We find ourselves in the month of October and the start of VeganMoFo. (If you don't know what it is, refer to this post.) VeganMoFo is always held in Autumn and I am delighted since it is my favorite season of the year. I wait for the season each summer with anticipation. Ever since I was a child, I have loved everything that makes up this season. The smell of the fall air, leaves changing, rain, October moons, cooler weather, hearty meals, and sweaters.
I feel that it is fitting that I start off this challenge with a post about a hearty soup to help you celebrate the fall. You will probably find a dozen or more potato soup recipes on the internet and this one might not be all that different from them. I am posting the recipe as it calls to mind what I love most about the season. The cooler weather and heartier foods.
Late September was a particularly busy month and two of my closest friends gave birth to their first child. Knowing that their lives have become extremely busy, we decided to make dinner for each family to help ease their burden. Jessie and Tim have very similar taste to us, so we thought that this soup would be a perfect hearty and healthy dinner as they spend time with their new little angel, Violet. Along with the soup, we made a salad consisting of lettuce, cranberries, and almonds served with a simple vinaigrette.
Hearty Potato Soup
- 4 large potatoes
- 2 Tbsp vegan margarine
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- 2 tbsp gluten free flour
- 4 c homemade vegetable stock (if you use one from a store, buy low sodium)
- 2 c water
- 4 Tbsp cornstarch
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 c nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/8 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp dried chives
- 1 c non-dairy milk
- Chives or scallions to garnish
Microwave the potatoes until soft enough to mash. Around 5-10 minutes depending on your microwave. Set aside and allow the potatoes to cool.
Melt the margarine in a large saucepan and saute' the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent and soft. Add the GF flour and stir to make a roux. Add the stock, water, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the contents. Chop the potatoes into bite-sized chucks. Add half of the chunks to the pan and place the other half into a bowl. Mash the potatoes in the bowl and add them along with the non-dairy milk to the saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.
Spoon the soup into bowls and garnish with chives or scallions.
For many years I purchased organic vegetable broths. These broths can run over $4 for about a quart of liquid. Many are high in sodium and even the ones labeled as "low sodium" have more sodium than I prefer to consume. I could have switched to a cheaper brand, but I would forgo the organic vegetables and gain filler ingredients. I'm not going to say which brand, but this is an ingredient list from a very popular vegetable broth label:
Vegetable Broth (Made from Water and Concentrated Juices of Celery, Celeriac, Onion, and Cabbage), Carrot Juice Contains Less than 2% of: Salt, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Flavoring, Vegetables (Carrots, Onions, Celery), Dextrose, Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Sugar, Potato Flour, Citric Acid, Disodium Guanylate, Disodium Inosinate, Soy Lecithin, Celery Extract (Soy Lecithin), Dehydrated Carrots.
I am not interested in the high fructose corn syrup, MSG, sugar, disodium guanylate, or disodium isonate. Last I heard vegetable broth just contained vegetables. I was also confused as to why the broth was made from juices rather than cooking down the vegetables. No, this is certainly not an option for me!
Then it dawned on me that I could make vegetable broth for FREE (well, besides the cost of the water). We have been composting for years and so it is no more work to set aside our vegetable tops, bottoms, and skins. I just save them in the fridge until I gather enough for a large pot. I keep out vegetables that I think will overpower the broth, such as beets. I love adding adding ginger root skins and lemon peel for added flavor! I do not add any salt to the broth.
Many of my friends have asked me to explain how I make my virtually free vegetable broth. Here it is!
Homemade Vegetable Broth
- Tops, bottoms, and skins (enough to fill a large soup pot)
- Water
- Fresh or dried herbs (optional)
- 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
Place the tops/bottoms/skins in a large soup pot and fill with water just to cover the top of the vegetables. Place in herbs and bay leaves. Heat over medium high and bring to a boil. When the contents boil, turn down to a low simmer, and cover with a vented lid. If you don't have a vented lid, tilt the lid so that some of the steam can escape. Let the broth simmer for about 45 minutes. When 45 minutes is up, you will have a rich dark broth. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool. When cooled, strain and store. The broth will last about two weeks in the fridge. For a longer life, place in the freezer and defrost when needed. Don't forget to compost the strained vegetables!
And there you have it- virtually free and healthy vegetable broth! The broth will last about two weeks in the refrigerator or for several months in the freezer.
