Entries Tagged 'Soups' ↓

At long last! It’s finally tomato harvesting time! We got tons of lettuce, are still getting kale, and have been getting green beans and cucumbers for a few weeks now, but there’s something momentous about that first big batch of tomatoes. Something that says, “your garden has arrived.” Everything leads up to tomatoes; they’re the climax. The winter squash and fall kale are the denouement, with canning, perhaps, as an additional baby climax.

My friend Simon (fellow vegan, drummer for Ineffable Robot [new tracks up soon!]) was in over the weekend and we ate largely from the garden. The first night, we had Shells al Pomodoro and Cucumber Salad.

Shells al Pomodoro

• 4ish medium-sized tomatoes, gutted and diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper
• 1 fresno chili, seeded and diced (optional)
• 1 large handful of fresh basil, chopped
• cooked shells (or noodle of choice)
• salt & pepper, to taste
• olive oil

In a medium-large pan, saute the garlic in olive oil for a few minutes, until it just starts to brown. Toss in the tomatoes and peppers, cooking until tender. Salt and pepper to taste. A minute or two before serving, stir in the basil. Serve over pasta. Easy! Delicious!

Cucumber Salad

• 2 – 3 cucumbers, cubed
• 1 tomato, gutted and cut into medium-sized pieces
• rooster (Sriracha) sauce (to taste)
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 – 2 tbsp olive oil
• toasted pita or tortilla, chopped (optional)
• salt & pepper, to taste

Toss everything together. That’s it.

Be forewarned: this was not one of my best efforts. We had something similar a few weeks ago at an Indian restaurant and I really liked it, so I thought I’d attempt my own version, what with all of those cucumbers to use up. It was a little spicy, because I went overboard with the rooster sauce. I think I also over-soy-sauced it, so add everything little by little. I’ll have to return to this at some point to perfect it. We have a LOT of cucumbers.

The next day, we biked 20 miles (and 20 miles back) to a neighboring town to try out the Red Pepper, a raw vegan restaurant. After the ride there, we were mighty hungry. We got the Italian Pizza and the Raw Tacos, both of which were quite good. The pizza’s crust was probably its standout feature. The tacos were made with a seasoned walnut “meat”. It was pretty amazing. The “shells” were just lettuce, though, so this was a bit more like a salad than tacos. We got some energy shakes for the ride home, which were also good, though I was a little over-full, and thus kinda sluggish for the ride. 40 miles of super hilly terrain is a lot harder than I thought it would be (we biked 25 flat miles two days later, and it was a cinch, comparatively). We were so pooped when we got home that we couldn’t be bothered to cook, so it was vegan pizza time.

We made homemade brats (the best batch ever!) the next night, but that post, friends, is forthcoming.

The next night we rocked this Tempeh & Kale Stew (we’ve also got tons of kale right now):

This stew is very much like the Spicy Potato & Kale Soup, but with carrots, and minus the spicy and parsley. It was pouring out, so this was something of a summer rarity, but very appropriate.

Slimetime’s since hit the road, but I still have lots of maters to use up, so last night I rocked a chili.

There’s no chili better than one made from your heirloom tomatoes, especially if you’re growing multiple varieties. The freshness and variation in flavor really take the flavor in interesting, often inimitable, directions. This particular batch was made with Black Krim (our favorite–dense, not too sweet, not too acidic, very flavorful), Supersonic Orange (a new one this year–very tangy), and Oaxacan Pink (gigantic, fairly sweet). It made for a somewhat sharp, but slightly sweet chili–a perfect chili for crackers. Outstanding!

After a long day hiking up Mt. Esja, we decided to forgo any notion of “cultural” American cuisine (what would have been a good choice for this?) and make a hearty veggie soup with what produce was available to us.

Since much of Iceland is covered in volcanic rock and ash, a lot of veggies are grown hydroponically or in greenhouses or are imported–so it’s a lot tougher to get fresh produce, and it’s all pretty pricey. We opted for potatoes, carrots, kidney beans, chickpeas, onion, garlic, celery, leeks, and tomatoes for this incarnation of a very simple vegetable soup.

We didn’t have a large pot, so we made this in two pots using two slightly different methods. I cut my potatoes into large cubes and only used the white part of the leeks; Torgier cut his potatoes more finely and used the green parts of the leeks as well. I don’t think anyone else noticed, but Torgier and I both agreed that the larger pieces were slightly better. So that’s settled, once and for all.

