Whole Vegetable Broth

This is the recipe for broth from The How Not to Die Cookbook.  It's the easiest broth I've ever made, and I like that I don't end up wasting a bunch of vegetables because they actually get blended into it.  It's a great base for sambar or other thick soups.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 dried mushrooms
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbs white miso paste
2 tsp Savory Spice Blend

Directions

1) In a large pot, heat 1 cup of water over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.

2) Stir in the mushrooms, parsley, and black pepper.  Add 7 cups of water and bring to a boil.

3) Reduce heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes.  Let cool slightly and then add miso and savory spice blend.  Transfer to a high speed blender and blend smooth.

4) Store in a container with a tight-fitting lid for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in freezer.

The Tomato Soup I Made Today

Simran said it was good and instructed me to write down the recipe.  She also just added that it needs to be thinner, so I guess add water to this.  Maybe a cup of water to start.  The version I made tonight had no added water.

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 an onion, diced
most of a bulb of roasted garlic
28 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes
a couple fresh tomatoes
1/2 tsp agave nectar (or sugar of some kind to cut the acidity of the tomatoes)
1/4 tsp sea salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup coconut milk
fistful fresh basil

Directions

1) Heat the oil in a large pot and cook onion.  Add the garlic (I used almost an entire bulb of roasted garlic because I made it a few days ago for a different recipe and had it leftover).

2) Add the tomatoes and cook until they start to get mushy.  This is probably where you should add some water.  Add basil.

3) Season with agave, salt, pepper, and coconut milk.  Puree smooth in a high speed blender.  Serve hot.

Cheap & Lazy Sambar

This is the best way to use up whatever vegetables are taking up space in my home.  Going forward, when I have any sort of vegetable in my fridge or on the counter that looks like it might spoil before I can use it, I think I'll try chopping it up and throwing it in the freezer for a later batch of sambar, much like I do with overripe bananas for kale-berry smoothies.  I haven't thrown a banana away in years and I use them ALL, so if I can do the same with vegetables, that would be great [edited 4/27/2020:  I've been doing this for awhile now, freezing leftover chopped veg for sambar, and it's great -- highly recommend].

I never wrote down the sambar ingredients I used before, so I snapped a picture of the ingredients once I had them in the pot so I wouldn't forget later.  This recipe is so quick and easy and healthy, but I still love the taste and how filling it is, especially now that the cold months are coming.

Ingredients

1) 1 cup red lentils, rinsed (I like red lentils for this because lots of dals require longer cooking and then smashing up whereas red lentils just explode into a mushy stew texture in ten minutes)

2) 1-2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced (or 5-6 baby potatoes, quartered)

3) 1 jalapeno, seeded and split

4) 2 tomatoes, diced

5) 1-2 carrots, diced

6) 1-2 shallots OR 1/2 medium onion, diced

7) Any other vegetables you want to use up.  I used half a diced green bell pepper in the picture.  My next batch will include whatever color bell pepper I have on hand as well as half a cup of cut green beans.  If I have to buy celery for something else this week, I'll include some chopped celery too.

8) 1/2 tbs sambar powder (I use Badshah brand Madras Sambar Masala), for a moderate level of heat

9) 1/2 - 1 tsp turmeric powder

10) salt, to taste

11) Enough water (or broth) to cover all ingredients plus a couple inches (keep in mind the lentils will absorb a lot of it).  Last time I used up a few cups of homemade vegetable broth with the water.  I just found a carton of broth in my fridge I forget I had opened, so I'll use that up this time just to get rid of it.

12) 2 tbs tamarind paste (This is important.  Sameer used to use a bit of sugar when making this, but I think the tamarind paste adds a richer depth of flavor, so I keep a jar of Swad brand tamarind concentrate in the fridge just for this.)


Directions

1) Put ingredients 1-9 in a large pot and cover with the water or broth.

2) Boil for 10 minutes.  (This should be enough time to cook the potatoes and the red lentils, which are the only two ingredients you really have to check doneness on.  If they don't seem done, or if you just have more cooking to do, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer up to an hour.)

