Posts filed under 'soup'
I never know what the hell to do with cabbage. The options always seem to be cole slaw (which I don’t ever want or feel like an entire cabbage worth of), sour kraut (see cole slaw), or some sort of cabbage salad, usually involving ramen noodles (which I like, but only sometimes).
Today I found myself with a cute little organic cabbage in my refrigerator, but not much else. I also had some baked tofu and some carrots, and after looking in the fridge a million times, I had an idea for a soup. Somewhere in my brain lived this soup – a light tomato base, with sweet and sour and spicy flavorings. I can’t think of where I might have tasted something like this in the past, but there it was. Who was I to argue? It used the damn cabbage, didn’t it?
I’m really pleased with the results. It’s a really comforting, warming winter soup. If you have extra ingredients on hand like bell peppers, mushrooms, or zucchini, feel free to add them in. I gave it a billion grinds of black pepper to finish it, and it really brought everything together. Seasoned rice vinegar is the sour flavor here, but if you only have regular rice vinegar, you can make a substitution as follows: One cup of seasoned rice vinegar is the same as 3/4 cup white rice vinegar plus 1/4 cup sugar plus 2 teaspoons salt. That’s what the internet told me, I haven’t tried it myself!
Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup
Serves six?
1 Tbs Oil
1 Small Onion, minced
1 Small Cabbage, about the size of a grapefruit
2 Large Carrots, chopped
1 15oz Can Tomatoes, blended smooth
6 Cups Water
1 Cup Cubed Pressed, Baked Tofu (like wildwood baked)
1/4 Cup Tamari, low sodium
1/3 Cup Seasoned Rice Vinegar (see note on substituting above)
1 tsp Hot Red Chili Flakes
1/2 tsp Salt
Black Pepper, to taste (a lot!)
Heat a large 5 qt soup pot that has a heavy lid over medium heat. Add oil and onion, and saute until golden. Meanwhile, quarter your cabbage, remove the core, and shred the cabbage with a large chef’s knife. Add carrots, tomatoes, cabbage and water to the pot and stir well. Add the tofu, tamari, vinegar, chili flakes and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, then turn heat down to medium low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until cabbage and carrots are the desired tenderness.
Grind a lot of fresh black pepper over the top and serve.
October 16th, 2007
I made this in 20 minutes, and that included time to straighten up a bit. My lunches can get a bit weird sometimes, as I tend to rummage around and try to make something that uses up the food we have. Here’s what I found today:
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So why not chili with apple and sausage in it? The only things I used that aren’t pictured here are tamari, worcestershire sauce, and cumin. I saw the “grain meat” sausages at Whole Foods and they intrigued me. They ended up being pretty good, but towards the end I was eating around them. Maybe I’m just a tofu/tempeh/seitan kinda gal. I’d be interested in trying their other flavors, since the apple-sage variation sounds tasty.
Chipotle Sausage Chili with Apple and Black Beans
Makes two hearty servings
1 Can Black Beans, mostly drained
2 Carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 Plum Tomatoes, diced (1 Cup, scant)
1 Cup Rehydrated TSP, see directions
1 Veggie Sausage Link, diced
1 Apple, diced (any kind, really)
3 Tbs Tamari
3 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce (make sure the label says it’s veg)
1 tsp Cumin
Heat 1 scant cup of water to boiling and mix it with 1 Cup dried TSP (or follow package directions). While that is soaking, heat a large skillet with some vegetable oil. Add carrot and stir every once in a while to soften. Meanwhile, dice apples, tomatoes, and sausage. Add these plus the beans and cumin to pan. Stir and cover.
Check on your TSP. Dump out excess water as soon as it is fairly soft and add to pan. Add tamari and Worcestershire sauce, stir well, and cover. Let simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Serve with fresh cilantro or parsley.
March 30th, 2007
This is a quick and simple soup with fairly flexible ingredients. I managed to buy some beans other than black beans (oh how I love black beans!), so I was inspired to make an Italian-style soup with ingredients I had hanging around.
I like this soup because you do the cooking and the prepping at the same time. While your onions are softening, you’re cutting the carrots and potatoes. While those are simmering, you’re draining the beans and slicing the seitan. By the time the kale goes in, the soup is nearly done. Chopping the carrots and potatoes very small not only makes this a quick cooking meal, but it also makes your very humble soup seem fancier. I also like how you’re able to get a little bit of everything in each spoonful.
