Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed sweet potato
• 1/2 cup veggie broth
• 1/2 cup non dairy milk
• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest

To Garnish:

• Diced Avocado 
• Chips
• dash of chili powder

Preheat oven at 400 degrees and cook sweet potato until soft.

Add sweet potato, veggie broth and non dairy milk into blender and blend until smooth.  Add spice and salt and blend in.  Fold in Lemon zest as added into serving bowls.  Garnish with fresh cubed avocado and chips and enjoy!

White bean Rosemary Soup with Jumbo Croutons and Fresh Basil

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onions 
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 large cloves of minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons mustard 
• 1 teaspoons salt 
• Black pepper to taste
• 6 cups white kidney beans cooked
• 3 cups veggie stock 
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped rosemary 
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 1 batch of fresh jumbo croutons 
• fresh basil, juillian cut 

In a large pot on medium heat add oil, celery, onion, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom.

Add 4 cups of beans, veggie stock, water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of rosemary.  Increase and bring to a boil.  Once boiling reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Using an immersion blender blend well.  Stir in remaining 2 cups of beans, lemon juice  and remaining rosemary.  Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in individual bowls with jumbo croutons and fresh cut basil.  Drizzle with olive oil if desired.

Vegan Pho

Pho is an awesome Vietnamese noodle soup traditionally made with beef. I live for a place in San Antonio called Pho Sure. I highly suggest trying it out as well as trying your own recipes with all different Kinds of Asian veggies. This meatless version, is made with most of the same ingredients but subs out beef for tofu and a ton of veggies!


Serves 4 (Large portions!)

8 ounces dried rice noodles
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pack of soft tofu cut into squares
6 cups vegetable stock or water
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons miso paste
1/2 teaspoon Asian chile paste (or to taste)
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons basil leaves
4 Shitaki mushrooms
water chestnuts

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the rice noodles, and let them sit for 30 minutes to soften. Drain and set aside.

Bring the stock or water to a boil in a large pot. Add the onion, ginger, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the lime juice.

Place 1/2 cup of the hot liquid into a small bowl. Add the miso paste and stir to blend well. Transfer the blended miso paste into the soup along with the chile paste, if using. Stir in the noodles, tofu and water chestnuts.Do not boil but simmer for several more minutes to.

Divide the soup among individual bowls. Add the bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro (I get mine from my own garden), and basil.

Leek and Potato Soup

I do not do well in the cold anymore and it has been cold here in North Carolina! I am visiting my parents for Christmas and my father is one of those people who though his house has to have a heater, that does not mean he has any intention of using it.

My Solis? Soup. I have been making most of my meals so a nice leek soup seemed to be a good way to go. In fact it was so good that my whole family, despite the fact that they always make fun of my vegan tendencies, joined in on some!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts washed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed into 1/2-inch cubes
4 cups vegetable stock
2-3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves

Heat soup pot over medium heat and add the oil.

Add the leeks, onion, and sea salt and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion begins to turn translucent.

Add the garlic and stir well. Cook for 1 minute more.

Add the potatoes and vegetable stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook 20 minutes.

Remove the soup from the heat and use an immersion/stick blender to blend the soup in the pot or ladle the soup into a blender, 1 cup at a time. Blend the soup with the fresh rosemary leaves until smooth and free of chunks. Pour smooth soup into a heat-proof bowl and continue until all of the soup has been blended.

Transfer the blended soup back to the original soup pot and warm over low heat until heated through. Serve hot.

Mercimek- Turkish Red Lentil Soup

This is a take on one of my favorite Middle Eastern Recipes... it is rich and spicy and perfect for a cool winter or fall day. It also happens to be packed full of protein.

Ingrediants:
1 cup red lentils
1 medium size onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot
1 tbsp tomato or pepper paste (or you can do half&half)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed pepper or red peppercorns
pinch of red pepper flakes
6 cups of water or veggie broth

I always start be dicing up all of my Veggies. Since this is a soup you want to make sure to get them as finally minced as possible. I go so far as to use my food processor.

Take the olive oil and the minced onion and put it in a large pot, sauteing. After about 2-3 minutes, add the tomato paste and saute that in as well.

After this put everything but the lemon into the pot and cook on medium heat until the lentils are soft and mushy, for about 20-25 minutes.

