Beet-Vegetable Soup, Olive Lemon Bread

My daughter had new orthodontic braces put in yesterday and is preferring soft food. She likes soups, so I experimented with making a beet soup.


Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, roughly minced into 1/8" or 1/4" pieces
• 2 medium beets, rinsed and scrubbed then peeled and cubed into 1/2" cubes
• 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes (mine were organic so I didn't peel but I otherwise would have), also rinsed/scrubbed/cubed into 1/2" pieces
• 3 medium carrots sliced into 3/4" lengths
• 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh edamame
• 1 cup frozen or fresh peas
• 4 stalks celery chopped into 1/2" pieces
• Approx. 1 cup of broccoli florets
• Stem of the cup of broccoli florets cut into 3/8" pieces
• 1/2 cups onion cut into approximately 1/2" half moons slices approx. 1/4" x 1 1/4" ( maybe 2/3 of a medium onion)
• 1 1/4 cups carrot cut into 3/8" slices (3 small-medium carrots)
• Seasonings: 1/2 t salt, 1 t ground cumin, 1 T dried rosemary needles, 1 t dried oregano, 1 t garlic powder, 1 t lemon pepper, 1/4 t smoked paprika; I'd add dried or fresh basil but I was out
• (optional) 4 leaves kale, stems removed for compost, and roughly hand torn into approximately 1 1/2" pieces [I was in a rush so omitted]
• (optional) Other vegetables that you favor [my daughter doesn't like asparagus but I put about 3" of the thick end of 3 stalks in for a touch of flavor]
• (optional) Subtle hint of hot sauce of choice

Process

1. I cooked the garlic on a cast iron pan on medium to medium-high heat with no oil for about 5-7 minutes till I obtained a full aroma and light browning.
2. I put all of the ingredients, including the garlic but excluding the celery, into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 20m.
3. My wife doesn't like celery so I separately cooked the celery in about a cup of salted water; after it reached a boil, I simmered on low, covered. (Otherwise I would have just cooked the celery with the other ingredients.)
4. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then served, mixing the celery into all but my wife's bowl.

NB: I ended up filling most of my 6-quart Instant Pot and wanted to remind folks to not overfill if you are cooking beans or other ingredients which expand. In this case I wasn't, so there was no problem - just plenty of soup including a significant amount to share with neighbors.

I am impressed with a product that I found this past weekend on sale, Divina brand green olive spread. It has no oil but only olives, capers, garlic powder, oregano, sea salt, and citric acid - and so has just 1 g of fat per tablespoon of serving (so low that I'm going to mark my dinner as no-added-fat)! I put a light smear on some specialty lemon rosemary bread and served with mixed slices of heirloom tomatoes.

 

Results

We all enjoyed the soup. I made it purposefully soft for my daughter so cooked it for 20m.

Ideas for the future

Beets maintain more of their nutrition if cooked whole and then peeled and chopped, but I did want to make the soup quite soft for my daughter. I've never cooked beets with soup and should explore more - I'd love to steam them and add 3/4" or so chunks to a soup. The color of the soup was nice but having even more beets would make the soup even more pretty.

By the way, our next So Many Cooks event is this Saturday (live on facebook at 2p eastern US time this Saturday). I will be discussing nutritional yeast and jerk seasoning and demonstrating air fried tofu.

Kiddo's Vegetable and Chickpea Soup, Cauliflower with Spinach (No Added Fat)

Kiddo is going to be making vegetable soup with chickpeas for this weekend's So Many Kids in the Kitchen program (12:30p on Saturday the 13th, east coast US time - facebook.com/somanycooks) and practiced a batch tonight. It was good! I made a simple side dish of waterlessly cooked cauliflower with spinach, as well as a salad of artichoke, tomato, and olive. It was a filling and tasty meal!

