As I’ve said many times before, I love me a good, creamy soup!  With asparagus in season, I couldn’t resist trying this asparagus soup from Tal Ronnen’s The Conscious Cook.  For some reason I was thinking it was going to be harder to make than it actually turned out to be.  You do have to plan ahead and soak your cashews overnight for the cashew cream, unless that’s something you usually have on hand.  But apart from chopping up the veggies, which all get blended anyway, it was one of the easier soups that I’ve made.

I did make one change to the recipe, and that was reducing the amount of broth.  The quantity called for seemed like a lot for the amount of veggies I had, but I’m sure with more asparagus it would have been okay as written.  Even with reducing the broth, the soup still wasn’t super thick, but it was actually the perfect texture for a spring soup.  It was incredibly flavorful without being overly rich.  I kept having to go back for justone more spoonful.

I’ll definitely be making this again while asparagus is in season.  I think I might try it with white asparagus and just leave the spinach out at the end.  I’m not sure how the flavor would be affected, but I think that a cream colored asparagus soup would certainly be interesting.  I highly recommend Tal’s book – everything I’ve tried from it so far has been super delicious!

The other night we had some friends over for dinner, and I thought I’d make a soup and salad type meal featuring this Cauliflower Bisque.  I’m constantly saving recipes that I find online, but I often forget to go back and actually make them.  I found this one in an old email I’d sent to myself, and it sounded like it would be really tasty, and also pretty simple to make.  It was both those things, and I’ll definitely be making this one again!

I found the recipe for the soup here, but it’s originally from the book “Love Soup” by Anna Thomas.  It isn’t written as vegan, but it was very easily adapted.  I’ve re-written it below with my changes – both to the ingredients and to a few of the directions.

Cauliflower Bisque with “Buttered” Breadcrumbs
Serves 6-7

1 large white cauliflower (2 lbs)
5 cups vegetable broth, divided
2 cups water
1-inch piece lemon zest (yellow part only, the white pith will turn bitter)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ½ tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste
2 medium carrots
2 medium stalks celery
1 medium yellow onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1 cup raw cashews

Trim the cauliflower, cut the florets in small pieces, and put them in a soup pot with 4 cups of the vegetable broth and the 2 cups of water.  Add the lemon juice and the strip of zest to the pot, along with a teaspoon of sea salt. Bring the liquid to a boil, lower the heat, and let it simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel, trim, and chop the carrots, celery, and onion. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and add the chopped vegetables, along with half a teaspoon of sea salt. Sauté the vegetables on a medium flame, stirring often, until they are soft, about 15 minutes or so.  Add the garlic and cook an additional five minutes, or until the vegetables are beginning to color. Add the herbes de Provence and keep stirring over medium heat for a few minutes longer. Add the sautéed vegetables to the cauliflower, and stir.

At this point the cauliflower should be very tender.  If it’s not, continue to simmer the soup until it is.  Once the cauliflower is cooked through, turn off the heat and let the soup cool briefly.  While the soup is cooling, add your raw cashes and remaining cup of vegetable broth to your blender.  Puree the mixture until it’s very smooth and creamy.  Pour the cashew cream into a small bowl, and set aside.  Without rinsing the blender, puree the cauliflower mixture.  You may have to do this in batches.  Return the soup to the pot, and stir in the cashew cream, to taste, until the soup is has the consistency and flavor that you like.  [I didn't end up using all of the cream - you can refrigerate whatever is left and save it for another use.]  Taste, and add salt or lemon juice if needed.  Sprinkle a heaping spoonful of buttered breadcrumbs (recipe follows) over each serving of soup at the last minute, just as you are serving it.

“Buttered” Breadcrumbs

1 cup coarse, soft breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon non-dairy margarine [I use Earth Balance]

You can make big, soft breadcrumbs by cutting up day-old bread into cubes and processing them briefly in a food processor. Alternately, you can crumble any soft bread with your fingers.

Melt the “butter” in a nonstick skillet, add the breadcrumbs, and stir over medium heat for several minutes. As soon as the breadcrumbs begin to take on a toasty golden color, remove them from the heat. Use them warm from the pan, or spread them in a thin layer on a plate or cookie sheet to cool.