3) Stir in tamarind paste and salt to taste.  Serve hot with lazy coconut chutney, cilantro, idli, mendu vada, whatever you like.  If you don't have idli or vada, try pouring your sambar over half a cup of cooked brown basmati rice for a filling, healthy winter lunch.

[Edited 4/20/2021:  I'm making this today and thought I should update my notes.  I always make the broth in the link now in place of the water.  It makes an enormous difference in the flavor.  And I just use the whole batch of broth in the sambar rather than eyeballing or measuring the liquid.  Works well.]

Vegetable Manchow Soup

I just made vegetable manchow soup for the first time, and I really wish I'd had the energy to do this last week when I had the flu.  It is one of my favorite foods for when I'm under the weather.  I'm mostly well now, but I'm also finishing off my second bowl.  I want to save this recipe (original from Veg Recipes of India) and the minor changes I made for next time.

Ingredients
1/4 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup shredded carrots
however many shiitake mushrooms come in a carton (8 oz?), chopped (I don't care how big the carton is -- this is how I cook with mushrooms -- use them all)
1/4 cup green beans, finely chopped (I bought French style green beans from the freezer section and roughly chopped those because it's easy)
1/4 cup (or more) spring onion whites, chopped
half a green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger (or ginger paste)
1 tsp finely chopped garlic (or garlic paste)
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped (add another for more heat -- 1 yielded a sort of "mild to medium" heat, but one was all I had)
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tbs soy sauce
1/4 tsp black or white pepper powder (I used white pepper and ground a little fresh black pepper over the vegetables while they were sauteeing because that's what I had)
3 cups vegetable stock (I bought no-salt high-end stuff)
2 tbs corn starch dissolved in 2 tbs water
cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (optional -- the cilantro at the store was sparse and wilted, so alas, I have none, but I would use a fistful of it per bowl next time)
1 tbs oil
salt to taste


Directions
1.  Chop all veggies and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a soup pot and add chopped chiles, ginger, garlic, and onion.
3. Saute for a minute and then add green beans and mushrooms.
4. Stir fry on medium until mushrooms start to brown around the edges.  I also add a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper here to season the vegetables while they're cooking and help the mushrooms cook out any water they are holding.
5. Add shredded carrots, cabbage, and green bell pepper.
6. Stir fry on medium to high flame for 3 to 4 minutes.
7.  Add soy sauce and black/white pepper.
8. Add vegetable stock.
9. Allow soup to come to a simmer on medium flame.
10.  While soup is heating up, dissolve the corn starch in water.
11. Add corn starch mixture to the soup and stir to thicken.  Add vinegar and turn off heat.  Season to taste.  Serve hot.

[Edited 8/14/2017: To make this soup oil free, heat up a couple spoonfuls of water first and saute the mushrooms in that.  When they've cooked down a little, add the chiles, ginger, garlic, and onion.  Add more water as necessary to prevent sticking, bearing mind that the vegetables will release water as they cook too.  Saute the remaining vegetables, season, then add the vegetable stock and complete the recipe as described above.]

Minestrone

I developed my minestrone recipe from Ellie Krieger's on the FoodNetwork website.  Mine is vegan and no oil and less effort, but it still tastes really good.  It doesn't freeze particularly well on account of the pasta and beans breaking down, but it's still one of my best soup recipes.  I think some baby spinach cut chiffonade and thrown in at the very end just before serving would also be a good addition.

Ingredients
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 1/2 cups green beans, frozen cut
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 2 -ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
6 cups water
1 15-ounce can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup whole-grain elbow pasta (I use Ancient Grains' corn and quinoa pasta, also available at Whole Foods and my local grocery store's gluten free section)

Directions

1.  Throw all ingredients except pasta, beans, and green beans in a pot and bring to a boil.  Boil for five minutes, then add remaining ingredients.  Cook according to pasta directions.  Serve hot.

Beef-less Stew

This beef-less stew from StraightUpFood.com is one my new favorite meals.  Cathy from StraightUpFood makes vegan whole food plant-based meals that are free of sugar, oil, and salt -- a diet I aspire to for health reasons -- and she makes some of the best dishes that meet this criteria that I've found.

