
8 cloves roasted garlic
water

1.  Roast garlic.  Cut top of a head of garlic.  Wrap in parchment paper.  Bake in oven at 400 F for about 35 minutes.  Let cool.  When ready to use, peel away the papery skin.
2. Roast cauliflower.  Chop into florets and roast at 375 or 400 until tender but not burned.  This and the garlic can be done ahead.
3. Chop onion.  Saute in a little water in a saucepan.  When soft, add cauliflower, white beans, and garlic.  Add water.  Use immersion blender to puree or transfer to blender.
4.  Add water to reach desired consistency.  Return to heat until warmed through.
Makes 2 servings.

Week 24 -- Carrot Ginger

I was in the mood for a carrot soup, and I had ginger minced in the refrigerator from a few days earlier (as long as I was mincing it for one recipe, I decided to get it ready for a future meal, too).  When mincing ginger, remember to cut against the grain first.  Then you'll have thin slices that are easy to get as small as you want.  If you cut with the grain first, it will be hard to get tiny pieces.

While I was making this, I was on the phone with my mom.  I said I thought I would add some raisins, because I really like carrots and raisins together.  Mom convinced me that the carrot and ginger would be flavorful enough and that raisins would compete.  I took her advice.

As I do every week, I ate one bowl and put the rest of the soup away for lunches.  On Monday, I brought a jar of soup to work and started to eat it, and, oh boy, was it hot!  The ginger that had been fine when I ate the soup fresh had plenty of time to really meld into the soup.  It was so strong I almost couldn't eat it.  The next day I brought some raisins and sprinkled them into the soup as I ate, and it was perfect.

The raisins are totally optional.  If you can handle some good strong ginger heat, you may not want them.  If you need a little mellower flavor, the raisins add a great contrast that keep the ginger from being overwhelming.

It looks so innocent.  You would never suspect how strong the ginger is.

Carrot Ginger

1 red onion, diced
1 1/2 inch fresh ginger, minced
2 lbs carrots, diced
4-6 cups water
raisins (optional)

1. Saute onion in a little water until translucent.
2. Add ginger, carrots, and half the water.  Simmer until carrots are tender.
3. Puree soup.  Add more water as needed for desired consistency.  Return to heat until warmed.
4. Garnish with raisins if desired.

Makes about 4 servings.

Week 23 -- Lemon Millet Soup

I was at my Mom's house for the day, and Mom mentioned she wanted to try a whole-food plant-based version of Greek lemon and rice soup.

We try to avoid rice because of arsenic concerns, so we decided to use millet.  I thought it worked out well, but Mom says she would try using already cooked millet so it falls apart more in the soup.

We made our own super fast veggie stock, but feel free to replace that part of this recipe with your own veggie stock or a no-salt store-bought stock.

As with many of these soups, I never ate the authentic version, I've only eaten my own recipe, so I have no idea how this compares to the real deal.

We served the finished soup with homemade falafel, salad, and a cashew-cucumber sauce.

Lemon Millet Soup

4 cups veggie stock (1/2 a carrot, 1 stalk celery, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup onion, 1/4 cup mushrooms, parsley, simmered with about 3 1/2 cups water then pureed)
2/3 cup uncooked millet
1 can chickpeas with their liquid (or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas with 1/2 cup cooking liquid)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp miso

1.  Heat stock.  Add millet and simmer until millet is over-cooked. 
2. Ad chickpeas, lemon juice, and miso.  Let all come up to temperature but do not boil after adding miso.

Makes 4 servings.

Week 22 -- Old World Eggplant Stew

I struggled to name this soup.  I've never had anything like it other places, but it just sounded good to me.  And this soup did hit the spot.  I was under the weather with seasonal allergies and this had ginger and the gentle warmth of allspice, plus a little sweet and a little tangy.

This is not a pretty soup.  The broth is dark and rich, and the eggplant gets soft and melts in your mouth.  But it's great for when you aren't entertaining and want something hearty and warming but not heavy.

Old World Eggplant Stew

1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 inch ginger, minced
1 cup red lentils
1 medium eggplant, cubed
8 oz. mushrooms, chunked
4 cups water
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp molasses
2 tsp miso paste

1.  In large soup pot (or slow cooker), saute onion and garlic in a little water until softened.  Add ginger, lentils, and water.  Chop the rest of the veggies and add them.  Cover and simmer until lentils are cooked and veggies are tender, about 15 minutes.  If using slow cooker, just throw everything in there.
2.  Add seasonings.  Let simmer about 5 minutes to let flavors meld.  Take out a little broth.  Mix it with the miso paste and add back to the soup.  Turn off heat.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Week 21 -- Orange Sweet Potato

After all the work of the wontons last week, and after coming home from a busy conference, I was ready for a simple and fast soup tonight.  This soup took about 15 minutes from start to finish and made just two servings (perfect for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow).

