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 19 -- Cream of Asparagus

I had a guest chef again!  Mom and I made this cream of asparagus on a very cold and wet spring day, and it was just what we needed to warm up.

The photos don't do justice to how pretty and green this soup is.  This is a great fancy soup that's surprisingly simple to make.  It doesn't have many spices so the flavors of the veggies really shine through.

This is a great soup for anyone trying to eat less salt.  The celery and asparagus are both naturally salty vegetables.  If you're used to lower salt, you may want to omit the miso paste.

A word about asparagus.  If you are worried about some, ahem, side effect from the asparagus, you might be interested to know that, through the fun of genetics, some people get "asparagus" pee and some people don't.  Also, some people are able to smell asparagus pee, and some people aren't.  So if you're one of the people who think it doesn't affect you, it could be just that you can't smell it.  I'm one of those who can't smell it, so I have no idea if mine smells or not.  More on that fascinating topic can be found at Nutritionfacts.org.

Back to the soup.  Dad wanted to buy some processed biscuits to go with it, but I suggested we make some of my corn-free cornbread instead.  To make them taste more processed, I added a tiny bit of miso.  It does make them taste buttery, but they taste just as good without.

It takes so much willpower to do a photo before digging in!

Grind the millet to a cornmeal-like texture.  Do this BEFORE you blend any liquids for the soup.

Most of the veggies are getting a head start cooking while we prep the asparagus.

Pile of corn-free cornbread biscuits.

I couldn't get a good picture of the amazing color.

Ready to eat!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

1/2 cup cashews

Add water to make 1 cup
4 tsp arrowroot
2 tsp miso (optional)

1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 bunch asparagus, bottoms removed, chunked, tips reserved
Water to cover

1. Blend the cashews, water, arrowroot, and miso.  Set aside.

2. Cook onions, garlic and celery.  Add water to just cover. 

When mostly cooked, add asparagus chunks except for tips.  

3. When veggies are tender and bright, remove from heat and puree.

4. Gently steam asparagus tips.

5. Mix cashew cream and veggie puree.  Return to gentle heat until hot throughout.  

Top with asparagus tips.

Biscuits

1/2 cup millet
1/2 cup garbanzo flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 Small bananas
1 tsp miso (optional)

1. Grind millet in blender to a coarse meal texture.
2. Mix millet, garbanzo flour, and baking soda.

3. Blend bananas (and miso) until smooth.  Mix into dry ingredients.

4. Plop onto parchment with spoon or cookie scoop.  Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.