When I gave up meat, beef stew was one of my favorite dishes that I never learned how to make vegetarian.  Seitan makes for a kind of weird texture, and the same goes for tofu, but portobello mushroom chunks are a surprisingly simple solution.  My version of the recipe has a couple minor spicing changes, but the original is at the link above.  It's a very forgiving recipe, like most soups and stews, and adding extra vegetables works great, especially if you have something you need to use up.  It's also a really good source of vegetables and starch (the potatoes) and protein (the peas and green beans).  I'll probably be making this once a week come autumn.

Ingredients

• 1½ large yellow or white onions, chopped into ¾-inch pieces
• 3 ribs celery, chopped into ¾-inch pieces
• 3 medium carrots, sliced lengthwise and cut into ¾-inch pieces
• 2 portabella mushrooms (about ½ pound), cut into ¾-inch pieces (I like to use even more, depending on how much I have on hand)
• 1½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic (5 to 6 cloves)
• 5 cups water (amount varies depending on if you add more veggies like me -- just use enough to cover the vegetables)
• 2 pounds white potatoes (I use about 3 large Yukon Gold), cut into ¾-inch pieces (peeling is optional, but I buy organic and just give them a scrub and leave the peels in tact)
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tbs herbs de Provence (or herb blend of your choice -- I like this one because it has sage, rosemary, and thyme, among other things, without letting the rosemary be overpowering like it tends to do)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tbs dried parsley 
• 1½ cups green peas (frozen is fine)
• 1 cup green beans (optional -- I use frozen)
• 1 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (optional, but I like the relative saltiness)
• Ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat a large soup pot on high with 1 tablespoon of water. When the water begins to sputter, add the onion, celery, and carrot, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently as the edges of the onion browns slightly, and adding a little water as needed to prevent sticking.
2. Stir in the mushrooms and garlic, and continue to cook while stirring for an additional 5 minutes, adding water as needed.
3. Add the potatoes, tomato paste, dried herbs and spices, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a low boil. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the peas and green beans, and cook for 5 minutes more, or until the carrots and potatoes are tender.
4. Place about one fifth or one quarter of the stew (broth and vegetables) into a blender, and blend under very smooth. Stir this back into the pot to thicken the stew. Season with a few twists of ground black pepper and Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or low-sodium tamari or soy sauce) to taste.

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

This recipe comes from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or 4 tbs (1/2 stick) butter
4 large onions, thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
Leaves of 2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp dried
1 bay leaf
1 whole head garlic, cut crosswise through the equator
Salt and freshly ground black papper
5 cups vegetable stock
2 tbs cognac, Armagnac, or brandy (optional)
2 tbs parsley leaves, or more to taste, for garnish (optional)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
4 thick slices crusty bread

Directions

1. Put oil or butter in a large, deep saucepan or casserole over medium heat.  When the oil is hot or the butter is melted, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft and beginning to brown. This will take 30 to 45 minutes; don't rush it.

2. Add the thyme, bay leaf, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste and cook with the onions for a minute before adding the stock and cognac (if you have parsley, add a few sprigs to the soup at this point; fish them out before serving). Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes, with bubbles occasionally breaking the surface.  (You may prepare the soup in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days, then reheat before proceeding.)

3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut 4 thick slices of crusty bread, rub them with a clove of garlic on each side, and toast them in the oven, in a toaster oven, or in a pan with olive oil (a la croutons).  Put a crouton in each of 4 ovenproof bowls.  Add a portion of soup and top each with at least 1/ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Place the bowls in a roasting pan or on a sturdy cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

One-Hour Vegetable Stock

This stock recipe comes from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Ingredients
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, quartered (don't bother to peel)
1 potato, sliced
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic (don't bother to peel)
5 to 10 white mushrooms, halved or sliced
10 to 20 parsley stems or stems with leaves
2 tbs soy sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Put the oil in a deep skillet or broad saucepan or casserole over medium-high heat. When hot, add the carrots, onion, potato, celery, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook without stirring for about 5 minutes, then stir once or twice and cook until the vegetables begin to brown. (If you have more time, brown them well, stirring only infrequently.)

