Week 5 -- Hummus Soup

Several years ago at a conference I enjoyed two bowls of tahini soup.  I remember it being delicious.  This recipe was my attempt to recreate that soup.  It doesn't taste like the one I remember, but it is pretty yummy.  I added turmeric to mine for extra nutrition, but if you want yours to look more like hummus, feel free to leave that out.

I used homecooked chickpeas for this.  There is no shame in canned beans (though there is plenty of salt -- try to find no salt if possible), but I have recently discovered the sweet creaminess of chickpeas cooked from dry.  The internet says they take two hours to cook, but I've found just over an hour is perfect, so start testing them at about an hour.  By the way, garbanzo beans and chickpeas are the same thing, it just depends on how erudite you want to sound when you go grocery shopping.

I recently splurged on a silicone pot cover.  It cost me about $9 online, but its value is impossible to calculate.  It keeps beans from boiling over and getting starchy bean liquid all over the stove.  Now I just have to scrub the silicone lid instead of half the kitchen when I'm done.  In the two months I've owned this, I've cooked more beans from dry than I probably did all of last year. 

On to the soup:

Thanks Mom for the new cutting boards for Christmas!  This poor board gets a workout.
And that's my favorite knife -- an "As Seen On TV" special from my Grandpa.
It's a "steak knife" but it is the best veggie chopping knife.  I use it daily.

Is there anything prettier than red onion?  I don't know.

See, that's the color I was going for!  I forgot that turmeric brightens as it sits.
Also, that parsley floating on top was annoying, but once it was rehydrated it mixed in better.

The goodness of hummus without the social pressure to use dippers instead of a spoon.

Hummus Soup

3 cups (or 2 cans) garbanzo beans, divided

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 cup tahini

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)

black pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp miso paste (optional)

4-5 cups water

1. Use a little bit of water to cook the celery, onion, and garlic in a saucepan.

2. Transfer the veggies to a blender.  Blend with 1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans.  Add water as needed.

3. Return soup to saucepan.  Add the rest of the garbanzo beans and the parsley.  

Bring soup back to a simmer.

4. Mix the tahini (and miso, if using), with a little water and add to the soup.

5. Add lemon juice and seasonings.  Add water as needed.  Don't overcook because the tahini will break down, just cook until the soup is heated through.

6. Optional:  sprinkle a little paprika on top for a fancy look.

Week 4 -- Black Bean Soup

This poor soup.  It tastes really good, but it looks awful.  Seriously, it looks like wet concrete.  Not even cement -- concrete.  This is probably not the soup to serve at a fancy dinner when you're trying to convince people that plant-based foods are beautiful.  Unless your party is in the dark -- then it's perfect!

It does taste wonderful, though.

I usually love my black bean soup really salty, but we all know added salt is not good for our bodies (it contributes to high blood pressure and stomach cancer).  I usually cheat and use miso, which adds salt but doesn't seem to contribute to these problems (thanks to the preventative power of soy).  But I didn't want to add miso to the soup every week.  What makes a great substitute for salt?  Acid -- citrus or vinegar.  The sour receptors on our tongues are near the salt receptors, so sour foods trick your brain.  If you try the soup but you really need more salty flavor, add a spoonful of miso mixed with some water at the very end of cooking.

Because of my allergies, I don't often have oranges.  I can usually only get safe-for-me oranges for a few weeks in winter, so I try to make the most of them!

A beautiful rainbow of ingredients!  For now...

I know, but it tastes great!

Safety first with avocados!  I recommend an avocado cutter.

I have one in my kitchen and one in my travel cooking bag.

It's hard to take a great photo when your mouth is watering!

Black Bean Soup

3 cups black beans (or two cans rinsed and drained)

1 purple onion

3-4 cloves garlic

3 small tomatoes or 1 large tomato

1/2 a large bell pepper

2 oranges

2 avocados

1. Chop the garlic and set it aside.  Chop the onion and saute it with a little bit of water.

Add the garlic when the onion is translucent.

2. Add the black beans and about 3 cups of water.

3.  Chop the bell pepper and tomato and add to the soup.  Cut the peel off the oranges, remove the seeds and some of the tough membranes, and chop.  Add oranges to the soup, too.  Let simmer for a few minutes so the flavors can meld.

