Really Good Soup

I found this recipe like I find most of mine, either through books I have, whether they be brand new or from some place like a flea market, garage sale, or the reduced section at your local library. Scour these places folks, there are treasures EVERYWHERE!

This book was actually given to me by a friend who was cleaning out her closet and definitely not a vegetarian. The title is The Farm-Vegetarian Cookbook Revised Edition. This is a community in Tennessee that is for the most part, a commune. Oh man, what I would not give to live in a community of vegans. I wold be in hog heaven (pun completely intended). But on to this recipe.

I look at recipe sometimes, and mostly when I am in a pinch for time and see if I have all thee ingredients. Whamo, the cooking begins. Well, this was one of those recipes. I hope you like it. My husband said it reminded him of the chicken soup that his mother use to make. High praise, for my mother-in-law is a great cook.

1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 T oil
5 cups boiling water
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t celery seed
1/4 cup dry TVP
1 t liquid aminos
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 T vegan butter
1-1&1/2 cups cooked brown rice
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Saute onion in the oil until soft. Bring the water to boil and add salt, black pepper, celery seed, TVP, and liquid aminos. Turn down immediately and add onion. Simmer for 5 minutes. Then add the nutritional yeast, vegan butter, and rice.

This soups is so simple that is scares me. This would also do well in a slow cooker once it is cooked through. The longer it sites, the better it tastes. Great when you are feeling sick or on a cold night. Get a great slab of bread or crackle some saltines on this and go for it. And remember, as always, make...eat...enjoy.

Spicy Carrot Soup

Straight out of the bull pen...don't think hot. this is such an unusual recipe that I had to share it with you guys. This is not what I would call a comfort-style soup. But it is something I would make to show folks how versatile we vegans can be. Now, on to the recipe.

4-6 carrots, scrubbed and chopped (peeling not necessary)
1 walnut size piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped coarsely
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup almond butter (but can substitute any nut butter of your choice)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 t curry
1/2 cup orange juice
1 t salt
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Take first 5 ingredients and boil until tender.  Put all cooked vegetables in the food processor with some of the water and puree until smooth. Keeping the excess water on the side in case you need to thin out your soup. When desired consistency has been reached, return to pot and add remaining ingredients. This soup is suppose to be a thicker style soup. Make...eat...enjoy!

Tomato 'Can Style' Soup

It is so ironic that I found this and that it is so close to the real thing. I have a couple that comes regularly to my cooking classes at the health food store where I work. And they were looking for a tomato soup that tasted like the one they use to eat when they ate a terrible diet that included canned soup (pure garbage, all of them). And here I have found it. Is it 100% identical? Nope, but it is so close that I am truly in love. So let's get to the recipe and see what you all think. And with us in full swing of soup season, this will fit right in.

1-8oz can tomato sauce
2 cups non-dairy milk (unsweetened)
1 T cornstarch or flour
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
2T catsup
1 t onion powder
1 t chives or oregano
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/3 t salt and just a splash of pepper)
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Milk all ingredients together in a pot. Whisk constantly while you bring it to a boil. Then quickly bring it back down. Do not stop stirring, for it may spill over. Keep a close eye on it.

The catsup is what makes this dish. And you could make a thinner soup and use water instead...but why would you? I love a thick creamy soup. And if you want a thicker soup, make sure that you use cornstarch instead of flour. They both work well, but the cornstarch will definitely give it a bit more thickness.

And you might think to cut back on the pepper flakes, but don't for if you do, then you will need to increase the salt, and you do not want to do that. I grind fresh pepper in my bowl and not into the soup directly. But do what works for you. And remember, Make...eat...enjoy!

Spicy Hashbrown Soup

This is one of those that has an odd ring to it, but if you give it a chance, it just might grow on you. I loved this from the get go, but no one here liked it at all. I will make it again, but I won't have to share. Awwww, ain't that just too bad.

1&1/2 cups hash browns(we shredded our own potatoes)
1-2 T olive oil
1 cup water
3-6 pickled jalapeno slices
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste
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In a skillet heat oil if you are NOT using a non-stick skillet, to a medium-medium high heat. Heat potatoes until they are crisp on both sides.

Add water, jalapenos and nutritional yeast and stir until the flakes are blended.

Let heat until boiling. Remove from heat and add slat and pepper to taste.

This is so simple it scares me. And even though my family did not like this one. I loved it for its taste and quirkiness. So try it and see what you think. and as always, make...eat...enjoy.

Cucumber-Cilantro Soup

I am definitely making up for lost time. I am always scouring sites for recipes I can use when teaching my raw food classes. I happened upon this really great recipe on, of course, VegWeb. The ease to this recipe is scary. And that is what is all about for me at least in the raw world.

So many people want to try it, but feel if they do not have a $700 dehydrator, or a $600 blender, that they cannot go raw. Yes, it is great to have those items, but for those of us who cannot then it is still do-able for sure. In walks the Cooking Lady.

Think gazpacho when you eat this soup. It is cold but it could be served at any time of the year, and more so if you live in Florida. Try this and trust me, you will not regret it one little bit.

