Vegetable Soup

Watch out now!  Another soup recipe.  I'm not kidding when I say we love soup around here.  They're easy and tasty and can be filled with all kinds of good stuff.  If you ask Tory what his favorite food is he will actually say "Soup".  So we try to see how many variations on the theme we can get.  I know a lot of my soup recipes could be called "vegetable" soup but this one is just so full of veggies that it got the title.  Just so you know this one smells very tasty cooking up!

Vegetable Soup

2 cups chopped carrots
2 potatoes, cut into cubes
1 small onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 (14-oz.) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 small head cabbage, chopped
1 (14-oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 can cut green beans (or 2 cups fresh green beans cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
1 cup dry pasta
1 (32-oz.) box Vegetable Stock
5 1/2 cups water (or you could do 2 boxes of vegetable stock and reduce water to 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 pinch rubbed sage
1 pinch dried thyme leaves
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients except salt & pepper in a large pot; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low; cover.  Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 90 minutes.  Salt & pepper to taste.

Butternut Squash Soup With Thai Gremolata

Here's another soup I found in my November 2010 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  It is the $200 prize winner for Slow Cooker Soups (the Tomatillo Chicken Soup was the $400 prize winner).  Although it may look similar to my Sweet Potato Peanut Soup the tastes are very different.  I used light coconut milk and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.  One thing I did find was that it was a little too spicy for the majority of our family.  I used the crushed red pepper.  Might tone that down a bit next time.  Other than that it was pretty tasty and very easy since it was made in the ol' crock pot.  Smelled great all day!  The gremolata adds extra crunch and texture.  I loved it!

Butternut Squash Soup
2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups chicken (vegetable) broth
1 14-oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. fish sauce or soy sauce (I used Tamari sauce)
1/2 to 1 tsp. Asian chili sauce (Sriracha sauce) or crushed red pepper
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 recipe Thai Gremolata, below

In a 3 1/2 or 4-quart slow cooker stir together squash, broth, coconut milk, onion, brown sugar, soy sauce, and Asian chili sauce.  Cover; cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  Use an immersion blender to carefully blend soup until completely smooth.  (Or transfer mixture in batches to a food processor or blender; or use a potato masher to mash mixture nearly smooth.)  Stir in lime juice.  Ladle into bowls and top with Thai Gremolata.  If desired, serve with lime wedges.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Thai Gremolata
In a bowl stir together:
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or cilantro
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 Tbsp. finely shredded lime peel

Creamy Cauliflower Potato Soup

I created this soup last month and have made it 3 times since.  It's so fast and easy.  It is also a great way to use up instant potato pearls that you might have in your food storage.  If you don't have potato pearls (or would rather not use them since they may contain small amounts of milk products) then you can use leftover mashed potatoes or any other instant potatoes that you like.  The potato pearls are what make this soup "creamy".  They also seem to add a lot of flavor and I find that I hardly have to add any additional salt.  The nutritional yeast adds a bit of a "cheesy" flavor but is completely optional.  I've added a cup of frozen corn a couple times and that's pretty tasty, too.  Just add them in with the cauliflower.

Creamy Cauliflower Potato Soup

2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 cup diced onion
4 mushrooms, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1 cup instant potato pearls
7 cups water
1 tsp. basil
1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes, optional
salt & pepper to taste

Saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic and mushrooms in a little olive oil.  Add 5 cups of water.  Add chopped cauliflower.  Boil until cauliflower is tender.  Stir in potato pearls and basil.  Add up to 2 cups of water.  Stir until thickened.  If too thick, add more water.  If too thin, add more potato pearls.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Cabbage-Tomato Pasta

This is an unusual combination of ingredients that blend very well together.  I clipped this recipe out of a Taste of Home magazine a few years ago and finally got around to making it this week.  It was really tasty!  Great with a big scoop of mashed butternut squash right next to it.  I used the little miniature bow tie pasta.  So fun!  The only change I made was in the oil.  I only used 1/4 cup olive oil and no butter or margarine.  It seemed fine to me.  If you're worried it might be too dry you might cut the bread crumbs down to 1 cup.  Just a suggestion.