Check it:

Super Simple Veggie Soup

• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 large leek, cut into disks
• 2 medium-sized carrots, cut into half-disks
• 2 stalks of celery, cut into quarter-disks
• 2 small onions (or 1 large), diced
• 6 – 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced (or 1 can)
• 2 cups (1 can) of chick peas
• 2 cups (1 can) of kidney beans
• 8 cups veggie stock
• 2 tsp thyme
• 4 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground sage
• salt & pepper, to taste
• additional water, to desired consistency

Veggie soup should be easy, and carefree–you just use what you have on hand. Saute all of the veggies (including potatoes) except the tomatoes in a large pot over medium heat, in your oil of choice. Once they’re tender, add in the tomatoes, stir well, and cook for a minute or two. Add in the stock and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or more. Eat with bread.

This recipe is pretty adaptable to any conditions or locale and seemed to go over pretty well with folks here. Of course we probably would have eaten spiced tree bark we were so tired and hungry…

Up next: Torgier & Catrine’s Spicy Vegetable Couscous!

I may have mentioned this before, but one of my all-time favorite soups is Beezy’s pinto poblano. So, we got a hankerin’ for pinto poblano tonight (which isn’t that weird…I probably hanker for this soup half of my waking hours), but it was 8 o’clock and Beezy’s was closed…so, it was up to us to replicate it, without consulting Bee for a recipe, of course. We always do it the hard way at Irreverent Vegan. I’m not sure how close this was to Bee’s, but (a) it was pretty damn awesome, and (b) we made do with what we had on hand.

Pinto Poblano

• 2 1/2 cups dried pinto beans (or ~3 cans of pinto beans)
• 1 poblano chili, roasted, peeled, and diced
• 1 medium-sized onion, diced
• 1/2 HEAD of garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 4 oz can of diced green chilis (or a second poblano)
• 4 cups veggie stock
• 2 – 4 cups of liquid from cooked/canned beans (or water)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• salt & pepper, to taste

If you’re making the pinto beans from scratch, the first step is to start them; in a pressure cooker, cook 2.5 cups of pinto beans in 8 cups of water for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, start roasting the poblano (using your favorite method or ours). Dice the onion and mince/press the garlic. Toss into a large pot with the diced green chilis (I know, I know, we like it fresh…this probably would have called for another poblano, but we only had one).

Once the poblano is done, peel and seed it, dice it, and add it to the onions, garlic, and chilis.

When the beans are done, add a splash of your oil of choice to the onions, garlic, and  chilis, and begin cooking over medium heat. Remove 2 cups of beans, then mash the remaining beans thoroughly. Add both the mashed and whole beans to the onions, garlic, and chilis, one they’re softened. Add in the veggie stock (we used the remaining stock from our seitan chik’n cutlets). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high and simmer/boil for 30 minutes or more, until thickened to desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

Though not exactly like Bee’s, this was still pretty great. Serve with garlic bread!

We still had two seitan chik’n cutlets leftover from our gumbo, and this last time we made them in chik’n broth (which added just enough extra zang to make this my new favorite seitan recipe), so, after our beautiful weather turned cold, rainy, and gray, it was indubitable that we had to make a chik’n soup of some sort.

We wanted something a little heartier than our chickpea noodle soup, so we opted for something creamier and with potatoes. Additionally, we had some amazing fresh Hungarian paprika from Amy’s recent trip to Budapest. So, we rocked this euro-style, added some tarragon, and went for an unusually savory (in the traditional sense of the word) soup.

Savory Chik’n Potato Soup

• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 large or 2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and cut into disks or half-disks
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 large cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, half cut into bite-size pieces, half diced
• 2 seitan chik’n cutlets, cut into small cubes
• 4 cups of chik’n/veggie stock (we used the seitan stock)
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsp tarragon
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance ™
• 1/2  cup soy creamer (or use 1 cup soymilk, and reduce the water by 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 – 1 cup roux

In a large pot, saute all of the veggies in high heat oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized skillet, lightly brown the chik’n in the Earth Balance ™. When the veggies are soft, add in the stock and the water. When the chik’n is lightly browned on most sides, add that as well. Add in the spices, then the creamer.

Make a roux with about 1/2 cup flour and just enough cold water to get a batter-like consistency, mixing with a fork or small whisk. Slowly whisk the roux into the soup, until it’s the desired consistency. Amy likes a thin creamy soup, I like mine thick. So it goes. Poo-tee-weet.

Enjoy!

(or else)

Welcome to installment #3 of our Olive Garden Reproduction series: Pasta e Fagioli! By now you are probably–should probably–be asking yourself, “What’s Irreverent Vegan’s deal with the Olive Garden? It’s not even that good!  And haven’t they freaking been to Italy?! Don’t they know better?!”

