Carrot Soup with Garlic, Ginger & Curry

Cup of carrot soup

I love carrot soup! Laura hates it. But, I love carrot soup! I make it a lot because she grows a lot of carrots, and even though we use them in everything from other soups, stews, vegan cheese sauce, side dishes and salads, we still have a surplus, which we will probably sell in future harvests. I usually have to eat it all myself, so I make small batches. If I happen to make too much I can usually find someone to take a jar of it.

Jarred carrot soup

I always make it different; sometimes a ginger-carrot, sometimes a garlic-carrot with cumin, or carrot-parsnip or whatever I happen to be in the mood for or have on hand. I happened to really love this one so I am blogging it for posterity. Never know, Alyssa or her children might be looking for a good carrot soup family recipe some far away day.

Recipe:

12 - 15 medium-sized carrots
1 or 1 1/2 boxes of vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy or cashew cream
1 onion or several small onions and/or shallots
1 bulb of garlic (or 2 small bulbs)
1" square piece of peeled fresh ginger
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Pumpkin seeds for garnish

Carrots

After I peel the carrots I use the food processor to slice them up. Save tons of time. 

Garlic

Ginger

Onions and shallots

After everything is sliced, minced and chopped and starting with the onions and shallots, I start to sauté on medium-low heat in the oil (you can do a healthy sauté in veg broth if you're avoiding processed oil - which we should be) then add the carrots and ginger after a couple minutes. Stir around while they are cooking so they don't stick or start to brown. 

After about 6 minutes create a space on the bottom of the pan and scrape the garlic in the created area and sauté it in what's left of the oil. Let cook for about a minute or two on medium heat until aromatic, then add a box of veggie broth and the curry. Continue cooking until veggies are all soft.

Carrots, onions, shallots, garlic and ginger simmering

Add more veggie broth, if needed, to keep veggies covered until cooked and then transfer in batches to a blender or food processor and puree. Add veggie broth while pureeing if it seems too thick.

Carrot soup

Add back to stock pot and bring back to a simmer. Slowly add the cream while stirring then turn off the heat and serve with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds. I always have a bowl right away and pour the rest into jars for lunches or to give to some lucky soup lover :)

Mushroom Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping

Mom used to make some sort of stew with potatoes, tomatoes or tomato sauce and other veggies with a biscuit topping and I've been thinking about it lately. Stew with biscuit topping. Like a pot pie but with biscuits. I can't remember what exactly Mom made, but the memory inspired me to make a stew and find a biscuit recipe to top it with.

Mushroom Pot Pie

Biscuit Topping

Here is the original biscuit recipe I found. It's very good; I followed it exactly and it turned out amazing.
https://minimalistbaker.com/the-best-damn-vegan-biscuits/

Mushroom Veggie Stew

I also found a stew recipe but only followed it very loosely using different ingredients and amounts, so probably best not to cite it.

The recipe turned out fantastic, but the biscuits could have used about 2 more minutes in the oven because they were a little gummy on the bottom where they touched the stew. Still cooked, but a little moister than we'd like.

Stew Recipe

Heat in heavy pot on medium/high:
1 tbsp vegan butter (Earth Balance is what I used)

Add and cook for 2 minutes:
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups carrots

Add and cook for 6 minutes:
8 oz mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 1/2 cups potatoes

Sprinkle over veggies and cook for 2 minutes while stirring:
1/4 cup flour

Slowly add while stirring then simmer 5 minutes:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 cup mushroom broth

Remove from heat and stir in:
1 cup of peas
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour stew into 9 x 12" casserole dish and top with the biscuit dough. Bake 15 - 20 minutes. 

I baked for 15 but next time will do 18 - 20.

Pot pie, fresh from the oven

Due to the oil, flour and salt, not the healthiest, but there are vegetables too, so not the unhealthiest either. Amazingly delicious comfort food.

Vegan Split Pea Soup

When I gave up eating ham it occurred to me I would never again have one of my all-time favorite meals: split pea soup. What a happy day the first time I made the vegan version and discovered that it is just as amazing, and much easier on the conscience.

Vegan Split Pea Soup

Spice It How You Like It

I'm sure I've made this from a few different recipes now but I've made it enough that I no longer need a recipe and I often make variations depending on how I want to spice it. Sometimes cumin, sometimes not. It's great with a bay leaf or two as well. If you really like an Indian flavor, you can also skip the thyme and marjoram and add ground coriander, turmeric and cinnamon to your cumin. Becomes more like a curry, but it's all good.

*A lot of recipes call for basil which sounds weird to me so I've never tried it. Thought I should mention it though, in case it's an integral or common split pea flavor. I can't imagine but go for it and let me know if it's worth trying.

Split pea soup ingredients

Ingredients

1 cup yellow split peas
1 box vegetable broth
1 small onion
2 carrots
1 potato
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp cumin or 2 bay leaves (depending on your version)
1/2 tsp salt
cracked black pepper

Directions

Chop all your veggies into soup-sized pieces (about 1/2" square) and mince the garlic. 90% of your work is now complete. Add the onion and a bit of veggie broth to the Instant Pot and set to "Sauté". Cook about a minute, stirring once or twice then add the potatoes, carrots, celery and garlic.