Honeynut and Robin’s Koginut Squash Power Plate Stew with Razzmatazz Grapes

I wrote about Robin's Kogniut squash yesterday; having Kabocha as a parent serves it well and it results in a nice, creamy texture and flavor. Maybe even more, I love Honeynut squash. It looks similar with a beige outside thin skin, but its flesh is a little deeper. It has a uniquely sweet and again smooth flavor/consistency. I am demonstrating this weekend I think a Kabocha squash dhal, and today thought I'd make a dhal with yellow split peas and both these squashes. I included greens (spinach) ntroductory comments go here. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• Medium honeynut squash
• Medium Robin's Koginut squash
• 2 cups yellow (green is fine, alternately) split peas
• 3 times as much water as split peas - i.e., 6 cups
• 1 1/2 cups chopped spinach (or kale or finely chopped chard)
• 3/4 cup quinoa or millet or buckwheat, or, as I did, a combination
• 3 medium carrots cut into 3/8" thick rounds (about 2 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely (1/8" or so)/roughly chopped
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/8 t garam masala
• 1/4 t whole cumin seed
• 1/8 t mustard seed
• 1t lemon juice
• small-medium onion chopped into 3/8" cubes (about 3/4 cup)

Process

1. Cook the squashes for 12m in the Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. They should be done in 8-9 minutes but, unlike yesterday's dish, I wanted soft squash.
2. When the squashes are ready, release pressure and carefully remove each squash. Cut each in half, scoop out and compost the seeds, and scoop out the flesh; each of the two squashes will yield about a cup.
3. Return to the pressure cooker the split peas, water, spinach, grains, carrots, garlic, spices, and squash flesh.
4. Split peas generally cook under pressure in a ratio of 1:3 to water and 8-10m (45m stovetop); I cooked for 10m to get a thicker dhal.
5. When done, slowly release pressure, mix in the lemon juice and onion, stir, and serve. I included the tasty Razzmatazz grapes that I discussed yesterday for their nutrition, beautiful color, and to make the meal a Power Plate one that includes all of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes.

 

Results

The dish was good and filling, though I preferred yesterday's squash dish. I like thick dhals; this turned out so thick that I call it a stew. I love how the grains complemented the dish in texture. The grape was a delicious addition and added a welcome moist burst of sweetness, which went quite well with the squash. My wife added a bit of hot sauce at the table to her serving.

I usually prepare food for about 4 or so; my family has 3 members but my wife enjoys my meals as lunch leftovers as well, and I like sharing with my neighbors. Today's meal made about 8 cups, which would have been enough for at least 6-8 people.

Ideas for the future

We all enjoyed the meal but I so love honeynut squash that I would like to try something like this again with just that variety of squash, and with a higher concentration of squash. Perhaps I could try, for serving 4, the same amount of squash but half of the split peas, water, greens, grains, garlic, and onion, keeping the carrot, spices, and lemon juice the same. Squash blossoms would go great with this, as well. I do like thick dhals but this could use a little more water so, instead, perhaps the water could be dropped from 6 to 4 cups. I should do more cooking with grains combined with squash.

I regret running a bit late in food preparation. I wish that I had a few more minutes to work on the presentation. The grapes certainly help, but I really would like more of a "pop" to the plate, perhaps with some deep red tomatoes, which we are out of.

3-Bean and Vegetable Soup

Waterless Caulifower and Plantain, Bean and Lentil with Millet and Flax Crackers (Almost No Added Fat)

I had a head of cauliflower and decided to make a waterless main course. I simply cooked it in my large Saladmaster stock pan, putting in half moon red and sweet Vidalia onions, a chopped clove of garlic, then florets from almost the whole head of the cauliflower, and finally a little bit of spinach. I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped.

I let it cook for about 20 minutes, then I mixed in about 1 or 1 1/2 ounces that I had leftover of  an 8 ounce bag of Key Lime skillet sauce (I think it was 1g or 2g of fat per serving), a handful of chopped flat parsley, salt, and lemon pepper.

While that was cooking, I sauteed with no oil on a cast iron pan a plantain cut into 3/4" rounds. Once lightly blackened, I quartered the rounds and then, once the cauliflower was done, mixed them in to the main course.

When I was cooking a recent Food for Life class and needed baked tortilla chips, I instead used a cracker that I used to occasionally get, Sami's millet and flax
garlic and plain chips. They're great - I can't understand how they are so luscious (the garlic is quite strong!) and seemingly decadent, but they are only 2g (3g for the garlic) of fat per serving (sixth of the bag). I had (and still do!) plenty of leftovers from a few days ago when I made the bean and lentil soup; I didn't add more water but heated it up and spread the thick paste atop some of the crackers.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Creamy "Cheese" Cauliflower Soup (Almost No Added Fat)

Recently we stopped by Living Kitchen, a very nice vegan and (subject to ingredient availability) organic restaurant, and had a tasty thick cauliflower soup. I picked up a head of cauliflower today and decided to try making a similar soup. I had made a cauliflower soup back in February 2011 that was good but I wanted to better it.