Man. You ask a lot of questions. But we have answers. Because that’s how we roll.

Sadly, a lot of vegan cuisine is a matter of nostalgia; we attempt to capture some pleasant moment or time from our omnivorous past. For us, most of these moments revolve more around friends or family than the actual foods themselves. And the Olive Garden was one of those universal places that everyone in the family–no matter how mundane or adventurous their tastes–could get behind. Multiple families could come together there.

So these meals invoke a sense of love and belonging, if you’ll forgive my brief foray into hippie territory. It’s scarcely different when you crave mac and cheese. Think about it. It’s not even that good. The idea is plain bad: cheese on noodles. It’s no delicacy. But something draws you to it, over and over. Like pizza, it’s one of the last vestiges to emigrate from your palate.

That being said, we took a slightly different approach this time. Instead of going for a straight reproduction of the Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli, we sought out some authentic recipes, cherry-picking and veganizing at will. We started with out friend Abigail’s recipe. She should know what’s awesome, since (a) she’s an amazing cook, and (b) her hubbie’s fambly is from (or lives/lived in Italy).

Her recipe centers heavily on the flavor of the white beans and the water they were cooked in (sorry! canned beans won’t do for this recipe!). I’m guessing the parmesan cheese and tortellini made this sufficiently awesome for them. Ours seemed a little bland with just beans, bean juice, sage, S & P, and a few tablespoons of tomato paste. So. We added a large can of tomatoes (~4 cups), as well as some thyme and rosemary. After cooking down, this soup was pretty awesome. I’ve never had the OG version, nor an authentic Italian one. With some OG-style bread sticks, though, this soup is worth checking.

In case you were wondering, here’s how:

Pasta e Fagioli

• 1.5 cups uncooked white beans (ideally canellini, but any white bean will work)
• 7 cups water
• 4 cups (1 large can) tomatoes, with juice
• 3 tsp ground sage
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary, diced
• 1 – 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 cup uncooked medium-sized shells
• salt & pepper, to taste

Obviously, the first order of business is to cook the beans. We use a pressure cooker, but it’s totally legit to soak the beans overnight, then cook them for about an hour. Unlike with our usual Choose-You-Own-Adventure-style recipes, you cannot opt for canned beans. You need to cook them. The bean water is your stock. This is how folks kicked it old-school, and how you’ll need to kick it now.

In a large pot, saute the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until the garlic is just beginning to brown. Add in half of the beans and all of the liquid. Blend with an immersion blender, or in a standard blender if you haven’t gotten with the immersion blender program yet. Add the spices and tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, start your noodles. Once the soup has come to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer. Once the noodles are done, drain, rinse briefly with cold water, and add to the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

That’s it!

Disclaimer #1: As is oft the case, I point judicious readers to our ubiquitous confessional “Why I can’t be trusted“. But still, observe:

Gumbos are like unicorns, all alike, but no two exactly alike. There’s a sort of conventional gumbo wisdom that says you need a few common things, but that you are allowed–nay, expected–to play, to invent, to take ownership of your particular gumbo. These things are:

The Southern Soup Holy Trinity: Onion, celery, and green bell pepper. The standard trinity uses carrots instead of peppers.

Okra: Okra.

Roux: This is usually a 1:1 mix of flour and fat (butter, oil, shortening, bacon grease, etc). A gumbo is supposed to be somewhere between a soup and a stew. I find that the natural emulsifier in okra thickens the gumbo to the almost-stew stage on its own, so I ditched the roux in this version. A more authentic version would probably keep the roux and up the stock and/or water.

Meats: These are usually sausage, chicken, and shrimp. We used our tempeh soysage and Joanna/Jennifer’s Seitan Chik’n.

Seasoning: These include cajun spice and gumbo file (fee-lay) powder among others. You can buy a premade cajun spice or make your own. Gumbo file is made from ground sassafras root, sometimes with ground thyme as well. The gumbo file may be a little hard to track down. Our local coop had it (so any place with a good selection of Frontier brand spices). You can also look for ground sassafras.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes.

Disclaimer #2: I fully expect Jennifer from Scrumpdilly to correct me if any/all of this is wrong. She’s actually from Louisiana. She’s made gumbo before. I’ve eaten it. There’s no recipe. Real Southerners keep their gumbo recipes in lead-lined wooden boxes, buried beneath their homes, guarded by raccoons. Fact.

