Category Archives: Soup

Authentic Tofu Feta Cheese

Authentic Tofu Feta Cheese
Authentic Tofu Feta Cheese

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you – it is really delicious and feta-like.  You just have to try it for yourself.  You must try this if you like(d) feta.  I did, I loved it on salads and sandwiches.  I loved it on a spoon or a fork.  I loved it in my frige and on the couch.  Feta was one of “my cheeses.”  Until I kicked that dairy crap to the curb.

You know that feta is made from sheep and/or goat’s milk?  I didn’t even know they milked sheep!  I did know about goats, but the image of that in my head is too disturbing to think about for very long.  Oh!  Something I learned this year:  Buffalo mozzarella…comes from the milk of a water buffalo!  Are you freaking kidding me?  I thought the term buffalo here just meant that it was a big block of mozzarella, not that it came from a buffalo.  Who thinks these things up?!  I mean, really?

Anyway, this version of feta cheese is made from a soybean.  What a relief.  I cannot take credit for this recipe, regrettably.  I found it in the May/June 2012 issue of VegNews.  It’s totally easy and doesn’t involve any of that (disastrous) fermenting I’ve had such bad luck with.

Simmering

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Carrot Top Pesto

Carrot Top Pesto
Carrot Top Pesto

This is my first summer as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) member and I’ve been up to my ears in greens since late spring.  At first when I would get a bunch of beets or carrots, I would cut off the tops and throw them away.  I felt bad, but what does one do with carrot tops anyway?

After a few weeks of that, I started putting the carrot and beet greens in my smoothies.  That’s yummy!  Everyone in my house thinks my green smoothies look too gross to even try.  Too bad for them.  I got the idea to make pesto with the carrot greens after I found a recipe for Cilantro Pesto.  I was delightfully surprised at the change-up from basil to cilantro – I love cilantro!  And I realized one could make pesto from any greens!

Here’s what I did with last week’s carrot tops:

Getting to know each other in the food processor

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Zucchini Curry Soup

Zucchini Curry Soup
Zucchini Curry Soup

This is the first year I’ve taken part in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share. There is a bit of a learning curve in how to use the abundance of what is in-season.  It comes in waves, lots of lettuce and spinach, then lots of parsley and zucchini, then cucumbers and so on.  Right now I’m stuck with a lot of zucchini and need to plan my meals around using what we’ve been given.  I do love zucchini so it’s not much of a chore, but it can get tricky trying to remember all of my zucchini recipes and where to find them or inventing new things.  Here’s a new invention:

Simmering Vegetables

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Cool Cucumber-Mint Soup

Cool Cucumber-Mint Soup
Cool Cucumber-Mint Soup

This soup is, and probably will always be, the best soup I’ve ever made.  It’s light.  It’s frothy.  It’s fresh.  It’s in-season.  It’s perfect.  It’s the best of the best.  It’s the best thing to come out of my kitchen, ever.

The only down side is that my husband hates cold soups.  He hasn’t even tasted this soup!  But he knows he hates it.  I think it’s something to do with being raised on boarding school food; whatever the case I wish he would just open his heart and try a spoon full of this soup because I know he would love it.  What does he love?  He loves 5-star restaurants and fancy food…this soup fits that bill perfectly!  If you’re having fancy guests over, MAKE THIS SOUP!  You’ll impress their pants right off!  Men, if you want to impress a lady…make this soup and you’re definitely getting lucky tonite! Read the rest of this entry

Chilled Tomato Citrus Soup

Chilled Tomato Citrus Soup
Chilled Tomato Citrus Soup

Sometime during our crazy June heat wave I decided there was no way I was going to turn on the stove or the oven…but we still needed to eat dinner.  What to do?  Not another night of takeout and I was so matted down with sweat that I didn’t want to go out, so I created a yummy cold soup with what we had on hand.

7 ingredients!  Tomatoes.  Cilantro.  OJ.  Agave.  V8.  White Pepper.  Salt.  All in the blender.  Easy, easy. Everything in the Blender! Read the rest of this entry

Amazing! Tomato Soup

Amazing! Tomato Soup
Amazing! Tomato Soup

We’ve had this soup three times in the last week (not including leftovers which would make it more like 5 times!).  It’s super easy to make (all under half an hour) and it tastes incredibly amazing.  I’ve tried tons of recipes for a vegan, creamy tomato soup and they’ve all been a bit off, but this one is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had in all my life.  You really must try it, I mean it.

I’m not saying it’s healthy.  THIS IS NOT A LOW-CALORIE SOUP!  But it is creamy and delicious and will make you feel warm and fuzzy.  It’s also quite good cold if you like cold soups.

I found the recipe in VegNews magazine in the January/February 2012 issue and was written by Allison Rivers Samson, I’ve adapted it from its original version.

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 T vegan Butter
1 cup Yellow Onion – chopped
2 t Salt
4 cups Vegetable Broth
1, 28 ounce can Diced Tomatoes – Fire Roasted
2 t Agave Nectar
1/2 cup Cashews – raw
1/2 cup Water
1 t Rice Vinegar
1/2 cup fresh Basil – chiffonaded
1 t Black Pepper – fresh ground

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“Beef” Stew – Crock Pot Style

“Beef” Stew – Crock Pot Style
“Beef” Stew – Crock Pot Style

I can’t say that I’d been missing beef stew since I went vegetarian, but it did sound like a great dish for a cold, winter’s evening.  Did I mention that it’s 75 degrees in my backyard right now, I know, not very wintery, but I was in a rush this morning and knew I couldn’t be bothered to make dinner tonight while I could be sitting on the porch drinking a vodka tonic.  So, dinner is in the crock pot…

Ingredients in the Crock Pot

I’ve been making this dish about once a week for over a month.  Odd for me as I tend to make something new almost every day; I’m a total sucker for new recipes and I’m becoming quite the cookbook hoarder.

I adapted this recipe from my newest favorite cookbook, The Vegan Slow Cooker. Read the rest of this entry

Creamy Potato Soup

Creamy Potato Soup
Creamy Potato Soup

For Christmas I received a brand new, sleek, chrome-ish Crock-Pot; I typically don’t like getting household appliances as gifts, my Dad always told me it was bad form to give your wife or mother something that will essentially give her more work to do.  BUT this was on my wishlist this last year and my dear Simon bought one for me to replace an old, beat up, blue, floral Crock-Pot of the 1980′s.  I’ve been using the Crock-Pot a lot lately; it sure is wonderful to smell dinner cooking in the house all day and then to have dinner ready 6-8 hours later without lifting a finger!

This recipe is adapted from one I found in my favorite new cookbook, The Vegan Slowcooker by Kathy Hester.  When I received my copy of this cookbook I flipped through it looking for something that I could make right away.  This Potato Soup consists of 4 ingredients and I had them all on hand, you probably do too.  It was SO easy I figured it was going to taste bad, but I made it anyway because it was easy and healthy, but it was really, really delicious too.  Crazy! Read the rest of this entry