I found a roasted cauliflower soup recipe from a very nice site by a woman named Jessica and it looked great. The key ideas were to roast cauliflower, coated in a little olive oil and along with garlic cloves, at  450°F for 15m, then blend with sauteed onion.

I made a few changes; I used the convection ("air bake") function on my air fryer toaster oven which cooks faster and went with 400°F for 15m, instead of using oil, I mixed in Coconut Secret brand coconut aminos garlic sauce (soy sauce or their normal coconut aminos would have been fine), and I used oregano instead of thyme.  I didn't have any bouillon cubes on hand or broth, so I used filtered water and just a few (maybe 5) raw cashews for creaminess and thickness. I had sauteed the onion in a cast iron pan and then mixed all the ingredients in my Vitamix blender - including some nutritional yeast. As Jessica suggested, I saved a few pieces of roasted cauliflower and added atop the soup.

Here is a copy of the original recipe from Jessica's site.

INGREDIENTS

Roasted Cauliflower Soup - Vegan, Incredibly Easy

• 1 large head cauliflower, de-stemmed and florets broken up
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed with skins still on
• 1/2 large vidalia onion
• 2-3 sprigs thyme, stems removed
• 4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 
  

Roasted Cauliflower Soup - Vegan, Incredibly Easy

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.
• Add the cauliflower to the baking sheet and 1 tablespoon olive oil, about ½ teaspoon salt and grind some pepper over it all. Using your hands, mixing it all in, massaging the ingredients into the cauliflower. Add the smashed garlic (skins still on) on the baking sheet. The skins help to prevent it burning; you'll remove thee afterwards. Roast for 15 minutes. I like to reserve a few pieces after roasting to top the soup with.
• Meanwhile, in a large high sided pot over medium high heat, sauté the onions in the ½ tablespoon olive oil until fragrant and browning, about 8 minutes, stirring infrequently.
• Add the roasted cauliflower, the garlic (skins remove), 2 sprigs of thyme and vegetable broth. Mix together with spatula.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir once more. If using an immersion blender, blend the soup together. If using a high powered blender, let cool slightly and add slowly to blender. Press the "soup" setting or blend on high until soup is thoroughly mixed and incorporated, at least 1 minute. Be careful that your soup is not too hot to crack your blender. Taste and salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour into bowls and top optionally with extra cauliflower, crushed red peppers, extra thyme and a drizzle of coconut milk. Enjoy!
• 
  

I'm glad that I found this recipe and this site! I also made some quinoa cooked with chopped broccoli stalk and with tofu (the tofu wasn't for my wife).

Results

The soup was excellent! I loved the flavor and consistency. It's a winner!

Ideas for the future

I share Jessica's enthusiasm about roasted cauliflower. My toaster oven is fast and I think I could have baked for maybe 10m instead of 15m. I should also try other cauliflower soups maybe with kale or broccoli.

Cranberry Bean Soup (No Added Fat)

I bought some fresh cranberry beans from a nearby farmers' market this past weekend. I love cranberry beans and haven't seen them dried (or fresh) for sometime now.

I sauteed some onion and baby ginger in a small Saladmaster stock pan for a few minutes, then added the fresh beans, enough water to just cover the beans, a diced carrot, a green (not quite ripe) tomato that I also bought at the market, a vegan bouillon cube, garlic powder, and salt. I brought to a boil and cooked, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, then covered and simmered on low heat for  20 minutes. I then mixed in a chopped roasted bell pepper that I had also purchased from the market, and served, along with a cucumber-caper-Ume plum vinegar salad and brown rice noodles.

Results

I was going to serve the beans as the main course, which I did, but it turned out a soup rather than a more firm plated dish. I am not normally so excited about soup, but my whole family loved the entire dinner, especially the soup. It came together so nicely and with just the right punch of flavor. Wow!

Ideas for the future

I love cooking with my Instant Pot, but it was fun to make a bean dish stovetop today. Of course, the convenience of dried beans is great, but I quite enjoyed using fresh beans today and should look for them again. I should make more fresh bean soups and regular bean dishes.

Black Bean and Corn Pupusa, Butternut Squash Soup with Corn

I like the vegan frozen black bean and corn, as well as the kale and pinto bean,  pupusa (thick stuffed corn tortilla) that have been available over the last 6-12 months. The pupusa is from El Salvador and Honduras and these frozen convenience foods are sold by Tres Latin Foods. I had some black bean and corn pupusas on hand and used them for dinner.