Gumbo

• 1 lb okra, cut into disks
• 1 lb tempeh soysage
• 3 seitan chik’n cutlets, cut into strips
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 small – medium stalks celery, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups tomatoes, with juice (1 large can)
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 4 tsp cajun spice
• 2 tsp gumbo file powder

As with most soups, you’ll want to start by sauteing the onion, pepper, and celery in a large pot over medium heat. When they start to soften, add in the soysage and chik’n strips, browning lightly. Add in the broth, water, tomatoes, spices, and okra, in that order. Bring to a light boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or (better) longer.

Serve on its own, over rice, and/or with Vegan Dad’s Cajun Chickpea Cakes.

This is going to seem weird: baked potatoes slathered in Earth Balance ™, topped with homemade chili, topped with homemade tempeh soysage. Behold, the Li’l Spudley!

But furrealz, is it any weirder than chili cheese fries? I think not. Amy’s had a taste for some kind of chili potato for the last few days, so I thought I’d surprise her by acquiescing (note 1: I was the initial hater). Sadly, I hadn’t though in advance to soak cashews to make sour cream and we were out of silken tofu. But chili and potato somehow wouldn’t be enough…so why not move in the entirely other direction?, thought I: tempeh soysage. Amy has highly skeptical of this twist (note 2: Now Amy’s the hater). Luckily, our friend Maddog was here and was game for my experiment, putting the pressure on Amy to indulge my strange flight of culinary fancy. As it turns out, this was pretty awesome (note 3: It’s awesome!). The buttery potato brings out the sweetness of the chili, while the soysage brings out the spice. It’s just right.

All you need is:

• baked potatoes
• Earth Balance ™, optional
• chili: Roasted Poblano Chili or Standard Chili (I recommend the Poblano for this)
• tempeh soysage (you could also use tempeh soyrizo, for a switch)
• green onions (optional)

We had this again a few nights later, with green onions. Unlike Amy, I’m a potato musher-downer. Deal with it.

Fantastic!

Amy’s triumphant return from Budapest brought Grab ‘n’ Growl week to an end, as well as a large bag of authentic Hungarian paprika. Given these two fantastic new developments, it was time to cook it the hell down.

We’d been searching for a good recipe for Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup for quite some time, never really satisfied. I recently stumbled upon this one from Sweet Cheeks in the Kitchen, in turn nabbed from the Candle Cafe Cookbook. It was sufficiently awesome that it required almost no modification–we added half a cup of soy creamer; that’s it. I also learned something really interesting: when a recipe calls for a dry white wine, it’s acceptable–nay, preferable–to use a dry vermouth. It’s cheaper, dryer, and saves better than an average white wine.

Not surprisingly, we rounded the soup out with breadsticks and an amazing salad based on our recently acquired paprika.

The salad was inspired by VeganYumYum’s Avocado Wasabi Salad, with paprika taking the central role in place of wasabi.

Check it:

Paprika Cashew Chickpea Salad

Cashews & Chickpeas

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 2 tsp sugar OR enough maple syrup to coat the cashews
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp soy sauce/tamari/shoyu
• salt & pepper, to taste

You can approach the cashews one of two ways: baking or sauteing. We sauteed them, but our friend Ryan has baked them with better results. So.

Baked Candied Cashews

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, coat the cashews in maple syrup. Once thoroughly coated, toss in 1 tbsp paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Bake until brown, stirring often.

Fried Candied Cashews

In a medium-sized pan over medium heat, saute the cashews in high heat oil, coating in sugar, 1 tbsp paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook until the spices and oil have congealed. Remove from heat. Note: they’ll seem soft at first, but they’ll firm up.

Paprika Chickpeas

In the same pan (if such a beast was used) as you cooked the cashews, saute the chickpeas in the soy sauce and remaining spices, until well coated and no liquid remains, salting and peppering to taste.

Salad Dressing

• 1/4 cup hummus
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey/agave
• water, to desired consistency

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Finally, the salad

Toss the chickpeas, cashews, some diced purple onions, and cherry/grape tomatoes (optional) in with some fresh lettuce and enough dressing to coat lightly.

Since we’re just babies at raw, we’re still soliciting help. Our friends Danielle and Becky came to the rescue this week with info on raw sushi. This isn’t to be confused with eating raw fish, of course; rather, it’s about subbing (in this case) an almond carrot puree for the rice in standard sushi. In theory, you should really plan ahead and soak the almonds for 8 – 10 hours. Or, you can cheat like we did, as outlined below. We rounded the meal out with the Siamese Dream soup stolen from What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway? , in turn stolen from RAWvolution. Stealing from our favorite thieves.

Raw Sushi

We stayed pretty true to the sushi recipe, except I only soaked the almonds for about 30 minutes. To make up for this, you’ll want to add about 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup of olive oil. I’d recommend soaking…but that takes more foreknowledge than I usually have. You might also consider peeling the almonds, as that’s supposed to make them even tastier.