Squirt with lemon before serving. This is great with fresh Pita Bread.

Pasta e Fagioli

Well I had a craving for a dish that reminded me of my childhood. If you read my profile you know I am from a culture and family that loves to eat. Can you guess where we are from? Thats right, my father side is Italian. While I love my other sides food, German food is a bit heavy for me and has a great deal of meat in it. I love both but the Italian side of food really inspires me. Like most Childhood (And Italian) recipies, this one will need to be adjusted for personal taste.

I love the tuscan take on foods with their attention to fresh veggies and love of pomodoro...that is tomato. So when I went to the farmers market and bought a bag of them I was more then happy to share and partake in this dish. I know that everyone will enjoy it! There is so much to love!

1 cup of white kidney or cannellini beans

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, Finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon of sage

2 1/2 cups of fresh tomato, skinned, de-seeded and chopped

salt and pepper

4 cups of veggie stock

3/4 cup of whole wheat pasta (smaller works best. Think shells or elbow)

Cook beans according to instructions and set aside in the sink. they should be tender with the skins cracking.

In a soup pot add onion, garlic and olive oil. Sautee these slowly, stirring until the onions are soft (about 12 minutes). Add the sage, tomato, salt and black pepper and simmer for another 20 minutes. You want all of the tastes to combine together. If you like a little bit of zest add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the mix.

Next add the beans and stock to the veggies. Simmer this for about 30 more minutes. The soup should become more stew like. If it is getting too dry add a bit more water or stock but you might have to adjust the spices so don't go over board.

Next add the pasta to the stew and let that cook to desired tenderness.

Enjoy! Next to it is a bread that I got from the farmers market. Its a yummy vegan rye from Phoenix Rising bakery.

"I Feel Sick Today" Soup

End of the month and we are not in the food buying place in our budget. But I wasn't feeling so great today so I tossed together this soup. This is again one of those recipies where you can toss in just about anything...chunks of tofu would be a great addition.

Ingredients:
Pasta (Any kind will do)
2 cups of Veggie broth
3 garlic cloves (Chopped)
1 Onion (Chopped)
Soy sauce (Optional)

Start by cooking you pasta as the package directs. Leave it a bit al dante if you can. This means to not cook totally but leave the noddles a bit stiff. Drain and put to the side.

Next heat up your broth. When it is boiling toss in the garlic, onions and pasta. Cook these well so that the veggie broth is soaked into them. If you f ind that your broth is a little bland a teaspoon of soy sauce will salt it up and add a darker colour.

The Onions and garlic will improve your immune systems well being along with the veggie broth. The better and more organic you by the better the chance your body will fight off infection.

Rainy Day Udon Soup

It's been raining for the past....week down here in good old texas. While we dont have snow in the winter we have a heck of alot of rain. And rain means two things in my mind: A warm fire and a bowl of yummy soup.



Ingrediants:
1 table spoon of Miso paste
1 1/2 cups of water
1 pack of instant japanese udon noodles
3 oz of meduim hard tofu cut into little squares
chopped scallions

Bring water to a boil. Place in tofu and miso paste into bioling water and disolve paste. Place in the udon noodles and the scallions into the water next and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the time tender.

Enjoy and Yummy!

Vegan Spicy Lentil Stew/Soup

Ingredients:
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot sliced
• 1 slice celery
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup dry lentils
• ½ a cup of brown rice
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• dash salt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Franks red hot (optional)

Preparation:

In a large pot, sautee the onions, celery and carrot in the vegetable oil for 3-5 minutes until onions turn clear.

Add the vegetable broth, lentils, rice, pepper, thyme, bay leaves and salt.
Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until lentils are soft, about 1-2 hours (rice takes a while). Stir in franks red hot or hot sauce if you want spicy. Remove bay leaves and stir in lemon juice before serving. Makes 4-6 servings of lentil soup.

Of coarse you should add or subtract if you like a certain taste! Best with pita!

Notes:
One thing about making any soup or stew is the temp that your oven gets to. I dont have a gas stove so its harder for mt to get a standard temp. CHECK! If it looks like you are running low on liquid add more veggie stock as you go.

Health Points
- Full serving of veggies in ever cup.
-lentils: http://www.healthrecipes.com/lentils.htm (I cant say it any better than that)