Smoky Split Pea Soup

This weekend I tried the Smoky Split Pea Soup from Appetite for Reduction. It was easy to make, thick, and very hearty. The flavor--made smoky by lots of smoked paprika--was good but not to die over.

I'd probably make it again. It's a good, low-fat, simple soup to have in my soup arsenal and is great for lunch in winter...but I wouldn't break it out for guests.

I like my legumes to be extremely soft and not hard at all so I cooked it for 50 minutes instead of the recommended 40 minutes. Even then, some of the split peas were a little firm, so I'd add more water and cook for at least an hour next time. I used bullion cubes to make the vegetable broth. Between that and the additional salt, this was really salty. I like that, but if you don't, use less salt or don't use bullion cubes.

Smoky Split Pea Soup
Serves 6

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 medium-sized onion, diced small
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 cups diced carrots
• 1 1/4 cups dried split peas
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste (I didn't use this)

1. Preheat soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions in the oil until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. 
2. Add the garlic, pepper, and salt; saute for another minute. 
3. Add the paprika and thyme, stirring continuously for about 15 seconds to toast the spices.
4. Add the carrots, split peas, and broth. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 40-60 minutes, until split peas are soft enough for you. If necessary, thin the soup with water. Stir occasionally to prevent the soup from burning at the bottom.
5. Add lemon juice if using. Let set for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Lentil Tomato Soup

This soup saw me through the polar vortex. It's hearty, comforting, and has just enough Indian spices make the flavor really interesting without being overwhelming. This is definitely one of my favorite soup recipes, and it's easy to make with just a few ingredients. I used split red lentils, but if you use regular lentils you'll want to cook it longer and possibly puree some or all of it to get the creaminess of the red lentils.

Lentil-Tomato Soup
Adapted from a very old Cooking Light magazine; I ripped out the recipe and don't know the date but probably circa 2000.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (add or subtract to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/3 cup dried split red lentils
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 6 cups veg broth
• 3 cups water (use more or less water for desired consistency)
• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• Chopped fresh tomatoes (optional)
• Cilantro sprig (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. 
2. Add the onion; saute for 5 minutes or until tender. 
3. Add the turmeric and the next 6 ingredients (turmeric through garlic); saute for 1 minute. 
4. Add lentils and next 4 ingredients (lentils through tomatoes); bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils are very soft and soup is thick and creamy. If you want it creamier, puree some or all of the soup.
5. Garnish with chopped tomatoes and a cilantro sprig if you want to be fancy pants about it.

Arizona Hippie Soup

This is another fabulous soup I first tried at my friend's soup party. Note that she adapted it from the Oh She Glows blog (I'm not sure what the adaptations were). The toppings for it were awesome, but I think the soup is perfect as-is without toppings. I cooked it for a really long time to get all the veggies nice and soft. While I don't usually like sweet potato in soup, the sweet potato in this added just the right amount of sweetness.

Arizona Hippie Soup

Adjusted from: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/11/30/black-bean-sweet-potato-and-red-quinoa-soup/

Ingredients:

    • 1 cup uncooked red quinoa, rinsed and drained
    • 1TBS coconut oil
    • 3-6 garlic cloves, minced
    • 2 cup diced sweet onion
    • 1 jalapeno, seeded if preferred and diced
    • 1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped
    • 1.5 tsp ground cumin
    • 1 tsp chili powder
    • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
    • 6 cups vegetable broth
    • 1.5 cups cooked black beans (one (15-oz) can rinsed and drained)
    • fine grain sea salt and black pepper, to taste (
    • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes) 

Toppings: Spinach, avocado, chips, cilantro, cashews, lime


Instructions:

1. In a medium-sized pot, add quinoa along with 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cover with tight fitting lid. Simmer covered for about 17 minutes or until the water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy. Remove from heat, fluff with fork, and keep it covered until ready to use.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large  pot. Add garlic and onion and sauté for a few minutes over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Now add in the jalapeno and sweet potato and sauté for 5-7 minutes more.

3. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, coriander, and broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 18-20 minutes uncovered, or until the potatoes are tender.

4. Just before serving, stir in the cooked quinoa, drained and rinsed black beans, cayenne. Season with salt and pepper to taste, adding more spice if desired.

5. Garnish soup with Spinach, cilantro, chips, avocado, cashews, lime.

African Peanut Soup

With the polar vortex and general despair over the bone-chilling weather since the beginning of the year, I've wanted to eat nothing but soup. The first one I made was this African Peanut Soup, which I first tried at my friend Melissa's soup party in December. Since 1993, Melissa and her husband Stephen have been hosting this party. The party was a lot of fun and the soups were all really delicious, but it's the charity component that is the most impressive. Guests are asked to bring a donation for the Greater Pittsburgh
Community Food Bank. This past December they had 262 guests and raised more than $4,000 for the Food Bank!

I'm just getting back to blogging so didn't take pictures, but trust me--this soup is amazing! It's not overly peanuty and doesn't have sweet potatoes that are in a lot of African soups (and which I'm not a huge fan of). It's just really delicious. Here's the recipe, and see my notes at the end.