My wife went out to a performance. My daughter was slightly under the weather and asked for soup. I thought I'd make some butternut squash soup, and I mixed corn in. Two pupusas topped with salsa, as well as romaine lettuce completed the meal.

Results

Dinner was very good! I'll have to make this dinner for my wife. The corn was a surprisingly good addition to the soup.

Ideas for the future

I should experiment with soups more often. I like chunky soups and wonder if some air fried beans or seitan might be nice in soup.

Brown Lentil Dhal with Potato (No Added Fat)

I thought I'd make a brown lentil dhal; lentils cook under pressure in a ratio of 1 to between 1 1/2 and 2 for 15-20 minutes; I wanted a souply dahl so thought I'd go for a 1:3 ratio for 20 minutes. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 cup brown lentils
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups Russet (or other) potato cut into larger 1/2" cubes (a medium potato)
• 1/4 cup onion cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (< 1/8") minced
• 2 cups carrot cut into 3/8" slices (about 3-4 small carrots)
• 1 packed cup kale, roughly hand-torn into approximately 1" pieces (stems excepted) and then cut down into approximately quarters via knife
• 1 cup frozen sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 1/2 t black salt
• 1/2 t cumin seeds
• (optional) small piece of organic Meyer lemon, skin and interior intact
• Another 1/4 cup onion, this time cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1T lemon juice (I used Meyer lemon juice)
• (optional) 2 T organic Meyer lemon skin, cut into 1/2" pieces

Process

1. I put the lentils, water, potato, 1st batch of larger cut onion, garlic, carrot, kale, mushroom, turmeric, salt, cumin seed, and lemon into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 20m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed
3. When I was ready to serve, I opened the pot slowly, and added the additional 1/4 cup onion, lemon juice, and lemon pieces. 

I was out of brown rice, so used white Jasmine rice on the side, as well as peas and carrots.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Thick Potato Leek Soup with Spicy Seitan (No Added Fat)

I had a little potato leek soup leftover and had purchased a head of cauliflower today. I thought I'd make a soup with cauliflower and seitan (I had some chorizo seitan from Upton's that I also bought today).

I steamed about half the cauliflower, cut into florets, for about 3 minutes, covered, then removed the water, put about a cup of the soup base in, as well as 1/4 of the seitan package (about 2 ounces), 3/4 of a bell pepper cut into strips, a tablespoon of nutritional yeast, a pinch of salt, 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper, and 1/2 t garlic powder. I simmered, uncovered, for 7-10 minutes, then served, along with cucumber slices and crackers. Simple, fast, and nutritious!

Results

Dinner was good. I like thick soups, but this also would have been good with more of the soup base. nding

Ideas for the future

Chunks of potatoes would have been good, as well as chives. I was in a bit of a rush to put dinner together, so something more "interesting" than crackers, such as a vegetable dish, would have been nice, but, in any case, dinner was filling.

Fava Bean and Potato Soup (No Added Fat)

I enjoy fava beans but don't find it easy to remove the skins when I cook them. I was recently in a Lebanese restaurant, Neomonde, and found split fava beans, both large and, what I bought, small. I found an appealing sounding fava bean recipe, which inspired me for a soup I made with four times as much water as beans. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dry small split fava beans, rinsed, soaked overnight, and rinsed again (it ended up being about 2 1/2 cups)
• 8 cups water (the recipe I referred to used a 1:4 ratio to water, but it wasn't clear if they soaked the beans, so I decided to go with between 6-10 cups and used 7 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups (about half of a large 28 ounce can) canned chopped or diced tomatoes
• 3 1/4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes cut into approximately 1/2" cubes (4 medium potatoes)
• 1 1/2 cups (about 3 medium) carrots cut into large 3/4" chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") minced
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 t cumin seed
• 1 t fennel seed
• 4 scallions cut into 1/2" lengths
• 1/2 t salt

Process

1. I put the beans, water, tomato, potato, garlic, turmeric, black pepper, cumin seed, and fennel seed into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 10m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the scallions and salt.