2. Add the parsley, 6 cups water, the soy sauce, and some pepper. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the mixture simmers steadily but gently. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender. (Longer is better if you have the time.)

3. Strain, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more soy sauce or a bit of salt, before using or storing.

Cinnamon Squash Chowder

This recipe comes from OhSheGlows.com, where it is called Luxurious 7-Vegetable and "Cheese" Soup.  It does not taste like 7 vegetables or cheese to me, so I call it what I think it tastes like instead. I've tried it seasoned a couple different ways, but everyone in my family (baby included) found the cinnamon to be essential.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (optional)

2-3 cups chopped sweet onion (from 1 large onion)

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chopped celery (from 2-3 stalks)

1 heaping cup peeled and chopped carrots (from 2 small carrots)

6 packed cups broccoli florets (from 1 large bunch broccoli)

2 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato (from 1 small sweet potato, about 320 g)

1.5-2 cups seeded and chopped Delicata squash (from 1 very small squash about 275 g) (I like to substitute butternut squash, or whatever squash needs using up)

6 cups vegetable broth

5 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Grab a very large pot (about 6.5 qt) with a lid and set aside.
2. Add the onion and garlic with the oil into the pot and saute over medium heat for a few minutes. Season with a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
3. Add the celery, carrots, broccoli, sweet potato, and squash, one by one, as you chop them. Continue to saute over medium heat, stirring every once and a while so it doesn't stick to the bottom.
4. Cover the pot with a lid and cook the vegetables for 4-5 minutes, reducing heat if necessary.
5. Remove lid and stir in the broth. Bring the soup to a low boil. Reduce heat to low/medium and cover with lid. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the squash and potato are fork tender.
6. Turn off heat and remove lid. Add in the nutritional yeast and cinnamon. Puree with an immersion blender (or let cool and blend in batches if necessary). Season with salt and pepper. 
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon for garnish and serve warm. 

[Edited 12/1/2013:  To make this a no-oil recipe, you can skip sauteing the vegetables and just boil them in the broth -- I made this in a rush last week and forgot to saute, and I couldn't tell the difference in flavor.  The essential point here is to make sure the squash and sweet potatoes are diced small enough that they will cook in a reasonable amount of time.  To that end, I boiled the soup about ten minutes with a lid on the pot, and everything turned out just fine.  Boiling much longer would have destroyed the broccoli though.]

Vegan Chik'n Soup Seasoning

I found this recipe for making chicken-style broth without the meat on Food.com.  I plan to use it to flavor tofu.  I replaced the garlic salt with garlic powder to make the saltiness easier to control.

Ingredients

1 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
3 tablespoons parsley flakes (rubbed to a powder)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons celery salt
1/4 teaspoon savory

Directions

 

1.  Mix all ingredients well in a bowl. Store in an airtight container.

 

2. Use 1 tbs seasoning mix per 1 cup of liquid.

Curry Pumpkin Soup

I discovered this curry pumpkin soup recipe on AllRecipes several years ago and love it.  Please note that the taste can vary depending on the curry powder blend you choose.  My hands-down favorite is Badia brand "Jamaican style" -- heavy on the turmeric, full of flavor, and not very spicy.  (Be wary of red curry powders -- red usually means heavy on the cayenne/chilli, which means spicy.)  The recipe doesn't look like it would be difficult to make completely vegan and just as good, so my healthier vegan version is below.

Ingredients
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
3 tbs corn starch
2 tbs curry powder
4 cups vegetable broth
1 (29 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 (13 oz.) can coconut milk
1 tbs soy sauce (if you use something lower in sodium, you will need to use more salt)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs sugar
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cook onions in a non-stick pot over medium heat until starting to turn translucent.

2. Whisk together corn starch and curry powder with a small amount of the broth.  Add to the pot and cook, stirring, until it begins to bubble.

3.  Add remaining broth and cook until thickened.

4. Stir in pumpkin puree and coconut milk. Season with soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.  If desired, use an immersion blender to puree the chopped onion and make the soup completely smooth and creamy.
 
[Edited 10/8/2013:  I adjusted some of the ingredients and quantities listed above based on actually making this today.  It was really good.]

Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon

I bought a bag of organic carrots last week, shortly before being gifted another one by our neighbors who were going out of town, so now I have lots of good carrots on my hands.  I wanted to make a soup that would be tasty and easy for Simran to eat while she is cutting new teeth this week, so I'm making this carrot soup recipe I found on Epicurious.  I'm going to make it vegan though, which means omitting the butter (I'll just use a little olive oil instead to saute everything, or maybe just let it all cook by boiling in the broth, which will happen anyway) and the dollop of sour cream at the end.  I'm sure it will affect the flavor a bit, but I think it will still be okay, and I'm really trying for more vegan dishes.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (replace with olive oil to make vegan soup)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 1/4 pounds medium carrots, peeled, chopped (about 3 cups)
• 2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 3 cups (or more) low-sodium vegetable broth

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 4 tablespoons sour cream (optional)
• 1 small carrot, peeled, grated (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chopped carrots, tomatoes and lemon peel; sauté 1 minute. Add 3 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

2. Puree soup in batches in blender. Return soup to pot. Mix in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

3. Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more stock, if desired. Ladle into bowls. Top each with sour cream and grated carrot.

Split Pea and Tofu Dog Soup

This is another supposedly kid-friendly recipe from Joel Fuhrman's Disease-Proof Your Child.  I just like the idea of serving Simran something so toddler-ish that it has veggie hot dogs cut up in it.  It sounded cute.

Ingredients
1 cup fresh or frozen carrot juice
1 cup fresh or frozen celery juice
1 cup soy milk
2 cups water
2 cups dry split peas
2 cups chopped onions
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tbs Mrs. Dash
1 tbs minced rosemary
3 tofu hot dogs, sliced into small slices

Directions

1. Add all the dry ingredients into the liquid portion and simmer for 45 minutes.

Miso Soup

I bought miso paste on a whim awhile back, thinking I could make miso soup with tofu, scallions, and little else.  When I got home and looked up a recipe, I realized most miso soup includes dashi granules, which have fish in them, so I had to find a basic vegetarian recipe.  I'll be using this one from About.com.

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1/3 cup miso
• 3 green onions (scallions), chopped
• 1 tbsp shredded nori or wakame seaweed
• 1/2 block firm silken tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
• dash soy sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional)

Directions

1. Bring water to a slow simmer and add seaweed. Allow to simmer at least 5-6 minutes. The longer you simmer the seaweed, the less of a salty fishy flavor it will have.

2. Reduce heat to very low and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until miso is well dissolved. Its best not to boil the miso, as this will ruin some of it's healthy properties as well as change the flavor of the soup. Makes 4 servings.

Gazpacho

This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

Ingredients
3 medium tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled
1/2 bell pepper, any color, seeded
1 large rib celery
1/2 large jalapeno pepper, seeded
1/2 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1 14.5 oz can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
2-3 tbs balsamic vinegar
juice and zest of 1 lime, at least 1 tbs
pepper, to taste
green onions or chives, chopped

Directions

1. Chop first four ingredients separately, one by one, in a food processor, pulsing until they are uniformly diced. (You can process the jalapeno, onions, and garlic together.)

2. Combine vegetables in a large bowl. Add diced canned tomatoes, chopped cilantro, vinegar, lime, zest, and pepper and mix. Chill and serve, sprinkled with chopped green onions or chives.

Note from original recipe: Other ingredients can be added -- sliced fresh mushrooms, briefly stir-fried in vegetable broth, wine, or water; 1 can hearts of palm, drained and chopped; stir-fried zucchini, chopped; bok choy, grated carrots, chopped arugula. Use your imagination!

[Edited 5/26/13: This is the only time I've ever eaten gazpacho, so I'm not entirely sure what it's supposed to taste like, but this recipe essentially tastes like pico de gallo except with unnecessary vinegar to spoil the flavor.  Simran refused to eat more than two bites, and after I tasted it, I couldn't handle much more than that either.  I'm not even sure Sameer tried it at all.  If I ever make gazpacho again, I will use an online recipe with lots of positive reviews.]