Notes: Make sure to be very careful when blending the hot soup.  If your blender doesn’t have a vent in the lid, you’ll need to keep it slightly cracked (away from you!) to release the steam that will build up.  You can add more margarine to the breadcrumbs if you like – the original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons.  I was trying to keep it a little lighter because I added quite a bit of cashew cream.  Enjoy!

Whenever I get my new issues of Vegetarian Times or VegNews in the mail, the first thing I do is check out all the recipes and mark what I want to try.  Unfortunately I usually forget all about them in the chaos of Saturday baking, and then I find myself at our Farmers’ Market booth on Sunday with no meal plan or list of ingredients that I need to buy.

I’m trying to be better about that, and this past week I actually brought my Vegetarian Times with me so I could make a list once our booth was set up.  It helped that I knew it was going to be a busy week, and I really only needed to plan two dinners.  I thought I’d try this soup for one of them, since it seemed easy to make and I love me some good, creamy soup!

If you like Artichokes, you’ll love this soup.  The garlic and leek flavors come through, but not nearly as strong as the artichoke flavor.  I did use an extra two ounces of artichokes, but I think even without that they’d be the most predominant flavor.  We ate this with toasted sourdough bread that we spread with Earth Balance, and it made for a really nice (and light) warming dinner.

Garlicky Leek and Artichoke Soup
Serves 6 / Gluten Free

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium leeks, white parts chopped (2 cups)
9 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 10-oz. package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed OR 2 9.9-oz. jars water-packed artichokes hearts, rinsed and drained
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (3/4 cup)
6 fresh thyme sprigs
2 teaspoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons prepared basil pesto

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add leeks and garlic, and saute 5 minutes, or until leeks are softened and translucent.  Add broth, artichokes, potatoes, thyme and 2 cups water; cover, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low; season with salt and pepper and simmer, partially covered for 20 to 25 minutes, or until potatoes and garlic are very tender.

Remove thyme sprigs, and strip remaining thyme leaves into soup pot.  Transfer soup to blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.  Return to pot and stir in lemon juice.  Taste again for seasoning, and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Ladle soup into bowls, and garnish each with 1 tablespoon pesto.

Notes: I used frozen artichokes for this, and probably a little bit more leek and potato than called for.  The measurements don’t have to be exact by any means.  I also used a bouillon cube instead of prepared broth. For the pesto I used dairy-free pesto from Basiltops, and if you don’t have any pesto don’t let that stop you from making this.  It’s good on it’s own too!

Neither my husband nor I are really into Valentine’s Day.  We’ve done some fun stuff in the past and some years decide to do gifts, but the idea of going out for dinner on one of the busiest nights of the year just doesn’t appeal to us.  Why does it have to be that one night when we can go any other night of the year, and actually be able to get a table?  Whether or not you love the holiday, a nice meal at home can’t be beat.  I thought I would plan out a three-course Valentine’s Day meal that’s not too complicated, but still feels special.

I wanted to come up with a meal that used a lot of foods known for their aphrodisiac qualities (more on that in the next post), and foods that my husband and I actually like.  I love mushrooms – but only when they’re prepared certain ways.  Raw mushrooms in salads or things like that?  Not my thing.  A giant, soggy portobello that some places try to pass off as a “burger”?  Not so much.  But a mushroom that is caramelized just right and not at all spongy is right up my alley.

My husband on the other hand likes the taste of mushrooms, but he can’t stand the texture at all.  If I cook with them, they need to be chopped into tiny, tiny pieces or pureed.  Many a time he’s leaned over a steaming pot and said, “You’re gonna puree all that right?” even when I think I’ve chopped everything small enough.

I’d seen this soup in the February issue of Vegetarian Times and made a mental note that I really wanted to try it.  The idea of a rich and creamy soup seemed perfect for the holiday, and since everything is pureed, I figured it would go over well.

If you like the taste of mushrooms, you have to make this soup.  It’s super flavorful and incredibly smooth and velvety.  I think it would be a great starter for a meal with your honey, or with friends, or just for yourself if you’re flying solo on Valentine’s Day.

I’ll definitely be making this more often than just for special occasions.  There are several steps involved, but it’s by no means difficult to make.  And the payoff is really worth it.