I served the soup with whole grain toast, lightly topped with an olive tapenade, then with tomato. I also served fire-roasted corn.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Blended Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potato (No Added Fat)

We are having colder than usual weather, so I thought I'd make a soup. Split pea soup always turns out well, and I had the idea of making a dhal with chunks of sweet potato. Then, on further reflection, I thought I'd blend sweet potato into the dhal. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• About 2 cups of cooked sweet potato
• 1 cup yellow (or green) split peas (1:3 8-10m)
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/3 cups potato cut into approx. 3/8" cubes (I used a small Russet potato)
• 2 cups carrots cut into approx. 3/8" thick slices (2 medium carrots)
• 2 leaves kale, stems excepted, roughly hand torn into approximately 1" squares
• 1t finely (1/8") diced ginger
• 1/8 t turmeric
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/4 t garlic granules (or powder)
• 1/2 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes (I used half red onion and half sweet onion)
• Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon (or lemon or lime); if organic, as mine was, then use the peel as well
• Additional cup of water

Process

1. I first prepared the sweet potato. I had 3 or 4 small (maybe 3/4" thick by maybe 5" long) locally grown sweet potatoes that would cook quickly; I pressure steamed for 10 minutes (the sweet potato was quite soft and could have cooked in 7-8 minutes I bet), along with one medium purple sweet potato that I had first cut into chunks maybe 1 1/2 " long.
2. Split peas cook in a 1:3 ratio to water for 8-10 minutes. I usually like this to be thick, but with my experiment with the soup, I thought I'd go with just 8 minutes of pressure. I put the split peas, water, potato, carrot, kale, ginger, turmeric, cumin, and garlic powder into my Instant Pot and cooked for 8 minutes.
3. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the onion, lemon juice, and salt.
4. I reserved about 1/4 of the soup and put the rest in a blender, along with the lemon peel, and blended for maybe 15-20 seconds till homogenized. (I also blended in the extra cup of water as the soup thickened.)
5. I combined the blended soup with the reserved portion, then served, along with salad, and tomato-topped crusty bread.

Results

All three of us enjoyed dinner. Surprisingly, my daughter didn't complain about the ginger; in fact, after dinner, I made mango-ginger-pineapple ice cream (just blended in my VitaMix blender with a vegan almond cream) topped with cardamom, and we all enjoyed it, too!

Ideas for the future

The soup was thicker than I had thought it might be, but that's okay - it has a "stick to the ribs" warmth, good for cooling temperatures. I wasn't so happy with the color and wonder if I could make it more vibrant with perhaps a dollop of my homemade soy yogurt and, for adults, a slice of red jalapeno, perhaps. I might also experiment with similar soups, but with more chunkiness. I hope to make more blended soups!

Split Pea Dhal with Plantain and Fennel (No Added Fat)

My wife's brother is visiting from India - it's the first time he's been to the U.S.! I thought that his first meal should be an Indian one. His wife is from Goa, so I thought I'd use a plantain, which grows there. I decided to make a split pea dish with mixed vegetables and plantain. Here is what I did.

Ingredients

• 2 cups split peas (green or yellow - I used green)
• 6 cups water
• Medium plantain cut into approx. 3/8" cubes (almost 1 1/2 cups)
• 2T fennel stalk chopped into 1/4" pieces (about a 6" length of a thin stalk)
• 2 cloves garlic finely (1/8") minced
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (they come cut in small 1/4" or so cubes)
• 1 1/2 cups onion cut into half moon slices approx. 1/4" x 1 1/4" (about 1/2 of a small onion)
• Juice of one lemon
• 1t kala namak (black salt)
• 1/2 t salt (or just 1 1/2 t salt with no black salt)

Process

1. I put the split peas, water, plantain, fennel, garlic, and mixed vegetables into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 10m (split peas cook in a 1:3 ratio for 8-10m and I wanted a thick stew, so went with 10m).
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the onion, lemon juice, and salt.

I also made brown basmati rice by soaking 2 cups of the rice for a while (maybe 45m but longer would have been better), rinsing, and simmering, covered, for 45m in fresh 4 cups of water, along with 6 cardamom pods and a pinch of salt.

Results

The dhal was good. Surprisingly, I didn't taste any fennel. The plantain flavor was subtle. Most importantly, my brother-in-law said that he liked the whole meal!

Ideas for the future

I should use plantain more often - but use it so the taste is more pronounced, such as via waterless cooking or cooking under pressure for less time and cut into larger pieces.

Barley, Pea, and Lentil Soup with Green Tomato, Frisee Salad, Grilled Artichoke Hearts (No Added Fat)

I had a pre-packaged combination of barley, peas, and lentils that I bought from Whole Foods Market. The packaged suggested cooking (conventionally, not with pressure; pressure would work but would take much less time, perhaps 1/4 - 1/3 as much) with three times as much water for 23m if one wants soft grains or 10m for tougher grains.