African Peanut Soup

Serves 8

The recipe was found in the November 1994 issue of Vegetarian Times and is copied from the Big Soup blog. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions chopped
• 2 large red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 to 3 large garlic cloves, mashed
• 1 to 2 Tbs. Canola oil
• 28 oz. can tomatoes with juice, chopped
• 8 cups vegetable broth (bouillon is best--see notes)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. Crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup uncooked short-grain rice
• 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter (non-natural is best--see notes)
• chopped roasted peanuts

Instructions:

1. In a large soup pot, sauté onions, bell peppers, and garlic in oil until onions begin to brown around the edges, about 7 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and juice, broth, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat about 15 minutes.
3. Add rice, cover, and simmer until rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Add the peanut butter; whisk until smooth. Heat to a simmer and serve immediately, garnished with chopped roasted peanuts.

Notes:

1. When I made this, I thought it didn't taste like the soup at the party. I thought Melissa's tasted better. I brought it into work for her to taste, and she confirmed it tasted different. We concluded that it was the difference in the broth and peanut butter. I used store-bought ready-made broth, and Melissa used Knorr vegetarian bouillon cubes. I used a natural style of peanut butter, and Melissa used Jif. If you make this, use bouillon and a non-natural style of peanut butter.
2. I don't like cooked bell pepper and considered leaving them out. But I liked the soup so much at Melissa's party, I decided to leave one in. I didn't taste the pepper at all (which is good for me.) 
3. I used long-grain rice, and it was fine.
4. Melissa's soup was much thicker than mine. She said she let it simmer a lot longer than the recipe calls for, so I'll do that next time. 

Kale, White Bean & Rice Stew with Sweet Potato Biscuits

I made the Kale, White Bean, and Rice Stew from Appetite for Reduction this weekend. The original version called for quinoa, but my local grocery didn't have any. I had some cooked brown rice in the fridge so just threw it in at the end. This "stew" was just okay. (Its broth was very thin, so I'd call it a soup.) The spice blend--crushed fennel, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary--gave just a hint of flavor. The soup bordered on bland, so I added some balsamic vinegar for a bit more flavor. The kale, parsnips, carrots, and potatoes didn't add much on their own. Even cannellini beans, which I usually think are pretty tasty with just a bit of oil and some salt and pepper, didn't come through and save this soup. This soup just didn't do it for me!

What redeemed the soup, however, are the Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits also from Appetite for Reduction I made to go with the soup. These slightly sweet and savory biscuits are wonderful. And they were so quick and easy to make! You just take a cup of mashed sweet potato, mix it with canola oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and salt, and sift in flour, baking powder, and nutmeg. Then you drop them onto a baking sheet, and in about 15 minutes you have really awesome biscuits. They went great with the soup, but I'd make these again to eat by themselves. Someone posted the recipe on this blog.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

If I were having the British royal family over for dinner, I'd serve them this amazing vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup as a first course. It's so rich, so decadent, so bursting with mushroom and cream flavors, it's fit for royalty...or for a windy, cold day like this past Saturday when I made it. Its lusciousness is not without a calorie cost, though: vegan sour cream and margarine help make this soup spectacular.

Yes, vegan sour cream and margarine are processed foods that come in packages--evil things I usually swear off. But I had fond memories of this soup when I first made it last year, so I splurged this weekend. Really though, the soup is pretty good before you add the soymilk and soy sour cream, so I'd make it without the non-dairy for a healthier version.

Last year when I made it, an omni coworker tried it and loved it, so I don't think omnivores would miss the dairy.

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup
recipe from About.com

• 3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup vegan non-dairy sour cream substitute
• 1 cup soymilk
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large soup or stock pot, saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic in vegan margarine for 3 - 5 minutes, until onions are soft.

 

2. Reduce heat to medium low and add the vegetable broth. Cover and allow to simmer for at least 45 minutes. (Note: stop here for a non-cream but still good mushroom soup!)

3. Add the flour, non-dairy sour cream and soymilk, stirring well to combine. Allow to simmer another 20 - 30 minutes, or until soup has thickened. Season generously with salt and pepper before serving.

Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup

Tomato soup in winter sounds good. Spicy tomato soup sounds better. And spicy tomato soup made with pureed chickpeas? Awesome! This recipe from Vegan Yum Yum is a winner.

Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil (I omitted the oil and used vegetable broth)
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I used about 1.5 cups of chickpeas I cooked)
• 1 (28oz) can of diced tomatoes (or fresh plum tomatoes if in season)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 cup hot water
• black pepper to taste

1. Sautee the diced onion in a large pot until soft, about three minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes and stir another minute.

2. Add the chickpeas, mustard seeds, and turmeric, and saute until the chickpeas turn golden. Note that if using veg broth in place of oil, keep adding enough broth so things don't stick to the pan.

3. Add tomatoes and salt and simmer 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes are cooked through.

4. Add the nutritional yeast if using and the hot water. Either transfer the soup to a blender to puree, or use an immersion blender. This was my first chance to use the immersion blender I got for Christmas. It was exciting and messy at the same time. Bits of pureed chickpeas and tomatoes were everywhere by the time I was done.

But the finished soup was amazing. Hearty and hot, it's a perfect winter comfort food. Plus, it's nutritious, light, and filling.

I liked it so much, I'm thinking of giving out jars of soup for holiday gifts this year instead of my usual vegan cookies. Wouldn't these jars look cute with some festive ribbon?