Creamy Mushroom Soup from Vegetarian Times Magazine
Serves 6

1 oz. mixed dried mushrooms [I used porcini and shitake]
1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt divided
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, such as cremini or white button, chopped [I used cremini]
1/2 cup finely chopped shallot
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
1/2 cup sherry
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup soy creamer [I used unsweetened MimicCreme]

Place dried mushrooms in a medium bowl.  Cover with 2 cups hot water, and let stand 30 minutes.  Drain mushrooms, reserving soaking liquid.  Bring soaking liquid and broth to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Cover, and keep warm.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add rehydrated mushrooms and 1/4 teaspoon salt; saute 2 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender.  Transfer mushrooms to a plate or small bowl, and set aside.

Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in same saucepan over medium heat.  Add fresh mushrooms, shallot, pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant.  Increase heat to medium-high, and stir in sherry.  Simmer 3 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by half.  Whisk flour into broth mixture.  Stir broth mixture into mushroom mixture, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 30 minutes.

Transfer soup to a blender or food processor, and puree until smooth.  Return soup to pot; stir in creamer and reserved rehydrated mushrooms, reserving a few for garnish, if using.

Notes: I pureed the rehydrated mushrooms along with the rest of the soup, and just saved a few for garnish. If you decide to leave them whole and just stir them in, I would recommend you saute them for longer than 2 minutes.  I couldn’t find sherry, so I used Madeira instead, and it worked just fine.  And if you’re avoiding wheat, I imagine you could leave out the flour and the soup would still be creamy and delicious.

I don’t know about you, but I always overdo it during the holidays.  An extra piece of cake?  Sure, it’s the holidays!  Another glass of wine?  Why not!  It is the holidays!  An entire log of cashew goat cheese?!  ’Tis the season!

That kind of logic happens in my brain from probably before Thanksgiving until we come back to LA from our trip home to Chicago for Christmas.  Once we’re back, it’s all about eating healthy food and cutting out caffeine and alcohol (and for me too much extra sugar).  For the month of January we do our “detox” and try to get back into a healthier swing of things.

I’m not really a big drinker, so that part isn’t a huge deal for me (not so much for Ryan!).  But I have been relying on the old caffeine crutch for all the early morning baking and farmers’ markets I’ve been doing.  Fortunately, I can drink Teeccino, which provides a great placebo and is actually good for you.  We’re also drinking lots of caffeine free tea and trying to drink more water.  As for the sweets, I try to keep the ”testing” to a minimum, and if I’m really craving something sweet I’ll have a small piece of dark chocolate or a date.

In addition to cutting out all of these things, we’re also trying to just eat healthier foods in general.   So I’ve been trying to experiment with simple meals that don’t require a ton of time in the kitchen and that will make it more likely for me to cook most weeknights.  Soups are usually good for that.

My brother-in-law was raving about roasted broccoli when we were back home, and I realized that I’d never made it.  Then I got to wondering how it might taste in a soup, and decided to try it out.  This soup is incredibly easy to make and tastes like a puree of fresh roasted broccoli.  It’s a simple (and tasty!) flavor, but you can always spice it up more if you like.  For a nice healthy meal this version hits the spot.

Roasted Broccoli Soup
about 4 small or 2 large servings

2 large heads broccoli (about 2 pounds)
2 large cloves garlic
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
4-5 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
a few cracks lemon pepper, or fresh grated lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the broccoli florets from the stems (you don’t have to cut them small), and place them on baking sheet. Slice the stems thinly and place them on a separate baking sheet.  Peel and slice the garlic, and sprinkle it in with the florets.  Drizzle the olive oil over both trays (use more than 2-3 Tbsp if you need to), and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss the florets and stems in the oil and put them in the oven to roast until they’re browned. (The stems take about 15 – 20 minutes, and the florets take at least ten minutes more.  Turn both halfway through the cooking time, and take them out once they’re good and browned.)

Put the florets and stems in a pot with 4 cups of veggie broth and the thyme, and heat until the broth comes to a boil.  If the broth doesn’t almost cover the broccoli, you might want to add the extra cup at this point, or you can wait to add it after blending if you want a thinner soup.