I cooked in the prescribed ratio of 1 part to 3 parts water, plus a vegan bouillon cube, a bit of salt, and 1 1/3 cups green tomato (a medium tomato) cut into 3/8" cubes. I forgot how long I cooked for, but believe it was 20-23 minutes. I mixed in a little lemon or lime juice at the end.

I had purchased the green tomato from our local farmers' market, and also purchased some frisee, which I used along with tomato as a salad. Grilled artichoke hearts completed the meal.

Results

The soup was good! I like the textures and the light flavor that the tomato contributed.

Ideas for the future

I should make more soups with green tomatoes - but it's not always easy to find unripe tomatoes in the market. Some turmeric and cumin would also be nice. My family didn't like the bitter frisee; I love the look and enjoy the taste in small quantities.

Tomato Soup, Quinoa and Corn, Whole-Grain English Muffin with Olive Spread (No Added Fat)

My 2nd grader enjoys sometimes helping me to cook dinner. I got the book Eat Your Greens, Reds, Yellows, and Purples by DK Press from the library, and she enthusiastically picked out several recipes. We're at the end of a few days of unseasonably cool and rainy weather, so one of her choice's, that of a tomato soup, sounded good. Here is the recipe with our modifications. She did most of the cooking with some help from me!


Ingredients

• Small onion, chopped (3/8" cubes, 2/3 cup)
• Small carrot, chopped (3/8" cubes, almost a cup)
• 2 ribs celery, chopped (3/8" slices, about a cup)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1T all-purpose flour (we used whole wheat bread flour)
• 14 ounces canned chopped tomatoes
• 1T tomato paste (we used the full 2T in the small can we had)
• 1T fresh thyme leaves (I didn't have thyme so we used 2t frozen basil)
• 1 3/4 cups vegetable stock (we used water and a vegan bouillon cube
• Pinch of sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

Process

1. Saute onion, carrot, and celery [and garlic - see note] for about 5m till soften (the recipe suggests adding garlic in the next step with flour, but I'm going to add it at the beginning) in a large Saladmaster stock pan with no oil (the book called for a traditional saute with olive oil)
2. Stir in flour and cook for another minute
3. Add canned tomato, tomato paste, basil, stock, and sugar
4. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 25m
5. Add salt and pepper and blend until smooth (the recipe called for returning the soup to a pan, but my Vitamix blender runs so speedily that it continues to heat the soup)

We served with quinoa and corn, along with whole grain English muffin halves topped with an olive spread (just a little, and that contributes so little fat that I will keep the description as "no added fat").

Results

Dinner was great! My daughter, who normally doesn't like quinoa, even liked that - and she suggested that maybe it was because she had helped to make it :-) . My daughter initially loved her soup but then said that it was a bit bitter. I should not have doubled the tomato paste. On her request, I went light on the onion, but a little more onion might actually have sweetened the soup - as well as a second pinch of sugar.

Ideas for the future

I wonder what tomato soup blended with a little watery avocado (maybe the large Floridian ones and not the haas variety we usually buy) might be like.  I want to get my daughter's suggested recipes and help for more meals!

Vegetable Soup with Whole Wheat Pasta, Massaged Kale Salad, English Muffin (No Added Fat)

We are having a snowy weekend with cold weather, so soup is in order. I don't usually make a straight up vegetable soup, typically including beans. I decided to make a simple vegetable soup in my Instant Pot pressure cooker. It has a "Soup" button that cooks for 30m; I was going to cook just for 20m to have firmer vegetables, but my daughter was helping me cook and wanted softer vegetables, so we stuck with 30m. I've been meaning to make a pasta e fagioli bean and pasta soup sometime; this wasn't a bean soup, but I still used whole wheat pasta in this non-fagioli. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 3 small Yukon Gold potatoes cut into large 1" or so chunks
• 1 small sweet potato also cut into large 1" or so chunks
• 2 carrots cut into 1/2" wide discs
• 4 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 1/2 cup onion cut into approx. 1 1/4" x 1/4" half moons
• 1 cup whole wheat pasta
• 2 vegan bouillon cubes (I wanted a strong broth, so used two cubes)
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• (optional) 2t nutritional yeast
• 3/4 t salt
• (optional) 1/4 t lemon pepper
• About 6 cups (more or less depending on how thick you want the soup to be) water

Process

1. I put all of the ingredients into my Instant Pot and pushed (well, my daughter pushed!) the "Soup" button for 30m of cooking.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then served.