Cabbage-Tomato Pasta

2 medium tomatoes, peeled and diced (I didn't peel mine)
2 Tbsp. cider or red wine vinegar
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley (I didn't have fresh so I used dried...about 2 tsp. probably)
8 oz. uncooked bow tie pasta (half a package)
2 cups shredded cabbage
1-1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
1/4 cup butter or margarine

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, vinegar, basil and parsley; set aside.  Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the cabbage during the last 2 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute bread crumbs, almonds and garlic in oil and butter for 6 minutes or until golden brown.  Drain pasta and cabbage; place in a large bowl.  Add tomato and crumb mixtures; toss and serve immediately.  Yield:  6 servings

Pumpkin Lentil Soup

Yet another spin-off of my favorite pumpkin soup.  But I pretty much think that anything with pumpkin in it is the best!  I used orange lentils and they just disappeared in this soup!  Perfect match!  This soup is packed with veggies, protein, and...fiber!  You could make this in a Crockpot and enjoy the smells all day.

Pumpkin Lentil Soup

2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
4-6 mushrooms, diced
1 head of broccoli, chopped (or you can use frozen)
1/2 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed
8 oz. whole wheat noodles (uncooked)
1 can pumpkin
32 oz. vegetable stock
4 cups water
1/4-1/2 tsp. allspice (start out with the smaller amount and see how "spicy" you like it.  I like it "spicy"!)
salt & pepper to taste

Saute carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms for about 5 minutes in a large soup pot.  Add lentils, vegetable stock and water and bring to a boil.  Turn down to med-lo and simmer for 25 minutes.  Turn burner up to about med-hi.  Add noodles and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Add broccoli during last 5 minutes or so.  You don't want to cook the broccoli too long or it will lose its pretty green color (but if you do it will still taste good.) Stir in one can of pumpkin.  Add allspice, salt, and pepper.  Enjoy!

Tomatillo Soup

I just got my new Better Homes and Gardens Magazine (November 2010) in the mail yesterday.  Flipping through it, I found this $400 prize-winning recipe.  (Click HERE for the $200 prize-winning soup.)  It's actually called Tomatillo Chicken Soup but since I didn't add the chicken I thought that word had to go.  I substituted two cans of Great Northern Beans for the 1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breast halves.  This is made in the crock pot and my goodness, does it ever smell delicious!  So easy and such good flavor!  I also substituted vegetable broth for chicken broth.  (Great prices on boxes of vegetable broth at Aldi right now!  I also got a bag of red, yellow, and orange peppers for under $2.  If you haven't been to Aldi yet, people...GO!)  The original recipe called for 1 tsp. each of salt and pepper but I thought that seemed like too much.  Sooo glad I halved the amounts.  It still seemed a tad salty to me.  I also thought it seemed too "broth-y" at the end.  I like a little thickness to my soup so I scooped out half of the beans (and of course some of the chopped veggies came, too.) and a little of the broth and blended it in my blender.  Next time I'll probably just blend one of the cans of beans with some broth at the beginning.  I served my soup with these yummy tortillas that were half flour and half corn.  So good!  The taste of corn with the softness of a flour tortilla.  OK, here is the recipe:

Tomatillo Soup

6 medium tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
2 cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 32-oz. box vegetable broth
1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 4-oz. can diced green chiles
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh cilantro
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

Chop three tomatillos.  Place remaining tomatillos in blender.  (And I would add one of the cans of beans here, too.)  Cover; blend until smooth.  In a 3 1/2- or 4-quart crock pot combine pureed and chopped tomatillos, beans, broth, sweet pepper, onion, celery, chiles, cilantro, jalapeño, cumin, lime juice, chili powder, garlic, and salt and pepper.

Cover; cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  (Can be cooked less since we're not cooking chicken here.)  Top with chopped red sweet pepper, jalapeño peppers, snipped cilantro, warm tortillas and/or tortilla chips.  Makes 4-6 servings.

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

With the use of Old Bay Seasoning, a classic herb mixture most often used for crab cakes, these little patties can justifiably be called Vegan Crab Cakes.  From the book The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  Love that book!

Zucchini Cakes

2 ½ cups peeled and grated zucchini (about 5 small)

2 Tbsp. nondairy, nonhydrogenated butter (such as Earth Balance), melted

1 cup bread or cracker crumbs, seasoned or plain (crushed Saltines work great)

¼ cup minced yellow or red onion

1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

 ¼ tsp. salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

¼ cup all-purpose flour

Canola oil, for frying

Spread grated zucchini on a kitchen towel, and roll up jelly-roll style.  Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible.  (You may even need to do this twice with two different towels.)  If you fail to do this, your zucchini cakes will be too wet.

In a large bowl, combine zucchini and nondairy butter.  Stir in bread crumbs, minced onion, Old Bay Seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly to combine.

Coat your hands in oil, and shape mixture into patties.  Coat each patty in flour.  In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot.  Fry patties until golden brown on both sides.  (Reheat in toaster oven or skillet.)

Yield:  8 servings