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 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 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 17 -- Nacho Soup

I love nachos.  I have several different nacho cheese recipes, depending on the mood I'm in, but they all have one thing in common -- nuts or seeds, so they're high fat.

This soup doesn't have that problem.  It's nut free and the creaminess comes from cauliflower.

The soup is great on its own, but it's even better garnished with salsa and avocado.  I don't currently have any corn-safe olives, but a few sliced olives thrown into the soup would probably be a nice addition.

Here's the finished soup, ready to eat with all the extras.

This is what the veggies look like before cooking and blending.  

Here's the blended soup with the beans, tomatoes, and peppers thrown in.
You can tell my eyes were bigger than my soup pot.  I should have used the stock pot!

Nacho Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large carrot or 2 smaller carrots, chopped
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped
5 cups water, divided
1 bell pepper, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp miso
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 can black beans

1.  Saute the onion and garlic in a little water. 
2. Add the carrot and cauliflower.  Pour in about 1-2 cups of water, cover, and let steam until veggies are tender.
3.  Turn off the heat and add the miso.  Blend the veggies, adding more water to get to desired consistency.  Turn the heat back on to warm soup, but try not to boil it.
4.  Add the seasonings, black beans, tomatoes, and bell pepper.  Let all warm up.
5. Serve with salsa and avocado if desired, or eat as is.

Makes 6 servings.

Week 15 -- Peanut Butter Soup

A few years ago, when I was knew to cooking collards and looking for ideas of what to do with them, someone suggested peanut butter soup.  I looked up recipes, but they all involved a LOT of peanut butter.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love peanut butter, but it's high in saturated fat, and a little goes a long way.

By the way, when buying peanut butter, always make sure to get a brand that is just peanuts.  There shouldn't be any other ingredients, especially no added oil.  There's enough oil in peanut butter already!

When I started playing with this recipe, I wanted to thicken the soup while cutting the peanut butter, so I replaced most of it with red lentils.  They cook quickly and thicken soups nicely.

Also, I don't need to post the same photo of how to roll and slice collards, do I?  You've got that technique down by now.  If not, check out an earlier soup recipe like Turkish Soup or Butternut Spice.

Don't forget -- cut your ginger against the grain first!

Add the tomatoes near the very end so they stay firm.  It smells fantastic.

Yummy!

Peanut Butter Soup

1 red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
1 lb red lentils
8 cups water
1 bunch collards (about 1/2 lb)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp turmeric
black pepper
1/3 - 1/2 cup peanut butter
4 tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp lemon juice

1.  In a large soup pot, saute the onion in a little water.  When soft, add the garlic and ginger.  Cook another few minutes until fragrant.
2.  Add lentils and water.  Cook until tender (about 10-15 minutes).
3.  Remove stems from collards.  Cut collards into thin strips.  Add to soup with red pepper flakes.
4.  Add turmeric, black pepper, and peanut butter.  Turn off the heat and add the tomatoes and lemon juice.

Makes about 6 servings.

Week 13 -- Cabbage Soup

This is the soup equivalent of an old pair of jeans.  It isn't splashy, but it's comfortable, it's simple, it doesn't take a lot of work, and it's perfect for lounging around.

I like to prep the veggies for this soup on a weekend and then put them in the crockpot on a weekday morning.  I usually use a ziplock bag for my crockpot veggies, and, when I say "a ziplock" I mean one poor ziplock that I wash and use over and over.  I discovered quite by accident that one gallon ziplock fills my crockpot exactly, so it's not only good for storage, it helps me know how many veggies to cut.

This is a great recipe for using up the rest of the cabbage after you've made other recipes.  This time, I used a little less than half the head for a stir fry.  I love cabbage, but I find it annoying to cut, so I always just keep going once I have some momentum and cut it all at once for several recipes.

On a literary note, you've probably read 1984 by George Orwell.  The part of this book I remember the most is the beginning of the second paragraph of the book.  "The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats."  I know it's supposed to evoke a feeling of an old and unpleasant place, but I always think, "Yum!  Boiled cabbage!"  I think of this every time I make this soup.  When I walk into my apartment building at the end of the day I sniff the air and think, "Oh!  One of my lucky neighbors is eating boiled cabbage!" and then I remember that I am the lucky one!  George Orwell obviously never ate this soup.

I used pinto beans for this recipe, but any kind of bean you have in the pantry will taste good here.

There's my trusty old ziplock.  After it's done its job, I wash it and let it try standing up inside out so it can get some well-deserved rest until the next time I need it.

See, one ziplock fills the crockpot to the top.

The finished soup! 

Cabbage Soup

1/2 head cabbage, cut into thick strips
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
3 small gold potatoes, diced
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 can beans, drained and rinsed
10 cups water

1. Chop all veggies. 
2. Put in crockpot.
3. Cook on low for about 8-10 hours.  Sometimes I turn it to high when I get home and let it cook another hour or so.

Makes about 8 servings.

Week 8 -- Lentil Soup #1

I love lentils.  I was raised on them, and the combination of nostalgia, cheap price, quick cooking time, and, of course, taste, means that I can't get enough of them.

This is the perfect time of year to eat lentils, too, because we've just entered the Catholic season of Lent.  In fact, the word "lentil" comes from the tradition of eating these pulses during the traditionally meatless season of Lent.

Okay, that was a lie.  "Lentil" actually comes from the Latin for "lens" because they're lens-shaped and "Lent" comes from Old English for "spring," but I think that's a pretty strong coincidence, don't you?  It's a sign from the universe that lentils should be enjoyed especially during spring.

I use lentils in many recipes, but this is one of my favorites.  It's very different from our family's traditional lentil soup.  The flavors in this soup were inspired by trying to recreate a restaurant lentil soup that I loved.  There will be other lentil soup recipes to come, because lentils are, dare I say, the most versatile pulse, despite their strong flavor.

By the way, what is a pulse, you may ask?  Well, lentils are a legume (but not a bean).  Pulses are the dried edible seeds of legume family plants including beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils.  Pulses are super healthy and are full of fiber, protein, and iron.

Look at that bag of green lentils!  So much potential!
You can use cheap brown or green lentils for this recipe.  

I bought the cheaper frozen spinach this week.  I always buy "cut leaf" but the "chopped" was half the price, so I gave it a try.  I know the difference now.  The chopped is great for dips, but I would rather have had the "cut leaf" in this recipe.

I may have burned my mouth a little because I couldn't wait to taste this deliciousness.

Lentil Soup #1

1 cup brown or green lentils, sorted through and rinsed

6 cups of water

1 red onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 stalk celery

1-2 carrots 

1-2 gold potatoes 

2 roma tomatoes

1 cup frozen spinach

2 Tbsp molasses

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. Start the lentils simmering with about half the water.  Add more water as the soup cooks to keep all ingredients covered.

2. When lentils are just tender, add the vegetables as you chop them.  

3.   When all the vegetables are tender, add the molasses and ACV.

4. Let simmer as long as you can stand to wait.  I was in a hurry and only lasted 10 minutes.  

This soup works well in a crockpot, but don't add the molasses and ACV until just before eating.

(I've heard adding acid while pulses cook keeps them from getting tender, but this may be a myth.)

Makes about 4 servings.

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.