I also served a massaged kale salad and English muffin halves with tomato, pickle, and olive.

By the way, yesterday my daughter asked about fondue and I had the idea to make a simple dessert a bit like fondue. I put some frozen strawberries and mango into my small Saladmaster stock pot and cooked waterlessly (cooked on medium heat, covered, till vapor release started flapping, then reduced heat to stop the flapping noise and cooked for about 15-20m). Toward the end, I quickly opened the cover and put in a few vegan chocolate chips. It was so good that we did the same thing tonight. It tastes like a nice warm fruit compote - my family didn't even want chocolate with the fruit today. This would be really good with my vegan yogurt!

Results

Dinner was great! We all loved it. It's amazing how tasty pressure cooking makes soups.

Ideas for the future

I should definitely make a pasta e fagioli sometime. The soup today was really good; I had considered adding cauliflower or broccoli, but am glad that I didn't. A little red wine would have been good, and even more garlic could have been nice.

Mixed Bean-Lentil Soup with Spinach, Tomato, and Homegrown Fingerling Potato, served with Broccoli Sprouts and English Muffin Half with Herb-Garlic French-style Vegan Cheese (Almost No Added Fat)

Early today, my daughter asked for bean soup, pulling out a bag that I had of a dry bean mix (I think it had maybe a dozen types of beans and lentils). She loves soup, and I was happy to make it for her. My wife experimented with planting fingerling potatoes and harvested her first 3 or 4, which I also included in the soup.

A friend brought some herb-garlic Treeline brand cashew-based soft French-style "cheese" back from Washington, DC recently. It's tasty and the fat content is not excessive; 11g of fat per ounce, and the container contains 6 ounces. I used a smear, which couldn't have been more than 1/4 ounce (or less than 3g of fat), on an English muffin half for a side.


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups mixed beans, rinsed and soaked overnight, then rinsed one more time (the bean mix that I used were all small beans and included lentils, so a 4-hour soak time and 30-minute cook time was more than enough)
• Medium tomato cut into 1/2" cubes (maybe 3/4 cup)
• 3-5 fingerling (or other type) potatoes cut into 3/8" pieces
• 8 ounces frozen (what I used) or fresh chopped spinach
• 1t ginger, finely (1/8") chopped
• 1/2 cup onion cut into approx. 3/8" x 1 1/4" half moons
• 3 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") chopped (I was running late when I started the cooking so skipped this, but added garlic powder to taste at the end)
• Vegan bouillon cube
• Enough water to bring contents to about 5 1/3 cups total (I'm guessing maybe 2 1/2 or so cups)
• 2T lemon juice
• 1/4 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt
• (optional) 2T nutritional yeast

Process

1. I put all the ingredients except the lemon juice, oregano, salt, and nutritional yeast into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and simply pressed the "Soup" button to pressure cook for 30m.
2. When I was ready to serve, which happened to be several hours later (the machine keeps food warm for some hours), I was able to simply open the pot (otherwise, I'd want to slowly release pressure and open carefully)
3. I mixed in the lemon juice, oregano, salt, and nutritional yeast, and served, along with the English muffin and broccoli sprouts

Results

Everybody liked dinner!

Ideas for the future

I should make soups more often. This could have benefited from fresh garlic with the other ingredients instead of (or in addition to, perhaps) the garlic powder. A little bit of wine cooked with the soup would add a nice nuanced flavor. Other vegetables, like celery, carrot, and cabbage would go well cooked with this soup.

I should try a pasta e fagioli bean and pasta soup sometime. It sounds like it would be easy to just add uncooked pasta with the beans and other ingredients and cook together. I'll bet a rice and bean soup would be good, too!

Seitan and Artichoke Vegetable Soup, Guacamole, Smoked Salt and Pepper Hemp Tempeh (No Added Fat)

My daughter is having some pain in her gums (and some good vegan ice cream is in order for tonight after dinner!) and wanted to have soup. My Instant Pot makes delicious soup. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 5 cups of water
• 8 ounces of seitan chopped into approximately 1/4" x 1" strips
• 1 cup artichoke hearts
• 6 kale leaves, stems excepted, and then roughly torn intro approximately 3/4" squares
• 2 cups of carrots cut into about 3/8" slices (about 5 small carrots)
• 2 scallions (all I had) cut into 3/8" slices (green and white parts both)
• 2t finely chopped basil (I used frozen cubes)
• 1t oregano leaves
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt
• 1T lemon juice

Process

1. I put all of the ingredients except the lemon juice into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and pressed the "Soup" button, meaning a 30m pressure cook time.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then added the lemon juice and served.

