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 9 -- Walnut Soup with Broccoli

I use cashews when I want a creamy soup or sauce, but I have a big bag of walnuts that I love, and they're full of healthy fat, so I decided to experiment. 

This soup isn't spectacular, but it's nice for a winter evening.  It has a rustic old-world taste, but the broccoli brightens it up. 

I have two big glass "veggie bowls."  I like to fill the bowls to the brim with veggies to steam.

These steamed veggies have no idea they're about to become a lot more close...

I didn't use my immersion blender because I wanted the soup really smooth,

plus I needed to use my regular blender for the walnuts anyway.

Lots of herbs!  The more, the merrier.

There's my beautiful soup, ready to be dished up.  The steamed broccoli is so bright!

After I jarred up my soups for lunches, I didn't have a full serving left for dinner.

The potatoes there were about to become pizza potatoes.  They have nothing to do with the soup, 

but they were so cheerful and my soup cup was lonely, so I let them join the photo.

Walnut Soup with Broccoli

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

3 stalks celery

½ cup walnuts

3 cups water

2 crowns broccoli

1 tsp each thyme, sage, and savory

¼ tsp celery seed

black pepper

1. Chop the broccoli and set aside.  Ideally, you want to let it sit at least 30 minutes.  This gives the enzymes time to activate and you get more nutritional benefit.

2. Chop the onion, garlic, and celery.  Put them in a saucepan with a little water so they can steam over medium high heat.  Once tender, turn off and let veggies cool a little.

3. Blend the walnuts with 1 cup of water.  Once smooth, add the onions, garlic, and celery to the blender.  Blend again, adding more water as needed.

4. Return soup to saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Add seasonings.

5. Lightly steam broccoli.  Add to soup and let simmer a few more minutes so the flavors can meld.  Don't overcook or you'll get mushy broccoli.  It's nice when it's still a little crisp.   Add water to soup to get to desired thinness, if needed.

Makes about 4 servings.

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.