Awesome Almost All-Orange Vegetable Soup

This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  I chose it because I'm having trouble getting Simran to transition from baby food yams and carrots and squash to "real food" versions of orange vegetables.  She eats them more readily when they're cooked into other dishes, so I thought I'd give this one a try.  She's usually pretty good about eating soup.

Ingredients
1 large acorn squash, baked, seeded, and cut in chunks
2 sweet potatoes or yams, baked, peeled, and cut in chunks
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
3 carrots, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped (3/4 cup)
6 garlic cloves
2 cups red lentils
8 cups water
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
3 or 4 handfuls fresh spinach (or more) or chopped kale with the spine removed
3 zucchini, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
3 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Bake acorn squash and sweet potatoes for up to 1 hour, until soft.

3. In a large soup pot, over medium high heat, stir-fry onion, carrots, celery, and garlic until soft and carrots are beginning to soften.  Add a little water if anything seems to stick.  (To save time, skip this step and go straight to step 4.)  [I'll be skipping this step.  I've never managed to cook garlic over medium-high heat without causing it to brown and go bitter, and it certainly doesn't have the heat tolerance of onion, carrots, and celery, so this step sounds ill-conceived.  All the vegetables will cook through in the boiling soup anyway.]

4. Add red lentils, 8 cups of water, rosemary, and crushed red pepper. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer [I think this is supposed to say "boil"]. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes, until lentils have almost dissolved.

5. Add acorn squash and sweet potatoes to the pot and mash into the soup. (A potato masher works well.) Cook 10 minutes more. [I wish I could see a photo of this because the texture of mashed potatoes and squash thrown into soup sounds absurd.]

6. Add spinach and stir into the soup until it wilts. If you use kale, it needs to cook a little longer than spinach.

7. Stir-fry zucchini in a nonstick pan over high heat until just beginning to brown. Add red pepper and stir-fry 1-2 minutes more. (If you are in a hurry, you may omit this step; add uncooked zucchini and red pepper in step 6.) A few minutes before serving, add stir-fried zucchini and red pepper to the soup mixture.

8. Add cilantro and green onions just before serving.

[I have some thoughts on how I would change this before even making it.  I plan to omit all the pre-cooking except for the acorn squash and yams, and even those are just to save time, not because it's essential.  A lot of the Esselstyn recipes call for superfluous browning of onions and vegetables in a nonstick skillet and I don't really get why because it rarely adds anything.  I plan to omit the zucchini altogether from this soup.  And I plan to puree all the non-green vegetables into a sort of bisque rather than mashing some of the stuff together and letting the rest just float there.  I'll add the bell pepper with the squashes just before pureeing.  I'll add the cilantro and green onions just after the kale.  I'm a little hesitant about the kale -- maybe I should puree it too so that it isn't impossible for Sim to eat.  I wonder what that would do to the color of the soup.]

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

This is a recipe of my own concoction, based originally on the broccoli soup recipe from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  I added blended white beans and nutritional yeast flakes to add flavor and creaminess.

Ingredients
2 large onions, chopped (2 cups)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
16 oz. broccoli (preferably frozen and already washed and chopped -- I just dump a whole bag into the pot and save lots of time)
3 tbs nutritional yeast flakes
16 oz. can of white beans (look for Great Northern or Cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tbs Bragg Liquid Aminos
pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring onions, garlic, broccoli, and vegetable stock to a boil in a soup pot. Lower heat, add beans and nutritional yeast, and cook for 10-15 minutes, until broccoli is tender and bright green. 

2. Process in batches in a blender until mixture is smooth and brilliantly green, or use an immersion blender right in the soup pot.

3. Season with Bragg liquid aminos and pepper.

Broccoli Soup

This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  It sounds easy, healthy, and probably pretty good.  It will introduce Simran to broccoli, and I'm considering adding nutritional yeast flakes and a drained/rinsed can of white beans to see if I can replicate a sort of "broccoli cheese soup" flavor without using any actual dairy [Edited 9/23/2013:  it's quite good -- see updated recipe here]. 