I also made some simple guacamole and served it over lettuce greens. We love Smiling Hara brand tempeh; I remarked over dinner to my wife that the dry-rubbed smoked salt and pepper hemp tempeh is probably my favorite tempeh, and she agreed. I had sauteed it with no oil on a cast iron pan after cutting the tempeh first in half, width-wise.

Results

We all enjoyed dinner. I had concluded that tofu, but not tempeh or seitan, benefits from pressure cooking, but a long 30m pressure cook time was nice for the seitan in the soup, softening it. We all liked how the artichoke heart tasted in the soup.

Ideas for the future

I should experiment with cooking seitan under pressure over, say, 15 or 20m or more. The pressure cooker makes such great soups - I should make soup more often.

Red Curry Fava Bean and Sweet Potato - Mixed Vegetable Stew, Jade Pearl Rice with Cabbage (No Added Fat)

Surely I've made the Food for Life Red Curry Chickpea and Sweet Potato Soup for my family? I make it for my Food for Life students and will be making it in class tomorrow using my Saladmaster MP5 electronic oil-core pot, and wanted to give that pot a try at home with this dish.

It's a simple but tasty dish that is made by mixing in a tablespoon or so of Thai red curry paste with 2 cups of water, bringing to a boil, then adding a small sweet potato cut into small 1/4" or so cubes and a cup of cooked chickpeas. After about 5 minutes, the sweet potato should be just cooked; it is then taken off of the heat and a cup of baby spinach leaves are mixed in. After sitting for a minute or so, the spinach nicely cooks into the dish.

I did essentially that tonight, but I had forgotten to prepare chickpeas. I like fava beans and tried cooking them this past July, but I found it difficult to remove the tough outer skins, so have tried purchasing canned fava beans, but they, too, have skins. I had a can in stock, and it came to my rescue tonight, so I could use the fava beans instead of the chickpeas. I also added maybe a cup of frozen mixed vegetables including shelled edamame.

When I served, I mixed in a little salt. My family asked for some lime juice, so I added a teaspoon or so.

I also made a new kind of rice by making Jade Pearl rice (using a 1 : 1 1/2 ratio of rice to water, a vegan bouillon cube, and a 20m simmer time), then mixing in a little chopped onion and chopped purple cauliflower. It was good!

I was surprised that even my spice-averse daughter loved the main course. I guess the heat was sufficiently dilute that it didn't affect her. The MP5 pot worked like a champ, heating up quickly!

Simple Creamy Celery Soup (No Added Fat)

We were out and got home with little time to make dinner. My wife says she doesn't like celery but when I bought a nice organic bunch at a great price, she said she'd try it, including an idea I had to make a cream of celery soup. I wanted to get dinner ready literally in 20m or so, so threw together a simple soup. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 3 cups (about 1/2 bunch) celery
• 1/4 cup onion
• 1 cup thick almond milk (I used a commercial almond milk creamer) or plant milk of choice
• 3 cups water
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/4 t oregano
• (optional) 1/8 t tarragon

Process

1. I simply blended all the ingredients.
2. Because I use a high power Vitamix, I just let it continue to run for about 2 minutes till the soup was hot but, alternatively, the blended soup could simply be heated stovetop.

I served with some tempeh, cooked with no oil on a cast iron pan.

Results

I was surprised at how good the soup was! It was easy to make and had a rich, creamy, flavor. Alas, my wife (and, to some extent, my daughter) really does not like celery and did not like the soup. This was, unfortunately, one of the (luckily very rare - I think in the dozen or so years I've known her, there have been three meals she hasn't liked) meals of mine that she didn't like.

Ideas for the future

I guess for myself, I need to make this soup again. It would be fun to enhance it maybe with dill and maybe a sprinkling of celery seat when served (I used to commonly use celery seed long ago). Mixing some cooked potato could be nice but I really liked the thick consistency that I got with the almond milk creamer and potato might make the soup too thick; perhaps some chunks of potato could be served intact in the soup.