File under effin’ EASY! If you happen to have all the ingredients prepped, this comes together in minutes and makes for a delicious dinner.

On Sunday I’d gone into a kind of Mise-en-Place Production Frenzy. Setting up the ingredients to make tofu salad, chickpea salad, split pea soup (for Christie and I), and a braised portobello sandwich (for Mom, who hates peas).

In addition to all the chopping we’d been cleaning up and doing errands, so I found I was pretty tired and put the ingredients for the chickpea and tofu salads in the fridge. I also put half the carrots int he fridge after deciding to use up a parsnip that had been lurking in the veggie drawer for a while in the soup. The next day Christie made up her awesome tofu salad, but the rest of the onions and celery went back into the fridge with the chickpeas.

Having all the ingredients prepped for this dish meant all I had to do was throw stuff in a pot, simmer for 25 minutes, chop up the tomato and kale, throw in the kale and tomato, simmer for another 15 minutes or so. I had some with a toasted English muffin for dinner and it made my whole lousy day better. Good soup can do that.

The Stuff

• 3 stalks celery, diced fine
• 1 medium to large sweet onion, diced fine
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 t diced garlic
• 1 large tomato, diced small
• 1 bunch of kale, in thin ribbons
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 2 cubes veggie bullion
• 1/4 nutritional yeast
• 1 T poultry seasoning
• 2 T champagne vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 5 cups water

The Making

Heat a 6 qt. pot on medium-high heat and add a spray of canola oil. Add onions and saute 5-7 minutes before adding garlic. Saute together for another 5 minutes and add carrots, celery, and chickpeas. Mix together bullion cubes with water, add to pot along with the poultry seasoning.

Simmer on low for 25 minutes.

Add kale, tomatoes, nutritional yeast, vinegar, and pepper. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes until kale is tender.

Enjoy the chilly autumn evening!

In the latest installment of “follow the squash”, I took the overly sweet gratin I made Tuesday night and turned it into a pretty awesome chowder tonight. There won’t be a recipe for this since it goes from some roasted squash we weren’t too fond of to fantastic squash & cashew sauce to a squash & potato gratin we thought we too sweet.

I sauteed some cumin seeds in a little canola oil before adding a medium onion, diced, and 4 cloves of garlic, minced roughly. Once the onions started to brown I added 2 cups of water and a quart of rice milk. Into this I put the leftover gratin and the kernels off of 4 small ears of fresh corn. Brought this up to heat and simmered for a little while until the gratin really started to break down. Then it was time for the immersion blender!

The pureed soup went back on low heat and I added in 3 cups of cooked black beans and the kernels off of two more ears of fresh corn. Into the soup went some dried marjoram and oregano, garlic pepper, powdered cumin, sweet paprika, sweet smoked paprika, chili powder, a pinch of cinnamon, about 1/3 cup of nutritional yeast, and a little salt. Simmered for a while to let the flavors come together.

It was really pretty tasty! I think I’d love to add a swirl of cashew creme and some chopped cilantro. Maybe even some diced avocado and toasted corn tortilla strips too. The cumin and dried chilies really mellowed out the sweetness of the squash. The corn did add more sweetness, but it had such a brighter note than the squash that it didn’t make it too sweet. I was glad I reserved two ears of corn in order to have some whole kernels in there. In the future I think I might add all the corn whole rather than blend 2/3 of it.

I love Thai food. The soups, the curries, the stir-fries, the salad rolls, the big fat rice noodles… You get the idea.

I’ve played around with a few favorite dishes at home, including making curry paste from scratch. In addition to some online resources, I’ve had good luck with the cookbook Real Vegetarian Thai for inspiration and guidance on how to achieve a more authentic flavor when cooking at home.

One dish that I make fairly regularly is tom yum soup. Tom kha is more common, particularly if you’re eating out at a Thai restaurant. The big difference between them is the use of coconut milk; tom kha uses quite a lot of it. Although I enjoy some rich coconut milk dishes once in a while, the tom yum is nice to have more often as it is far lighter and lower in calories. This also means you can easily make tom kha soup by using this recipe, reducing the stock by 2 cups, and adding one can of coconut milk.

The real key I’ve found is using the right, fresh ingredients: lemongrass, galangal, ginger, Kefir lime leaves, lime juice, fresh coriander (cilantro), and Siam Queen Basil. These flavors are indispensable in most Southeast Asian dishes, and particularly so in Thai dishes. Seek out an Asian market for these or check to see if your market might carry them. I must admit that we’re lucky enough to live near a Southeast Asian market and a very well stocked “regular” market that both carry these items.