4. Turn off the heat.  Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, leaving some chunks.  

If you don't have an immersion blender, put about half the soup in a blender, blend, then return to the soup pot.  Return to a simmer.  Add more water if desired.

5. Makes four servings.  Top each serving with half an avocado.

Note:  You can cook tomatoes as much as you want and still get all the nutrition.

This is not so for bell pepper.  It's in the soup for flavor, but you'll get almost no nutrition from it when cooked.  Eat the other half of the pepper raw as a snack to keep your body happy.

Week 3 -- French Onion Soup

I have to admit, I have never eaten French Onion Soup.  Even though it always looked good -- who doesn't love bread covered in melted cheese? -- I couldn't stomach the idea of beef broth.  The smell of it has always turned my stomach, even before I became vegan.

Still, I've been enchanted with the idea of this soup, and it was finally time to try my hand at making it.

I have no idea if this tastes like the French Onion Soup you remember.  I do know that it tastes delicious and I had a hard time stopping at one serving!

I made my own bread and cheese, but you can take a shortcut with a whole grain or sprouted grain bread and plant-based cheese.

It starts with onions, so many beautiful onions.

 Did I mention my kitchen smelled amazing while this was cooking?

This buckwheat bread is made from whole grains.  It's yummy, but takes a little effort.

I usually make two batches at once.

Goopy melty cheese is perfect for this recipe.  

I made a double batch to have some on hand for grilled cheese and pizza.

There's the soup, just about done.  It's not the prettiest soup, but it's the taste that matters.

Yummy onion soup topped with crouton and cheese.  

French Onion Soup 

3 large sweet onions

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp thyme

2 Tbsp molasses

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (ACV)

1-2 Tbsp miso, to taste

4 slices whole grain bread (recipe follows)

non-dairy cheese (recipe follows)

1. Put a thin layer of water in a large soup pot.  Thinly slice onions and add to the pot.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden.  Make sure the bottom of the pot doesn't get dry.  Add tiny bits more water if needed.  This will take forever, about an hour.

2. Chop garlic and set aside. (You want to give it time to sit to get the full nutritional benefit.)  When the onions are ready, add the garlic and thyme.  

3. Add molasses, ACV, and about 5 cups of water until it looks like just a little too thick for a good soup density (I am not good at measuring water).  You'll be adding a little more in a minute.  Let the soup come up to a simmer.

4. Make cheese.  Spread cheese on sliced bread and broil.

5. Mix miso with a small amount of water in a cup.  Add to soup.  Do not boil after miso is added (you don't want to lose the beneficial cultures).

6. Ladle soup into bowl.  Top with cheesy bread.  Enjoy!

Makes 4 servings.

Buckwheat Bread

This bread is based on the recipe from this blog: 

 http://www.wholeheartedeats.com/2016/06/unbelievable-buckwheat-bread/

1 3/4 cups raw buckwheat groats

2 Tbsp chia seeds

2 Tbsp psyllium husk 

1 cup water

3 Tbsp date syrup (dates blended with water) or maple syrup

2 tsp baking powder (Hain is corn free)

1. Soak buckwheat several hours or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 320F.  Drain and rinse buckwheat.  Put it into the bowl of a food processor.  

3. Rinse the bowl you had the buckwheat soaking in.  Add chia, psyllium, and water.  Let it sit for a few minutes.

4. Process the buckwheat until it makes a smooth batter/paste.

5. Put buckwheat batter back in the bowl with chia/psyllium gel.  Add date syrup and baking powder.  Mix well.

6. Put a strip of parchment in a loaf pan.  Pour the batter into the pan.  

Bake for 90 minutes.  Let bread cool completely before slicing.  

Note: Wash your food processor immediately before the batter dries into cement.

Cashew Mozzarella

Based on the recipe here:

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/how-to-make-fresh-vegan-moxarella-cheese/

1/4 cup cashews (can substitute sunflower seeds for nut free)

1 cup water, divided

2 Tbsp + 1 tsp tapioca starch 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp - 1 Tbsp lemon juice, to taste

1 tsp miso

1. Blend cashews with 1/4 cup water until smooth.

2. Add the rest of the water and all other ingredients.  Blend again.

3. Pour mixture into a small saucepan.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

It will get thick and goopy.  Turn off the heat when it is totally goopy and no longer runny.

Note: If you are used to saltier foods, add more lemon juice.  