Once the broth has come to a boil, transfer the whole thing to a blender and puree.  (You might have to do this in batches.  And remember to be careful when blending hot liquids!)  Return the soup to the pot.

You can add more broth at this point if you want it thinner, or simmer for a bit if you’d like it a bit thicker.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if you need to.  I had some lemon pepper which was a nice addition. You could also add a bit of lemon zest to taste to brighten up the flavor.

All that’s left to do is enjoy!  And feel healthy doing it!

Awwww… look how much the squash and apples love each other.  They know that they taste really good together, as evidenced in this delicious soup.  I first made this years ago, back when I was watching Food Network all the time.  My favorite show was Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello, because I think that was the food that I related to the most.  I also found that many of his recipes could easily be adapted to make them vegan.

I had to laugh when I watched the episode of Top Chef Masters where the chefs had to cook for Zooey Deschanel, who requested vegan, gluten-free food.  I couldn’t believe how baffled Chiarello was about what to make.  I’ve only ever made vegan versions of his food.  I was a little shocked that all the chefs (with the exception of Rick Bayless) were so totally stumped.  Aren’t these supposed to be some of the best chefs in the whole world?  And they seriously had no clue what to do when the animal products were removed from the picture?

Chiarello could have easily made his butternut squash and apple soup.  See it up there?  Totally vegan.  The original recipe calls for butter and chicken stock, and I guess he wouldn’t think that it could still work without them.  I sub Earth Balance for the butter and vegan bouillon for the chicken stock.  (I use bouillon because it costs less and takes up less space than the quart size containers of stock.)  With two such minor changes, you can see that it doesn’t take a lot to make this soup vegan.

And I’m sure it tastes just as good, if not better, because it tastes pretty awesome. It’s savory, and a little sweet.  I used this with toasted spice rub that I had in the freezer for about four years(!), and it still tasted great.  The toasted spice rub is really interesting in this – spicy, but not overpowering.  And on the whole, it’s pretty easy to make. The hardest part is peeling the apples and squash.  This soup would be great for Thanksgiving, and also really impressive garnished with the optional candied walnuts, which I was too lazy to make last night.

I love having biscuits with soup.  I had some Daiya in the fridge and thought that cheddar biscuits might go really well with this because of that crazy cheddar-cheese-on-apple-pie thing that people do.  I found this recipe after a quick online search, and it probably took me less than five minutes to mix together.  It was so incredibly easy – especially with my handy ice cream scoop helping me plop the dough down on my cookie sheet.  I added a half teaspoon of garlic powder to the dry ingredients, and I baked them at 450 instead of 475.  Next time I make these, I’ll brush the tops with melted Earth Balance and sprinkle on garlic salt, but I didn’t have any on hand last night.

Remember how I said (just yesterday, was it?) that I’m trying to eat more healthy foods?  Please just know that the biscuits were really essential to the meal last night, and the soup was just begging for them.  You see, the soup was healthy, so it counteracted any unhealthiness that might have been going on.  It’s nice how I worked that out, huh?

Remember how I said I’d write about what we served for dinner the night I made balsamic strawberries? Well here’s the first thing we served – Delicata Squash Bisque from VeganYumYum.  This is one of my all-time favorite soups from one of my all-time favorite blogs.  I’ve made so many of Lolo’s amazing recipes, and the entire design of the blog was a huge inspiration to me when I started my own.  If you aren’t familiar with it, you should definitely check it out.  It’s by far one of the best food blogs out there, vegan or non.  And tomorrow The Vegan Yum Yum cookbook will be officially released!  I cannot wait to get my copy!  In honor of the book release I thought I’d take a moment to gush about one of Lolo’s recipes.

This Delicata Squash Bisque is one of the BEST SOUPS I HAVE EVER HAD. Seriously.  The first time I made it, Ryan and I were freaking out over the amazing flavor and the unbelievably creamy texture that it has. Plus, it’s really easy to make. The hardest part for me is peeling the squash.  It’s a simple, yet rich, soup with very few ingredients that combine to make something so elegant and delicious.  We were instantly listing all the people we needed to make this for, starting with our families.  I think anyone would be hard pressed to be able to tell that this soup is vegan.