Blog #9 for the vegan MoFo 2010 challenge!
I love lentils and spinach. I don't have a favorite food, but if I were to rank order my favorites I am sure they would both be in the top ten. Not only do I LOVE the flavor, I love how many vitamins and minerals that they provide our body. Spinach contains vitamins A, C, K, iron, calcium, magnesium, and folate. Lentils are high in protein, folate, iron, thiamine, magnesium, and phosphorus. They also contain other vitamins and minerals not listed here. Neither contain any saturated fats, they are not high in sodium, and don't contain any cholesterol.
For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed spinach. I think I was the only grade school kid who would proclaim "SPINACH!" when asked "what is your favorite vegetable?" Maybe I am a descendant of Popeye or maybe I knew good, healthy food as a kid. Even though my parents are not vegetarian (my Dad is not even close), we always had two to three vegetables at dinner along side meat. Vegetables were way more of a focus than meat and they were commonplace to me. When I became a vegetarian at age 14, I had a head start because I already liked my vegetables.
Lentils came into my diet after I became a vegetarian. I also loved them from first bite. It wasn't until I was in graduate school that I started cooking with them on a regular basis. I enjoy experimenting and pairing them with many other foods.
Now that the weather has started to get cold (although you wouldn't know it this week), I have been craving warm soups. They are hardy, easy to cook, and provide food for several meals. So, when we planned our meals last week, we were excited to incorporate a lentil soup into a dinner. There are really so many ways to make a lentil soup. Instead of posting a recipe, I'll just highlight the ingredients we used. You can get creative, put any vegetables and grains into your soup and let it simmer until ready to serve.
On this particular night, we used:
- Homemade vegetable stock, no salt added
- Onions
- Carrots
- Celery
- Lentils (any color will do)
- Spinach
- Black pepper
- Cumin
The soup was delicious and provided a dinner and several lunches for us. Go on now, get your soup on! 
Blog #6 for the vegan MoFo 2010 Challenge!
Close friends of ours have been having a rough couple of months. As a friend, there is not much I can do except be there to listen. Things have gotten a bit overwhelming for them and we decided to make them a comforting dinner. I had been planning on doing it for a while, but then a sign up was started and I knew it was my cue.
The two are not vegetarian, but have expressed an interest in eating vegetarian more. A while back, they were trying to incorporate two vegetarian meals into each week. So, I was excited to make something for them that they could add back in when things in life improved. After hemming and hawing about what to make, I settled on a veggie chili and cornbread muffin biscuits (both vegan, of course). Even though I can't eat foods containing gluten, I don't mind making them for others.
We have some wheat flour leftover from my gluten days, so I decided to make the biscuits with wheat. At some point I will try them with a non-wheat flour. I followed the recipe found in Vegan Brunch for Cornbread Biscuits. As I was making them, I imagined what they would taste like. When they were finished, I gave one to John to taste so that he could make sure they were decent before passing them on to our friends. He really enjoyed them and asked for another. I said no.
Then, it was on to the chili. A friend suggested that I make traditional chili with just beans and not veggies because it would mirror meat chili. I thought about it and then decided not to go that route, I added veggies! I was sure to be careful to accommodate their allergies and likes. One is allergic to mushrooms and the other does not like peppers. We had some vegan Bocca crumbles in the freezer from my gluten eating days and wanted to use it for this chili and for our friends. I used it as the last ingredient so that I could taste it throughout and make sure the flavoring was right
Here is my recipe:
- 32 oz of chopped tomatoes, with the juice
- 3 oz can of tomato paste
- 1 cup of corn (frozen or fresh)
- 2 zucchinis, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 large onion
- 3 tbs chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- Black pepper to taste
- 15 oz of black beans
- 8 or 12 oz package of Boca vegan burger crumbles
Place all of the ingredients, except the beans and crumbles, into a soup pot, cover, and simmer for an hour. Add beans and simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Test seasonings and add more as you desire. Add in burger crumbles, stir, and serve!
I tried the chili without the crumbles and really enjoyed the flavor. John tried it with the crumbles and also enjoyed it. I gave it to my friends and the next day and the day after they informed me that they liked it quite a bit! I was so excited! They even rationed out the biscuits so one would not get more than the other. That made me smile.
I was so glad to give them a little bit of comfort, warmth, and friendship in this meal.