2 cups chopped cucumber (about 1 large cucumber)
1 & 1/4 cups water
1 avocado
1/2 cup cilantro
1 T lemon juice
2 t agave or any liquid sweetener
2 t apple cider vinegar(If you have not tried Braggs vinegar, then do so)
1 clove garlic (run through a garlic press)
1/2-3-4 t salt
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Now here comes the complicated part. Put all ingredients in a food processor and process until ingreditinets become smooth.

That's it. Please make this. It is so simple and so enjyoable. You will not regret it. Make...eat...enjoy!

Lemony Lentil Soup

I love soup. And for many different reasons. First off, I did not find my love for soups until I lived up north way back in the day. Yes, this native Floridian was transplanted to the great white north for about 3 & 1/2 years. And I loved it tremendously.

You have to keep in mind that I only knew of snow and the such through movies and post cards. So for me to see it first hand was just an incredible experience. I think everyone should experience snow. It is truly amazing.

Back to food. Soups. Ahhh, yes, these lovely little concoctions can be a meal in and of themselves. You got that right. If you have enough goodies in them, all you need is a beverage to wash it down and lest we for get thee ever popular bread on the side. Pick a bread...any bread and you are good to go. There may be more than a few who feel that this is just a precursor to an entire meal. Hogwash I say. If you look at some soup recipes, you will see for yourself that that are a meal in a bowl Alllriiight, serve it over some noodles or rice, which ever suits your fancy. But know this. It is not necessary. And as of late, I found this one on VegWeb.

1 cup green or brown lentils (dry)
4-6 cups veggie broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t fresh ground pepper
1/2 t salt
1/2 t curry powder
1 medium onion, about 1/3 cup, finely chopped
olive oil as needed
1/2 - 1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
1 - 2 lemons
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Pick through lentils, clearing out all debris. Then rinse thoroughly. In a large soup pot, add your broth along with your lentils, bring to a boil.

Lower the heat to a low steady full boil, but not a full rolling boil. Add the bay leaf, oregano, curry powder, pepper, and salt. Cover and cook for 25 minutes.

While the soup is cooking saute the onion and rice in your olive oil. Coat your pan with enough oil that the rive and onion do not stick, but not so much they are swimming in thee oil. About 5-6 minutes. Once your timer has gone off, add your rice/onion mixture and cook for another 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Serve hot and with a dash of lemon. If you think lemon sounds odd in this soup. Put your wrinkled nose aside and trust me on this one. Once you have had this soup, you will not be able to eat it without the lemon. Now go make this and name your first born after me as thanks.

Black Beans

This I got from a girlfriend of mine who loves to cook as much as we do, in our home. But her black beans take on a different twist. They are a hair sweeter then my Martha's Black Beans. These are not my husbands favorites, but if they are on the table, they go on his plate.

2 lbs. (5&1/2 cups) dry black beans (debris picked out)
3-3&1/2 quarts water, as needed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey (or other sweetner)
1 t cumin
Up to 1 T salt
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Cook beans and drain, leaving a small portion of liquid as desired; add remaining vegetables and ingredients; continue cooking for 20 minutes.

This is simple stupid. No extra work needed, nearly a one pot meal. Serve over rive and you are good to go.

Hearty Winter Soup

Well I snagged thus lovely soup from VEGAN TICKLES All I can say is a resounding wow. Now, for those of you who may not read this blog all that often, my daughter and I have come up with three categories to new recipes we try. There are the Keepers. Those are recipe you do not change one little bit. They stand alone ands should never be messed with. then there are Tweakers. those are recipes that you like, but something is just not right. Whether it be too spicy or not spicy enough or a herb that was not your cup of tea. It is a recipe that needs changing to fit your families taste buds, but the basics are there. And there are the Tossers. Those you throw in the garbage and dare mention you ever made that dish.

With that said this soup is a tweaker and for a few reasons. I am not a big fan of thyme, but tried it all the same. Next time it goes. And Tickle's recipe called for sweet potatoes and all I had were russets. I think the sweet potatoes would have been a great contrast to thee already earthiness of the kale, lentils and leeks. Next time sweet potatoes for sure.I did go to the website she mentioned and thank goodness for sites that archive their recipes. There it was in black and white. The site is a plethora of information so take a gander around and give Real Simple a shot and see what you think.

Lentil Cumin Soup

I lived in Dearborn Michigan for about 3&1/2 years, and that was where I learned what I know about Middle Eastern cooking. Which happens to be my most favorite ethnic food. Thee ingredients here are simple, but you will need a food mill for this. I was lucky enough to find one at where...oh yeah, a thrift shop. And this is one of those oldy but goodies.

2 cups dry lentils (picked over and rinsed)
10 cups water
1 cup raw rice
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 T cumin
1 t salt
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In a large pot, mix water and lentils. Bring to boil until lentils are soft. Remove from heat, let cool somewhat, until they are touchable.

Meanwhile , in a small to medium skillet, heat oil and saute parsley and onion.