Even thought it’s still pretty hot and summery here in Southern California, autumn is definitely arriving with it’s abundance of squash starting to show up at farmers markets.  This is the perfect soup to warm you up as the nights start to get chillier (oh how I miss fall in Chicago…). It would also be a great addition to a Thanksgiving menu since it’s so incredibly easy to make.  I hope you love it as much as we do. Thank you, Lolo!

UPDATE: I often post on the boards over at the Post Punk Kitchen, and after I posted these photos I learned that there has been some controversy surrounding this cookbook.  I don’t personally know any of the people involved – only what I’ve read online.  Had I known about this situation I certainly would have stayed out of the whole thing!

A lot of times I’ll have a recipe that calls for one or two celery stalks, and then I have a whole bunch left over.  I don’t really like to eat raw celery.  In fact, I kind of hate it.  Even smearing it with peanut butter when I was a kid couldn’t get me to eat the stuff.  One day when I had a bunch of celery and some fresh thyme in the fridge I decided to try to make a soup with it.

Even if you hate celery, you might still like this soup.  It has a mild flavor that isn’t an overpowering celery taste.  It’s also really easy to make.  Plus, you can make this with celery that’s way past it’s prime.  That’s usually how I end up making it, and it always turns out great.  I use flour to thicken this, but I’m sure you could also blend it up with some cashews to make it creamy if you want a gluten free version instead.  It’s a very forgiving recipe – I don’t always have the amount of celery called for, and I’ve experimented with both the flour and broth amounts, but it never seems to make a huge difference in the finished product.

Celery Soup

1 tablespoon non-dairy margarine
1 small onion, or 1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 bunch celery, stalks and leaves, chopped (about 6 cups)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups vegetable stock

Heat a soup pot over medium high heat, and melt the margarine.  Add the onions and a tiny pinch of salt, and saute until they’re softened and translucent, about five minutes.

Add the garlic and thyme, and saute for about a minute, or until fragrant.

Add the celery and give it a good stir.  Saute it for about 8 minutes or so, until the celery starts to soften a bit.  Sprinkle the flour in and give another good stir.  You want to cook it a bit until it’s not super white.  If it starts to get hard to stir, pour in a little broth.  Once you have the flour incorporated, pour in the veggie stock.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then partially cover the pot and reduce the heat.  Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the celery is tender.

Transfer the soup to a high-speed blender and puree.  Depending on the size of your blender you made need to do this in batches.  You can also use a stick blender.

Taste for seasoning and serve.  You can garnish with some fresh thyme or celery leaves.  This also keeps well in the fridge.

Enjoy!

This soup is from a cookbook that was pretty life-changing for me – Marilu Henner’s “Healthy Life Kitchen”.  I stumbled upon it at a book store years ago, and found the information it contained fascinating.  It’s not a vegan cookbook – but it is dairy free.  There are recipes for chicken and fish (which we were still eating at the time), but no other types of meat.  I read about why she didn’t recommend consuming dairy and thought, “Well that’s really convincing and makes total sense, but I don’t think I could ever do it.”  Once I made the recipes, I realized that I could do it and not only eat well, but eat food that tasted better than what I was used to.

As someone who really knew nothing about healthy food, this was a great book to start with.  The recipes are not difficult, the food tastes amazing, and the tone of the book is non-judgmental and really approachable.  I completely related to her stories of going home to Chicago and eating her way through the town – from Walker Brothers Pancake House to deep dish Chicago pizza – and then feeling terrible afterwards!  I eventually bought and read all of her books, and use them all the time.  Even though we don’t eat meat anymore, the books are still a great resource.

This soup is a perfect example of that.  It is so simple, so delicious and 100% dairy free.  I don’t even add the soy milk that it calls for, and it’s still super creamy.  It’s also good for you.  It’s just leeks sauteed in a little Earth Balance, vegetable broth, new potatoes, salt, pepper, nutmeg and chives.  I probably reduce it’s “healthy-ness” once I put some truffle oil on top, but I just can’t resist.  I have a problem with truffle oil; I want to put it on everything.  It’s become a joke between Ryan and me.  Whenever dinner is ready and we’re about to sit down, I always say, “Do you know what would make this even better?”  Always, truffle oil.