Curry Chick'n & Gnocchi Soup

Pots/Pans Used: 2


This is a great hearty soup with a kick. If you want to cut down on the heat, you can leave out the red pepper flakes. But I have to say, if you like a bit of spice, you'll love this soup! It's definitely one of my favorites to date.

Ingredients

5 Gardein Chick'n Scallopini Cutlets
17.5 oz mini potato gnocchi
3 cups baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 large onions, diced
1 sweet potato, diced (about 2 cups)
8 cups vegetable broth
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
2 Tblsp olive oil
1 Tblsp Earth Balance
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
black pepper
lemon juice



 


1. In a hot skillet, melt the Earth Balance, and then saute chick'n until golden brown. To flavor the cutlets, squeeze a little lemon juice and sprinkle a dash of black pepper over them while cooking. Once they're done, chop them up and set aside while you prepare the rest of the soup.



2. In a large stock pot, saute onion and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat. Let them cook down for a few minutes and begin to brown.

3. Next, add the carrots and sweet potatoes and cook an additional 5 minutes.

4. Add the chopped chick'n, drained tomatoes with chilies, cardamom, curry powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Stir well and let flavors combine a few minutes.



5. Add the vegetable broth and let soup simmer for 15-20 minutes.

6. When you're ready to eat, add the package of gnocchi. It only takes a couple minutes to cook. Once they rise to the surface, they're ready!



7. Last but not least, add a Tblsp of lemon juice, to brighten up the soup a bit!

8. Serve up with a slice of toasted bread!



If you want, top with a a bit of black pepper and sprinkling of nutritional yeast!

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Italian Wedding Soup

Level of Difficulty: soupa easy!
Pots/Pans Used: 2

Ingredients

2-3 TBL Olive Oil
8 cups Vegetable Stock
12 (more or less) Vegan Meatballs
3/4 cup Celery, chopped
3/4 cup Carrots, chopped
2 cups Fresh Spinach
1 medium Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
14.5 oz. can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, strained
1 TBL Ground Italian Seasoning Herbs
1 & 1/2 cup Orzo
2 TBL Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Nutritional Yeast to garnish

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!!! I've got plenty to keep me busy for a while, but feel free to keep posting any ideas that come to you. A lot of you seemed interested in a new soup recipe so I thought I would oblige. This specific soup idea actually came from Melina... Thanks Melina! Seriously, it turned out so great! It's got a nice amount of heat to it too, which I personally like. Another thing I like about this recipe is that you can totally make it gluten-free if you want. I used gluten-free vegan meatballs and you can substitute a gluten-free pasta for the orzo if you wish.

Now about the meatballs... I used a new brand that I had never tried before. They're gluten and soy free I believe. They're called Bahama Vegan Rice-Meatballs and I found them in the freezer section. I think they were actually pretty good in this soup HOWEVER they're not particularly flavorful by themselves. They had a good texture, but didn't taste "meaty" at all... which some of you might prefer. But if you already have a favorite vegan meatball brand, feel free to just use that :)



Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic a few minutes until translucent. Add the carrots, celery, and Italian seasonings. Saute 5-10 minutes or until soft. Add the veggie stock, tomatoes, and orzo. In about five minutes, add the meatballs. The soup should be simmering, not boiling. In a separate saute pan, saute the spinach with a little olive oil. Add spinach and lemon juice to the soup. Add salt to taste and let it simmer for a few minutes so that the flavors can combine. Serve in a large bowl with some nutritional yeast sprinkled over top. Finally, enjoy and go back for second helpings.

*NOTE: When I came back a little later, I found that the orzo had soaked up all the broth. When I reheated it the next day, I just added more broth to it and it was fine. However, if you'd like to avoid this, I suggest cooking the orzo separately and then adding it to each serving. But if anyone has any tips on how to avoid this, leave a comment below!

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Thanksgiving Ideas

Pumpkin Squash Soup



Level Of Difficulty: Easy but some prep work required
Pots/Pans Used: 3

Ingredients

3 cups butternut squash, cubed
olive oil
2 pinches cinnamon
s&p

2 TBL Earth Balance
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
1 can chickpeas
2 cans of pumpkin puree
1 can coconut milk
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp cinnamon



There is this tea house in Tampa that makes an awesome Pumpkin Soup and I decided it's probably as good a as time as any to try and make a version of it. My version is actually pretty different, but still packs a bunch of Autumn punch. Hope you enjoy it...



First you want to preheat your oven to 400. In a bowl, coat your cubes of butternut squash with a couple TBL of olive oil, 2 pinches of cinnamon, and salt & pepper. If you want, you can cube the whole butternut squash, bake it, and just set aside whatever you don't use for the soup. That's what I did. If you do decide to do that, I provided a quick little recipe below this that you can use the extra squash in. Lay the cubed squash out on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes, move them around, and then another 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can get the soup started. First, melt the Earth Balance and saute your onions and carrots. Once tender, add chickpeas, coconut milk and pumpkin. Let this simmer a couple minutes and then add the veggie stock, ginger, curry powder, salt, pepper, and cinnamon (Whenever your squash is done, add that into the mix as well). Let the whole thing simmer for 20-30 minutes and then serve! I like it best with a side of rice to dunk in.

Leftover Squash?



Now, like I said, if you want to bake the whole squash to take for lunches or use in other recipes, that's great too. Here is a really simple recipe I whipped up to bring to work as a lunch. Just combine the squash with some brown rice. Sprinkle some cinnamon and drizzle some maple syrup over top. Mix it up and you've got a delicious side.