For veggies, we used spinach, cucumber, beet, and yellow pepper.

You’ll notice that we cut it like a wrap, rather than standard nori-roll style. These are quite a bit softer than rice-based sushi, so they’re a lot tougher to cut small. For the sake of your sushi’s dignity, stick with the deli cut.

Siamese Dream Soup

This was very much like a raw Tom Khai, and almost mindlessly simple to make. The recipe calls for coconut water, which we didn’t have handy, so we used 1 can of coconut milk and 1 cup of water. The recipe also calls for 3 cloves of garlic–which is way too much. We tend to double the garlic in most recipes, so don’t write this off. One clove of garlic will suffice.

What’s really interesting about this soup, is that you almost don’t notice it’s raw. Cooking only tends to mellow the flavor in garlic, ginger, and coconut milk. So you can get away with using less, without losing any flavor. In a lot of ways, this is one of the key points of eating raw. Humans picked up cooking largely as a way of killing the harmful bacteria in meat. As vegans, we don’t really need to cook…though now that we’ve picked up the habit, it would be a tough one to kick without major motivation.

Since cats don’t cook, Wobbly Bob (AKA The Beast) decided he had some useful skills to lend:

Welcome to yet another iteration in our quest for the perfect chili.

One of our favorite local restaurants, Beezy’s, serves an amazing Pinto Poblano soup; it combines the best aspects of chili, black bean soup, and refried beans–with zang! The poblano features heavily in a lot of their scrambles as well. I was familiar with the poblano in its dried (ancho) form, but had never really paid this superlative pepper much heed. So I got to thinking: Why not switch things up a little and use roasted poblanos in my usual chili? And while I’m at it, why not ditch the carrots and celery and use red and green bell peppers? With the poblanos in action, I was able to tone down the spices, relying more on the fresh peppers for zest. The poblanos, along with a dash of smoked chili powder and a splash of red wine, made this a much richer, smokier chili. Best served with cornbread made in your grandma’s skillet.

Roasted Poblano Chili

• 1 large white onion, diced
• 1/2 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 3 medium – large poblano peppers; roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 6 cups (1.5 large cans) cooked tomatoes, peeled
• 2 cups cooked red kidney beans (~3/4 cup dry)
• 2 cups cooked black beans (~3/4 cup dry)
• 1 cup cooked pinto beans (~1/4 cup dry)
• 2 – 3 cups liquid from beans and/or water
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup of red wine (we used a zinfandel [Paul Dolan is vegan])
• salt, to taste

If you’re using dried beans, start them first. They’ll be just about ready when you need them (if you’re pressure cooking them), as the poblanos will take a while too.

For the most part, this is a pretty easy recipe. It’s roasting the poblano’s that’s a bit tricky. Everyone has a different story about how this is best done. Some folks like roasting directly on an oven burner, some like cooking directly in a skillet, some like broiling in the oven, others like using a toaster oven. We have an electric stove, so the range (first) method was right out. And the toaster oven is just a smaller, more concentrated oven, right? So toaster oven it was. Pop the poblanos in on the toaster oven’s highest setting. When the tops start to bubble and turn black, flip them. Bake until both sides have bubbled up.

(Meanwhile, start the onions, red and green bell peppers, and garlic [in that order] cooking in a large pot over medium heat, in high heat oil of your choice.)

When they’re done, put them in a ziploc bag for 15 minutes. This allows them to sweat (which allegedly makes them less bitter and makes them easier to peel). For peeling and seeding, you want to wear latex gloves. These aren’t as bad as jalapenos or habaneros, but you still don’t want their juice in your eye. Unless you’re into that sort of thing, in which case you should invest in some Pukka Sauce ™ and be done with it. The skin should peel off pretty easily. The poblanos will be a bit soft, so you’ll want to be fairly careful. Once you’ve gotten the skin off, remove the seeds. You should be able to tear them open and just pull the seeds out. Now you’re ready to dice them up, which you should do.

Throw them in with the onions, peppers, and garlic.

Once the onions and pepper are soft, add in the herbs and spices, then the tomatoes. Next, add in the beans, along with 2 – 3 cups of bean liquid or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 30 minutes, ideally longer. Add in the wine if you’re using it and salt to taste.

Serve with cornbread.

Cornbread

We used this cornbread recipe. Secrets two, there are, spake thusly: (1) use your grandma’s cast-iron skillet to bake in, and (2) flip the pan upside down to dump out the cornbread cake, then flip it again so it’s right side up. Marvelous!