Place your food mill onto another large cooking pot. Take a slotted spoon and dip the cooked lentils into the food mill and grind the lentils, discarding the hulls while reserving the meat (no pun intended) of the lentils. Take the liquid they were cooked in and add to lentil paste.

Add cooked parsley and onion to soup. Then add the rice and simmer until rice is done. Depending on which rice you use this time will vary.

This is such a wonderful soup, and to me a comfort soup as well. It brings back such wonderful memories of my time in Michigan and living up north while learning so much about Arabic cooking and the Muslim ways. If you have any questions about this recipe, please do not hesitate to ask.

Is It Soup Yet?

Don't ask me why I am so fueled up, but enjoy my spurt of energy(For those of you who really know me you are wondering...she slowed down?). I got this idea from reading Cook Study and be Crafty. She made her soup a bit differently then I did, but hey, we all improvise.

To say I am frugal is an understatement. I will scrimp and save anywhere I can. I run three to four errands a day so I can sit home the next. I turn off lights whenever possible, conserve water all the time and am discovering more ways to reduce my water intake.

And the grocery department is what I have complete control over. From the budget(not much of it) to what the meals are to trying to stretch the food dollar. So I got this wild idea to save our produce scraps and freeze them. Once I had enough to cook up for broth I would do so. Well that day has come. I had four freezer style gallon bags sitting in my freezer.

Today it cooled down(For Florida that is) enough to open the house, and what a nice cool breeze. I told my son kindly go and get my big cooking pot. He did and I washed off the dust it had collected and I then began to dump filtered water into this enormous pot along with all the veggie scraps I had been saving.

The smell is unbelievable. Once it is done simmering, I will let it cool down and back into the freezer it goes. Wish you all could smell what I am smelling, but I took pictures, well my son did actually, mom is too short to get an aerial view. Thank you Robert!

Call Me Cheap

Well, please remember that we are a single income family that is stretching a dollar so far to its limit that the Stretch Armstrong company is calling us. So we are learning not to waste in the house and especially in the kitchen. We do not overfill our plates, we cook enough to make for leftovers the next day(Hubby and son take their lunches to work).

But I have discovered a new way to make soup base. But my inspiration came from Cook, Study, and be Crafty but there are times we do not have enough to buy all of the veggies needed to make said soup. Fear not, I am Mrs. Frugal. We(My daughter and myself) are saving our scraps. What I mean is that when we peel off the outer layers of cabbage, we throw it in the freezer style bag and we keep filling it with items that we used to throw away.

Examples of what we used to throw away, but now throw in a freezer bag:
Carrot ends
Celery ends and leaves
Outer cabbage leaves
Peels of carrots when we peel them(Redundant...I know)
Onion skins
Eggplant
Bits of potatoes

Once we have two bags filled, we plan on trying out our little venture. When we do, you all will be the first to hear about it.

Fellow Blogger Soup

I love giving fellow bloggers and here comes one. To say I love lentils is a gross understatement. So any recipe with them in it is a plus in my book. So I visited a fellow bloggers blog...duh, and she posted about a lentil soup in a bread bowl. If I was physically able, I would have gone over there and taken every last bread bowl...with the soup in it, and not even have tasted it. But low and behold, we made it tonight. It was over the top grand. I am a cook that does not thrive on weird odd ingredients. I prefer to be able to go in my cabinets/frig and be able to grab what I need for any dish.

We had all the ingredients, minus the celery, but hubby did not mind, he least favorite vegetable. This was so simple and to me it struck me as an artisan, those are my favorite types of dishes or breads. But it will be a while before I get back into the full swing of cooking or bread baking, but one day at a time. So please visit Tam and try this simple yet comfort food worthy soup. And with fall around the corner, this is one you will want to add to your fall collection.

Black Bean Soup

Just make this and eat it...trust me on this one!

10 cups of water
1&1/2 cups dry black beans
3T oil
1 carrot grated
1 onion chopped
1 potato grated
1 bay leaf
1t oregano
1/4 t savory(Do not omit this spice)
2t salt
1/2 t pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
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Wash beans and pick out debris. Beans need to be cooked(Duh) I have used a pressure cooker if speed is of the essence, but I prefer my slowcooker. Once beans are cooked add 1T of oil.

Chop and grate onion, carrot and potato. Heat remaining oil in medium to large frying pan. Add onion first until soft, then add carrot and potato. Stir until heated through. Add vegetables to soup. Add seasonings. let simmer for about 15 minutes. Pour in lemon juice, stir and enjoy.

Potato Kale Soup

This recipe I was given when I had first become a vegetarian from a friend I met in Michigan. We are still friends, and I think of him and his family every time I make this soup! Enjoy!

1 lg Spanish onion(May use yellow as a substitute)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
A pinch of pepper flakes
1/3 cup of oil(Do not skimp on this)
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 qt of water
2-3T tamari(Soy Sauce)
1 bunch of kale,(Stems removed) cut into long slivers
Dash of hot sauce
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Saute first 5 ingredients in oil. then add potatoes and water. Bring to a boil until potatoes are soft. Take a potato masher and mash potatoes until they are all broken up. Add chopped kale, tamari and hot sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve hot.