Sweet Potato Balls



Level of Difficulty: Quick and Easy but you will get messy!
Pots/Pans Used: 2ish

Ingredients

1 pkg Sweet & Sara Toasted Coconut Vegan Marshmallows (or you can use plain vanilla)
4 sweet potatoes
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup maple syrup
cornflakes (frosted or unfrosted, up to you!)

Here is a dish that can easily replace a sweet potato casserole, while still providing that ooey gooey marshmallow goodness. This recipe was recommended to me by one of my friends, Lindsey Mills of soul food, a while back. It's actually originally a Paula Dean recipe (if you can believe it), but it's super simple to veganize. Here is my version...



Makes about 12 Sweet Potato Balls

WARNING: you will get messy. In either an oven or a microwave, soften your sweet potatoes until they are mushy and good for mashing. Remove the skin and in a large bowl, mash em up. Add the orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup and stir well. Preheat oven to 350. Then take your marshmallow and form a ball of mashed sweet potato around it. This is the really messy part because it seems to stick to everything. Now roll the ball in cornflakes and set it on a baking sheet. Repeat until you run out of sweet potatoes. Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, because the marshmallow will expand and sometimes burst out of the ball. Once they're done, dig in!



Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!

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THE Carrot Dill Soup

Level of Difficulty: minimal effort
Pots/Pans Used: two

Ingredients

2 lb. carrots, sliced (about 5 cups)

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

1/4 cup vegan margarine

2 49-oz. cans vegetable broth

1 cup uncooked long grain white rice

1/4 cup snipped fresh dill

s&p to taste

My mom found this recipe from recipe.com and made it for one of my birthday parties a while back. My guest's reactions to it were pretty strong. One of my friends, Kyle, felt the need to hug her after taking his first sip. After that, I had friends calling her and asking me for the recipe constantly. What I'm getting at is... this soup is kind of a celebrity.

In a 6-8 quart dutch oven, cook the carrots and onion in the hot margarine until they're tender. Next add in the broth and the rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Let it cool a little to that you can start transferring it in batches to a blender. Blend until smooth. Stir in dill and season with salt and pepper to taste. That's it!

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Black Bean & Coconut Soup

Level of Difficulty: SO EAAASSYYY!

Pots/Pans Used: just one big ol' pot

Ingredients

2 TBL vegetable oil

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup carrots, chopped into little coins

1/2 cup red bell peppers, chopped

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp cumin

pepper to taste

1/2 tsp salt

1 can black beans, undrained

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1 TBL soy sauce

1 can coconut milk

(diced red pepper for garnish)

This soup started out as a recipe from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook until I found myself saying "whoops" after I put in almost every ingredient. Turns out, I just wasn't great at following directions and screwed up most of the measurements. Luckily, they were very happy accidents indeed and the soup I ended up with was surprisingly delicious. Let my accidents be your gain.... try this "whoops" soup!

Heat the oil in a large stock pot. Let the onions cook until translucent. Add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the celery and cook an additional few minutes. Next, add the red pepper, thyme, cumin, black beans, tomatoes, salt and soy sauce. Stir well. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes. Let it simmer uncovered for another five minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in the coconut milk. Serve up in bowl and garnish the top with the diced red pepper. go back for seconds and thirds :)

Note: if you prefer a hardier soup, I recommend adding more beans and veggies.

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Yummy Butternut Squash Soup with Sage Croutons

Level of Difficulty: A bit of prep work, but nothing you can't handle!
Pots/Pans Used: 3 or 4

Ingredients
Soup:
1 3-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 TBL olive oil
3 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (about 6 large leaves)
6 cups vegetable broth

Croutons:
1 baguette
1 TBL olive oil
3 sage leaves, chopped
sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes

I know, I know. I seem a little squash-happy these days. But hey, They're in season! Okay, I had this soup a few years ago at the Pineyro family Christmas Eve dinner. It was sooooo delicious and Emily Pineyro recommended that I try it out for the blog. This may require a bit more clean-up and prep work but it's still a very simple recipe. Not to mention, once you taste it, you will realize it was well worth every minute you put into making it. If you try only one recipe from my blog, I absolutely recommend trying this one! As my roommate put it after trying a bowl, "It's the best soup I've had in my entire life".
First, Preheat oven to 400. I didn't do this, but boiling the squash whole first makes them easier to cut and peel. In a large bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Place the squash on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cubes over and continue roasting for another 15 minutes. they should be nice and caramelized. Set them aside. In a large pot, heat the Earth Balance and the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and sage and saute (stirring occasionally) until the vegetables are tender. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Add the roasted squash, vegetable broth, and remaining salt. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Preheat the oven to 275. Cut or rip up a baguette into medium "croutonesque" sizes. Toss them with 2 TBl olive oil, spread onto a baking sheet, and sprinkle with the chopped sage leaves and a generous portion of nutritional yeast. Bake them in the oven for 10-12 minutes and set aside. Remove the pot of soup from the heat. Using a blender or a food processor, blend the soup in batches until smooth. Please learn a lesson from me and make sure the blender is in the "off" position before plugging it into the wall :). Return to the pot and keep warm on a low heat. Then serve it up in a bowl and top it with some warm, homemade sage croutons!

NOTE: For some reason the color of the soup isn't very accurate in this photo. It is actually much more orange and much less brown. So don't let the color turn you off...

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