The Stuff

• 5 stalks fresh lemongrass
• 1 oz. Kefir lime leaves (or the juice of 2 additional limes)
• 2 limes
• 6 oz fresh galangal
• 4″ piece of ginger
• 8 cups vegetable stock (or the equivalent made with bullion)
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 small kobucha squash (or other sweet winter squash)
• 2 crowns broccoli
• 1 fresh bamboo shoot (or 4 oz. canned; be sure to drain and rinse first)
• 8 oz tofu (I like to use fried tofu for this dish, sometimes a lemongrass & chili tofu made locally)
• fresh cilantro
• fresh Siam Queen basil
• Rice udon-style noodles (optional)
• salt and ground pepper (preferably white) – to taste

The Making

Pour stock into pot, bring to heat and then reduce to simmer. Chop up the galangal and ginger roughly, about .5″ pieces. Remove woody tops, the bottom, and one outer layer of the lemongrass before chopping into 3″ pieces. Then use flat side of knife to smash open the lemongrass – this is a very important step! Tear up an ounce or so of Kefir lime leaves to release oils. Put galangal, ginger, lemongrass, and lime leaves into the pot with the stock, the juice of one lime, and the halves of the juiced lime. Simmer on lowest heat for at least one hour. Note: This Thai-style stock can be made in large batches and frozen.

While stock is simmering peel and remove seeds from small kobucha squash. Chop into 1″ pieces and set aside. Remove stem from broccoli crowns and reserve for a later dish. Separate crowns into small pieces and set aside. Cut up tofu into 1″ pieces, bite-sized and set aside. Slice bamboo shoot into 1″ pieces, if using fresh and set aside.

After the stock has simmered with the aromatics for at least an hour remove from heat and strain out all the aromatics; discard these or compost them. Return stock to pot, add juice of second lime (and additional limes if you didn’t use the lime leaves), rice vinegar, and squash. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until squash begins to get tender. Add broccoli, bamboo shoot and tofu. Simmer for an addition 5-10 minutes, until broccoli is slightly tender. Add salt and ground white pepper – to taste.

Serve with fresh coriander and Siam Queen basil as garnishes to be added into soup right before eating. This soup is very mild and I often add a little Sriracha chili sauce to my serving.

Although it isn’t as traditional, I like to serve this over rice udon-style noodles for a more hearty dish for dinner.

Serves 4-6

In August I am teaching a one-day workshop on Metta (Loving-Kindness) and Hatha Yoga. I’ve requested that since I am teaching this and we are offering lunch, that the lunch provided be vegan. I just can’t get behind the thought of teaching either things when the food isn’t also sending the message of great compassion. The only request back was that I suggest a recipe I would like cooked.

In August there will be fresh zucchinis and tomatoes in great abundance. In recognition of these seasonal treats I’ve suggested that tortilla soup be served. It is light and should not feel too heavy for the work of meditation and yoga, much less the heat of August. At the same time the black beans give the soup some substance to sustain everyone for the rest of the day. The mix of citrus and tomatoes are lively and bright.

The Stuff

• 2 T canola oil
• 1/2 t cumin seeds (*optional)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large stalks celery, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 Anaheim chilie, diced fine
• 1/4 Poblano chilie, died fine
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 2-3 small/medium (10″) zucchinis, diced
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes)
• 15 oz can black beans (rinsed well & drained)
• 15 oz can pinto beans (rinsed well & drained)
• 15 oz can chickpeas (rinsed well & drained)
• 1 1/2 c frozen corn
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
• 1 t powdered cumin (more if not using cumin seeds)
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 1/2 t sweet, smoked paprika (or more, to taste)
• 1 t sweet paprika
• salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 T fresh cilantro, chopped (plus 1 T chopped to garnish)
• 1 avocado, diced
• 4 corn tortillas
• lime wedges
• 1/4-1/2 t coarse flake salt

The Making

Heat oil in the bottom of a stock pot and add cumin seeds (if using). When seeds begin to darken and pop, add onions. When onions become translucent add in garlic and saute until fragrant. Add in diced celery and carrots, let vegetables cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to caramelize. Add in diced chilies and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Add water, tomatoes, and zucchini. Cover, bring up to near boil and then reduce heat. Add in lime juice, spices, beans, and frozen corn. Stir, cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender; about 25 minutes. Stir the 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro into the soup before serving.

While soup is simmering cut tortillas into very thin slices, toss with a little lime juice, flake salt, and oil before toasting under low broil until crunchy. Set aside as garnish.

Serve soup with more fresh cilantro, the diced avocado, toasted tortilla strips and lime wedges.

Makes about 6 quarts.

our lovely portland spring has inspired more soup-making than usual for this time of year. i had to share this recipe – i found variations of it on several websites and tweaked it to my liking. it’s soooooo good, vegan, and gluten-free (if made with quinoa only)!