Tuscan White Bean Stew
Serves two
1/2 Onion, finely chopped
2 Medium Carrots, sliced into very thin coins
1 Medium Russet Potato, cut into a 1/4″ dice
2 Cups Water
1 Can White Beans, drained and rinsed (I used Great Northern)
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbs Tomato Paste
1/2 Cup Seitan, sliced thin (optional)
2-3 Large Kale Leaves, deveined and roughly chopped
2-3 tsp Lemon Juice
Fresh herbs for garnish, optional
Saute the onions over medium-low heat in a medium sized, heavy pot that has a lid. Slice the carrots into 1/8″ coins and add to pot. Cut potato into 1/4″ dice and add to pot, stirring occasionally. Add water and loosen any stuff that has stuck to the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add salt, oregano, tomato paste and stir. Cover and turn head down to a low boil.
Slice seitan and kale, drain and rinse the beans. Add seitan and beans to pot and stir. The stew should be quite thick. Add kale and lemon juice. Taste and season if necessary. Simmer for a few minutes until kale is tender. Carrots should be tender, and the potato should be soft but still hold its shape. Serve and garnish with fresh herbs, shown here with thyme.
March 25th, 2007
I had made that lovely roasted pepper yesterday, and remembered I had some fresh broccoli in the fridge, so this is a little soup I threw together to use both ingredients. It’s not only fairly healthy, but very comforting. The sweetness of the pepper coulis goes well with the savory cumin and broccoli base. I also added lentils to give the soup some added body, flavor and nutrition. This was definitely a winner for us!
Broccoli Lentil Soup with Roasted Pepper Coulis
Serves two
2 Cups rough-chopped broccoli
1/2 Onion, finely chopped
1/2 Cup Green Lentils
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Chili Powder*
1 Veg Bullion Cube
2 Cups Water
3/4 – 1 Cup Soymilk
Roasted Pepper Coulis
1 Red or Orange Roasted Pepper
1 Tbs Tahini
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Tbs Maple Syrup
1/4 tsp Chili Powder
Fresh Black Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Salt
*Chili powder is NOT simply crushed chilies! It’s a blend of mildly spicy chilies and other spices like oregano, cumin and garlic. It’s usually dark red and milder than, say, straight cayenne pepper.
Heat vegetable oil in a large heavy bottomed pot that has a tight lid. Add onions. When they start to brown, add lentils and cumin and stir for a minute or two. Add water, broccoli, and bullion, turn down heat a little and cover. Simmer for about 30 minutes until the lentils are tender but still firm.
Meanwhile, add all the coulis ingredients into the bowl of your food processor or blender. Blend well until smooth, and set aside while soup is cooking to give the flavors some time to meld.
When the soup is ready, it should be pretty thick – too thick for soup! Blend it CAREFULLY (it’s hot!) until smooth (I didn’t even bother to wash out my food processor after I blended the coulis since it was going in the soup anyway). Return the soup to your pot and add soymilk until the desired consistancy is reached. I wanted a thick soup, so I added 3/4 of a cup of soymilk, but if you want it a little thinner plan on a full cup or so.
Place soup in bowls. Add 1/2 of the coulis on top of each bowl of soup – you can create a design if you want – partially swirling it in, or whatever. Add pita chips on top and serve with extra chips on the side!
I’m sure this would be delightful with coconut milk or soy creamer instead, but plain soymilk does the job beautifully and isn’t quite so heavy.
March 19th, 2007
I made this soup last night, and I thought it was tasty and satisfying. I can imagine people who aren’t used to kale, quinoa, and tahini might need some easing into this one, but here you are nevertheless. Here’s the version I made:
Creamy Kale Soup
Serves 2-3 dinner sized portions
1/2 Cup Green Lentils
1/2 Cup Quinoa (I like to use half-and-half)
1/2 Medium Onion, finely chopped
4 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Small Bunch Kale
5 cups water
Spices
1 tsp Cumin, heaping
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1 Veg Bullion Cbbe
3 Tbs Tahini
2-3 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce
Wash and de-stem kale (I use kitchen scissors to cut along the sides of the stems), tear the leaves into smallish pieces. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, and add quinoa and lentils. Sautee for a few minutes, add spices and kale. Mix well. Add water and bullion cube and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down heat to low. Simmer for 35-40 minutes.
Carefully blend the hot soup in a food processor or blender and return to pot. You can skip this step or blend only half of the soup if you want some texture, but I think it’s nicest smooth. Add tahini and tamari to taste.
To garnish, mix 1-2 Tbs of tahini with a small amount of water until it becomes smooth and bright. Drizzle on top of the soup and serve.
February 27th, 2007
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