This soup has few ingredients, which gives it a very simple flavor that is light and delicious, and they're probably foods you already have sitting around.

I lightly peeled my sweet potato, just getting off the thick rough patches and trying to keep most of the layer just under the peel so I didn't lose too much good nutrition.

There it is in all its delicious, fast, and simple glory!

Simmering soup with the allspice.

Orange Sweet Potato

1/2 red onion, chopped
1 large or 2 smaller sweet potatoes, chopped
1/2 cup red lentils
1 orange, peel cut off, sliced and divided into segments
3-4 cups water
1/4 tsp allspice, approximately

1. Cook the onion, sweet potatoes, and red lentils in 3 cups water for about 10 minutes until tender.  Add more water if needed.
2. Add the orange segments and allspice.  Let simmer another two minutes.  Then enjoy!
Makes two servings.

Week 20 -- Wonton Soup

When I first learned how to make my own version of wontons, I was super excited.  I grew up loving wonton soup, but I gave it up when I stopped eating animal products.  It only took me a few months being vegan before I learned to make my own wontons with tempeh and the pre-made wrappers they sell at grocery stores.

When I could no longer eat corn, I had to make my own wonton wrappers.  They weren't awful, but I didn't have any clue how to adapt once I had to stop eating gluten and wheat flour.  This was my first attempt at making gluten-free wontons.  I also had to swap out the tempeh because I'm doing a soy elimnation trial (suspected allergy).  I replaced the tempeh with walnuts and mushrooms. 

This recipe is more a cautionary tale than a recipe.  The end result was delicious, but it wasn't without hiccups.  If you're making this, please consider the amounts below to be suggestions rather than exact measurements.  If you can eat gluten and corn, you can skip the worst steps and use store-bought wonton wrappers, just check the ingredients to make sure you're getting ones without eggs.  This is not a fast or simple recipe, but it's worth the effort.

This makes more wontons than you'll probably want to eat at once.  Freeze the rest in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then transfer to storage containers.  Pull a few out whenever you want a fast bowl of soup.

I should note that this is a totally non-authentic recipe.  It is completely based on Americanized foods.  I recommend that for the actual stuffing and sealing of the wontons, you search online for real directions rather than just going off my free form photographs.

When you see it in the bowl, it's easy to forget how much work it was!

There's the filling!  The psyllium husk makes it clump together better,
but it's optional and just for texture.

The psyllium husk in the dough is not optional.  That's what makes it knead-able and roll-able
like a dough with gluten.  If you're cooking gluten free, it's worth buying to always
have some on hand.  You can add it to many recipes to make them easier to work with.

I am not a master wonton filler.  You can see mine all turned out different shapes.
They all taste good, though!

Filling:
1 cup walnuts
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 small red onion
1-2 cloves garlic
2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp psyllium husk (optional)

Chop the first five ingredients in a food chopper or processor.  Then stir in the psyllium (if using).

Dough:
1 1/2 cups garbanzo flour
1 cup millet flour
2/3 cup arrowroot
2 Tbsp psyllium
1 cup water

1. Mix all ingredients.  Knead in more flour as needed. 
2. Roll out between two sheets of parchment very liberally dusted with flour.  Cut into pieces for filling. 
3. Put about a tablespoon of filling on a square of dough.  Dip your finger in water and dampen the edges of the square, then fold the dough over and pinch to seal.
4. Freeze until ready to use or cook right away.  To cook, I put a thin layer of water in my saute pan, set the wontons in, covered, and let the water simmer until the wontons were cooked (the dough has an obvious change in visual texture and color when cooked).  You can search online for better methods of steaming, too.

Broth:
2 cups salt-free vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 tsp miso
sprinkle of parsley

I used the vegetable broth recipe from the How Not to Die cookbook, but you can use whatever broth recipe you like.  Heat the broth with water and miso over low heat.  Don't boil after adding the miso.

Put a few wontons in a bowl.  Ladle the hot broth on top.  Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley (or, to be more authentic, you could use green onions, which I do not like and so do not use).