CREAMY AND NUTTY GREENS SOUP

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa or combo
1/2 cup onion or leeks, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic (or more to taste)
4 Tbsp olive oil (or combo with canola oil)
2 tsp sesame oil
bunch of greens (i like kale and chard together – be sure not to use the stalks)
5-7 cups water
1-2 cubes veggie bouillon

SPICES
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp of sea salt, to taste
(you could use 2 tsp cumin in lieu of cinnamon and chili powder)

TAHINI DRESSING
1 to 3 Tbsp tahini or creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp flax oil (optional)
Bragg’s Liquid Aminos to taste

Wash greens and chop finely.

Add olive oil to a pre-heated soup pot on medium temperature. Once oil is hot, add onions/leeks and garlic and cook until soft. Add spices, being careful to blend well. Then add lentils and rice/quinoa and stir well. Add chopped greens and mix.

Add water and bouillon to about 1/2 inch above all your goodies. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer on low for 45 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, combine tahini/PB, flax oil and Bragg’s; mix until texture is smooth and creamy. When the soup is ready, puree with the instrument of your choice, until the texture is how you like it. Mix in tahini/PB dressing well.

The Stuff

• 1 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 medium shallot, diced fine
• 1 carrot, cut on bias in thin slices
• 1 medium head of broccoli, stem removed (and saved for later) and cut into small florets
• A few pieces of wakame, snipped into small pieces
• 3 cups vegan dashi
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup red miso
• 8 oz fresh udon noodles
• 4 oz age tofu, sliced very thinly

The Making

In one soup pot bring water to boil and add udon noodles. Simmer udon noodles for time indicated on package. Noodles should still be quite firm. We have often use rice udon, obtained fresh from a SE Asian market, and like them a lot. When noodles are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well and put into bottom of soup bowls.

Saute shallot on medium-high heat in another soup pot with canola oil until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes or less. Add in dashi, water, carrots, broccoli florets, and wakame. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add miso. Stir well to incorporate miso fully. Do not boil!

Top noodles with the thinly sliced age. Ladle hot miso broth and veggies over the noodles and tofu. Garnish your favorite type of Furikake, sesame seeds, and shredded shiso leaves, if you like, and serve immediately.

Saturday saw us out in Parkdale with friends to check out the heirloom apple/pear/Asian pear tasting day at Kiyokawa Family Orchards. A fave from last autumn, we wanted to take our friends to enjoy tasting the many varieties they grow there as well as pick a bunch to make applesauce. Turned out the apples had all been picked, but we still had a great time trying many varieties we’d never heard of before. 31 pounds of fruit later (that’s just us), we were loaded up and off to our next stop.

Rasmussen Farms saw us leave with several fun gourds, a couple of pounds each of fresh, local walnuts & hazelnuts, ornamental corn, and 2 smallish Hubbard squash. Yes, I know we have a bunch of these in the basement, but these are the blue type we didn’t grow. Oh yes, and pumpkins. There are 7 of them on our front steps. 6 of them Christie and I picked out. What can I say, we were having fun.

Into this collection of squash and apples arrived our first box from Organics to You. I offered to take it from the deliver guy, but he then offered to put inside for me because, “its heavy”.

I ripped off the tape and opened the box to see a lovely bunch of red kale, some baby bok choy, radishes, chioggia beets, chunky carrots, onions, garlic, a huge head of broccoli, a head of purple cabbage bigger than my head (seriously), 2 big leeks, a half pint of kiwi berries and more fruit. 4 more apples, 3 more Asian pears and 3 red Bartlett pears. Uh yeah.

One good sized box of produce and a fridge already filled to the brim with mostly apples…

Yep, time to make the apple sauce. I chopped up 8 quarts of mixed varieties of apples and a few pears that needed to be used. Cooked until we had a chunky sauce and added the zest & juice from a medium sized Meyer lemon. That’s it. Nothing else needed for that much deliciousness. I’m waiting on the water in the canner to boil, 20 minutes in the bath then we have lovely applesauce for the rest of the year and to go into the little gift baskets we’re planning to do this winter for people.

That helped some. While the apples were doing the cooking thing I threw some Great Northern beans into the pressure cooker. Drained them when done and cleaned out the cooker to make soup. Into the pot I sauteed a bunch of garlic and most of the leeks, celery & Russet potatoes were added. Water, salt, pepper, and a sprig of fresh rosemary in the covered cooker, on high pressure for 8 minutes. Release valve, add in half the red kale that was delivered today along with half the white beans. Simmer with salt, some nutritional yeast, and more pepper. Serve with croutons. Yum!