Sour tastes trick the tongue into thinking foods are saltier.

This cheese is also fantastic for grilled cheese, quesadillas, pizza, casseroles, etc.

Week 2 -- Broccoli Cheese Soup

I wasn't raised eating a whole-food plant-based diet.  I spent the first two and a half decades of my life eating a relatively healthy version of the Standard American Diet.  We enjoyed occasional junk food, yes, but we generally ate what we thought was healthy: lean meat, low-fat dairy, and, of course, lots of fruits and vegetables.  Like most families, we relied on fast food on busy days, and one of my favorites was broccoli cheese soup.  The sub-zero temperatures this weekend made me nostalgic for that creamy, cheesy, "it has a vegetable so it's healthy" soup.

Today's soup is not as healthy as last week's.  I would consider it WFPB junk food.  But it is so much healthier than traditional broccoli cheese soup, you can't even compare them.  I do make an even healthier "cheezy broccoli" soup with white beans that I'll share another day, but this weekend I wanted the junk food taste.

This soup starts with a veggie-based "cheese" sauce.  It's the same sauce I use for mac and cheese, but thinned out a little.

Add lots of steamed broccoli in tiny bits.

Let it simmer for the true "this sat in the restaurant kitchen all day until someone was
foolish enough to order it" taste.

Sprinkle a little extra paprika on top for a fancy lunch.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 heads of broccoli

2 cloves garlic

2 medium or 3 small gold potatoes

2 carrots

1 medium onion

1/2 cup cashews

water

1-2 Tbsp miso (to taste)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp paprika

fresh black pepper

1. Chop the broccoli and set aside (this gives the enzymes time to activate).  

Chop the garlic and do the same.

2. Chop the other vegetables.

3. In a saucepan, steam the garlic, potatoes, carrots, and onion in a bit of water until tender, 

about 8-10 minutes.

4. Blend the cashews with 1/2 cup water.  Add the steamed vegetables and enough water

to make a smooth cheese sauce.  Blend in the miso and seasonings.  Return this to the saucepan and keep warm but don't boil.  Add water to get to desired thinness.

5. Steam the broccoli separately.  Add the broccoli to the soup.  Let simmer a few minutes, then enjoy.

6. Makes 4 servings.

*Note: if you don't get to chop the broccoli very long in advance, that's okay, because we're adding a bit of mustard powder.  That mimics the enzyme in the broccoli and you'll still get the full nutrition.

Soup 1 -- Dreamsicle

Do you remember Dreamsicles?  They were ice cream bars coated in orange sherbet.  We used to love buying them from the corner store.

This soup is not ice cream, but it does have a creamy orange flavor that reminds me of Dreamsicles.

It's also has a light and fresh taste that makes it perfect for after a week of holiday indulgences.

This is a five-ingredient soup.  That's not to be confused with those "five ingredient" soups that include cans and packaged mixes.  Nope, it's five whole food ingredients, plus water.

For this soup, all you need are carrots, oranges, cashews, onion, and fennel.

Seriously.  That's it.  Well, and water. 

I used 6 carrots, one small to medium onion, one medium fennel bulb, two oranges,

 and half a cup of raw cashews.

Here are the veggies, steamed.  I blend them with an immersion blender.  If you don't have an immersion blender, let the veggies cool a little and then blend in a regular blender.

After blending, I make cashew cream with 1/2 cup cashews and 1/2 cup water.  Add that to the soup, thin with more water to get the mixture to a nice soup consistency, then warm it all up again.

There's a beautiful bowl of Dreamsicle soup!

Recipe:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 fennel bulb, chopped, top parts included

6 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 oranges, peeled, chopped, and seeds removed

1/2 cup cashews with 1/2 cup water
additional water

1. Heat a small amount of water in a medium saucepan.  Add the onion and let it cook until slightly translucent.

2. Add fennel to onion.  Continue to add water slowly as needed to keep a thin layer at the bottom of the pan.

3. When fennel has softened, add carrots.  Add about 1 inch of water.  Cover pan and let carrots steam until soft.

4. Add oranges and make sure mixture is heated through.

5. Turn off heat.  Blend soup.

6. Blend cashews with water.  Pour cashew cream into soup.  

7. Thin soup with more water until you reach desired consistency.

8. Turn heat on and cook about 3 minutes until soup is hot throughout.

Makes 4 servings.