Ingredients
2 large onions, chopped (2 cups)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
12 cups broccoli, cut in 2- to 3-inch pieces (I'm not sure if the recipe intends for me to peel and chopped up the stem, but I plan to.)
4 cups vegetable stock
miso, Bragg Liquid Aminos, or low-sodium tamari to taste (optional)
pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring onions, garlic, broccoli, and vegetable stock to a boil in a soup pot. Lower heat and cook for 10-15 minutes, until broccoli is tender.

2. Process in batches in a blender until mixture is smooth and brilliantly green, or use an immersion blender right in the soup pot.

3. Add the miso and, if desired, Bragg Liquid Aminos or low-sodium tamari to taste.

Variation: Before serving, add a few handfuls of spinach or chopped red peppers and frozen corn for color, and you have an even more nutrient-dense soup.

[Edited 2/5/13:  I ended up doubling the liquid (half low-sodium broth and half water) because the amount as written was nowhere near covering the broccoli.  It ended up rather predictably watery.  In the future, I'll try using frozen broccoli because I don't think it will require as much liquid.  I also added a drained/rinsed can of cannellini beans and 6 rounded tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes.  I had no miso, but I used about a tablespoon of Bragg Liquid Aminos.  It tasted like cream of broccoli soup.  Sameer and I both liked it (me, enough to eat the leftovers -- not sure about Sameer), while Simran literally turned up her nose at it.  Literally.  When I finally snuck a spoonful into her mouth, she grimaced like she was being force-fed garbage.]

Zucchini-Spinach Soup

Zucchini and spinach are two vegetables that are relatively cheap and easy to find at the store, even in winter, so I'm making this soup from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease to accompany Creamy Avocado White Bean Wraps (which I'm pretty sure will be tasty regardless of how this soup turns out).  Sameer doesn't tend to approve of sandwiches for dinner, so I try to make sure any I feed him are extra special sandwiches and either hot or served alongside something hot (such as this soup). 

Ingredients
9 medium zucchini (about 3 lbs), chunked
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth, or water, or a combination of wine and broth or wine and water (I'll be using broth or broth and some water.)
2 tbs miso, Bragg Liquid Aminos, or low-sodium tamari (optional) (I'll use Bragg's because I keep it on hand.)
8 oz (or more) fresh spinach, coarsely chopped, or 1 box or bag of frozen spinach
2 cups frozen corn
pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine zucchini, onion, garlic, and 3 cups of liquid in a soup pot.

2.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer about 10 minutes until zucchini is tender.

3. Blend soup mixture with an immersion blender until smooth and a rich, green color.

4. Add miso, Bragg's, or tamari, if desired.

5. Add corn and spinach and any other vegetables you wish. Heat until corn and spinach are warm but not overcooked.

6. Add pepper to taste.

[Edited 2/3/13: The flavor of this soup was really good, but the texture was watery and chunky at the same time.  To be fair, I had to add 2 extra cups of water just to cover the 5 chopped zucchini I used, and I did blend it up AFTER adding the spinach to make it easier for Simran to eat (she didn't care for it).  I think in the future I'll either refrain from blending the spinach or add a can of white beans or lentils to make it a smoother consistency.  I'm sure Simran would prefer the latter.]

Baby's Lentil & Squash

I have finally made something Simran ate without my having to hide it in something else or trick her.  Since Sameer and I are vegetarian, we don't feed Simran meat, so I try to feed her lots of vegetable protein sources, mostly in the form of different sorts of peas and lentils.  She grew relatively accustomed to my hiding pureed lentils in her vegetables, but I overcooked them last time and they were bitter and too dry and lumpy.  This displeased her.  Today I made a fresh batch of red lentils with lots of water (she likes her food essentially liquid) and a box of frozen organic winter squash puree.  It turned out great.  I personally would drink it from an over-sized mug if ill or unable to take time to eat a real lunch.  Simran ate several bites without ever making her "this is disgusting" face.

Ingredients
1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed and checked for stones
2 cups water
10 oz. squash puree (or other vegetable puree of your choice -- whipped sweet potatoes would work well)

Directions

1. Combine lentils and water and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until lentils are mushy (about 20 minutes).

2. Blend the lentils and remaining water (ideally with an immersion blender -- easier to use and clean).  It will be a very thin consistency, but it will thicken as it cools.  Stir in warm squash puree.