The other half of the beans, more garlic and the remaining leeks have been stewed together with a little rosemary sprig, olive oil, tarragon, and some diced celery. This gives a lot more flavor to the Great Northern beans, which are not Christie’s favorite. These have been set aside for later this week when I’m going to revisit the whole squash/polenta baked casserole, but with the white beans and some fresh basil pesto.

By this evening’s end there will be lots of applesauce in jars, soup in the fridge, and some progress made towards Wednesday or Saturday’s dinners. I’ve had some ideas about the cabbage and how to use up all the produce that’s coming along with what we had already here. Right now I’m really enjoying the challenge of making food for us primarily based on what is brought each week.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Trader Joe’s (or like) Creamy Red Pepper & Corn soup
• 1 med sweet onion, diced
• 8 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tbsp red taco sauce
• ¼ tsp smoked chipotle chili powder
• 1 bag frozen soup veggies
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with cilantro & lime
• 2 tbsp olive oil

To Prepare:

• Heat a large stock-pot to medium. Add olive oil.
• Add diced onion and saute covered for 4-5 min.
• Add garlic and saute for 2-3 min.
• Add in frozen veggies and saute covered for 5 min.
• Add tomatoes and heat for 5 min.
• Add in boxed corn soup, taco sauce and chipotle powder and stir well.

Serve over pasta or soy curls with sour cream, fresh cilantro, lime wedges and toasted or fried tortilla strips.

Somebody in my life who’s been dipping their toe in the waters of vegetarian eating has been wanting New England-style clam chowder. This is a recipe mash-up that I came up with that works pretty well. Still missing that sea-food-y taste, but I think if I add powdered kelp, we may get even closer. IMO, it also needs some acid, like lemon. No matter, this tastes great! (Warning: a bit high in sodium…) Due to the mushroom base, this chowder comes out more brown than classic white, but it’s still better than that nasty NY/Jersey red business they call “chowder” 0.o

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
• 2 tbsp Earth Balance butter sub
• 4 medium (1 lb. total) red potatoes, diced
• 2 cups vegetarian broth
• 2 cups crimini mushrooms, torn into chunks
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels (I used fire-roasted from Trader Joe’s)
• 1-2 cups celery-chopped (with leaves)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• Freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp sage
• 2 boxes IMAGINE-brand potato-leek soup -OR- 4 cans creamy potato soup of choice, -OR- make your own potato soup.
• 1tbsp Wondra gravy thickener.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Steam fry the onion in the butter sub 3min. Add garlic and steam from 4-5 min more.
2. Add in mushrooms and veggie oyster sauce and steam fry 3-4 more min, or until the mushrooms start to release their juice.
3. Add potatoes, celery and corn. Stir and combine with other ingredients. Add broth and bring to a simmer.
4. Lower heat and add in potato soup and seasonings. Bring to boil, stirring regularly. Reduce to low and simmer for 20min, or until potatoes are tender.
5. Whisk the Wondra or like thickener into 1/4 cup warm water, then add to soup pot and stir. Turn off heat and let stand.

This is another installment of the ‘Ode to an Inexpensive Pressure Cooker‘ series. One of our favorite, in fact. Yes, this can be made without the pressure cooker, but I highly recommend one. I haven’t bought canned beans since we purchased it.

So, here’s the soup. There’s comments about doing stove top, some variations, etc. below.

The Stuff

• 2 cups dried split peas (yellow or green)
• 1 onion* diced
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced (or one enormous clove)
• 4 medium carrots, diced
• 4 large stalks of celery diced (or equivalent)
• 2 T nutritional yeast
• 1/4 – 1/2 t garam masala
• 1/4 – 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/4 – 1/2 t sweet, smoked paprika
• 2 T olive oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 6 cups water

The Making

In the pressure cooker heat olive oil and saute onions until translucent (about 5 minutes), then add garlic. Continue cooking until these begin to caramelize a little, about 5-7 more minutes, then add carrots and celery. Cook together until carrots & celery brighten in color and are more aromatic (3-5 minutes).

Add cleaned, rinsed peas and water. Stir together all ingredients then lock down the lid. Bring pressure cooker up to high pressure, reduce temperature, and cook for 7 additional minutes.

Remove from heat and let sit for several minutes before releasing the valve. Remove lid when lock releases then add yeast and spices. Let sit several minutes for the spices to blend into the soup before serving.

Variations:

• Add curry powder and additional garam masala – more like a Indian dish then
• Add some squirts of Siracha when serving
• More smoked paprika will give a much smokier flavor
• Add some chopped veggies, like cauliflower
• Add diced potatoes to this
• We like to serve it with a little quinoa & some nice bread
• Give it a drizzle of Bragg’s Aminos instead of salt at the table

Yes, you can make this without the magical pressure cooker. You just need to cook everything about 45 minutes until the beans are cooked through. Once they are cooked through the spices & seasonings can be added.