Veggies sautéing

Sauté another minute while stirring around then add the rest of the ingredients. Give it a final stir and put the lid on the Instant Pot.

Soup ingredients ready to cook

Close the steam valve and use Manual setting and cook 15 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally (takes about 20 - 25 minutes).

I Love Our Instant Pot!

I've made this on stove top many times, but now that we have the Instant Pot, I probably won't again.  Turns out the same either way, but in the Instant Pot it's so easy - set the time and leave it. No stirring, no watching. I love that!

PS: Laura hates split pea soup. More for me! :)

Potato and Leek Soup

Potato and Leek Soup

This recipe was too amazing not to share. We've made it twice now, the first time without carrots and the second time with. It's good both ways but I'll probably continue adding carrots whenever I make it, which will be often, because this soup is so good.

Original recipe here

Potato And Leek Soup

I didn't stray too far from the original recipe, which was already a vegan one. I changed a couple of things but it's basically the same recipe, so I can't take the credit for coming up with it, but I changed some amounts, skipped the lemon juice, and added carrots.

Another thing I did differently than the original recipe was to not puree all the veggies. Instead, I divided the soup in half and pureed half and left the other half as chunky vegetables for our chewing pleasure. I make a lot of pureed soups, like squash and cream of broccoli, but sometimes you want a little bite.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegan butter
2 small onions, diced
4 leeks, cleaned well & thinly sliced
7 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, more to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
4 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup coconut coffee cream

Step 1:
Wash and slice the leeks, chop the potatoes, carrots and onions and toss them all in a soup pot on medium high with the butter.

Sauté the veggies

Step 2:
Mince the garlic and add to the sautéed veggies along with the seasonings about a minute before adding the broth.

Step 3:
Add the broth and simmer until all the veggies are tender, about 10 or 15 minutes.

Add the spices and broth

Step 4:
Take half the soup and blend in the blender or puree in the food processor then add back to the stock pot.

Puree half and add back to pot

Step 5:
Temper the cream by adding it slowly, while stirring, to 1/2 cup of the hot soup, then add the mixture to the pot, continuing to stir it in well.

Step 6:
Serve and eat! We served our with some lovely artisan bread. So yummy!

Leek and potato soup with bread

Enjoy!!

Erin's Squash Soup

Soup and bread

2014 Squash Harvest

Vegan Squash Soup Recipe

Cut in half, de-seed and roast in roast pan in 1/2 inch to 1 inch of water about 40 minutes:

• 1 Buttercup Squash – you can substitute Butternut, but it won't be as good. Trust me on this.

Saute until soft about 10 minutes:

• 1 Onion, Chopped
• 1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 Tbsp Butter – the good kind
• ¼ Tsp Nutmeg
• ¼ Tsp Cinnamon
• ¼ Tsp Salt
• ¼ Tsp Pepper

Add to onion mixture:

• Cooked Squash
• 1 Box Vegetable Broth

Cook about 10 minutes until flavors meld. Cool and puree in food processor or blender. Add back to pot and add 1 cup of water; simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Slowly stir in:

• 2 cups cashew milk

Squash soup from homegrown buttercup squash

Minestrone Soup

Good any time of year, minestrone soup is especially good on a cold winter's day. I love it because it's hearty and filling and most of all, delicious. So good I always go for a second bowl.

Minestrone Soup

There is always so much soup in the batch that it feeds us a good two or three days, and that's having it for lunch and dinner both. When we make minestrone soup we cook the pasta separately and add it just before heating it so it doesn't get mushy.

Minestrone Soup Recipe

Minestrone is a pretty versatile soup in that you can pretty much use whatever kind of bean and whatever kind of pasta you want. You can use whatever type of vegetables you fancy too, for that matter: carrots, onions, potatoes, green or yellow beans, peas, celery, corn or cauliflower.

Here's the recipe I used for this one:

Ingredients:
1 cup dried lima beans
2 cups cooked pasta (gluten-free if preferred)
1 large onion, chopped
4 carrots, diced
3 medium potatoes, diced
1 cup frozen green beans, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 can diced tomatoes
1.5 or 2 boxes vegetable broth
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt (or 2 tbsp tamari)

Cook the beans separately:
Rinse the lima beans under cold water, then bring to a boil in 3 or 4 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Turn down the heat, cover the beans and simmer them for about 45 minutes or until soft.

Healthy sauté onion and carrots in veggie broth until carrots begin to soften. Add potatoes and cook another 5 minutes. Add herbs, can of tomatoes and the rest of the vegetable broth and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked. Add cooked beans and pasta.

Bowl of minestrone soup

Lentil Curry on Rice

This is the most amazing thing I've eaten in awhile. I've had curries before but this one is the keeper, so I need to blog it before I forget it. lol

Lentil Curry on White Rice

Ingredients

3 small or 1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots (I wanted to put one in but I didn't have one, but next time I will and it will be even better, if that's even possible.
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp dry ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
3 cups veggie broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup green beans, 1/2" lengths
1 large package of fresh spinach

Directions

1. Cook onions and carrots in oil until soft, not brown. 
2. Add garlic and cook one minute. 
3. Drain the tomatoes then add to veggies and bring to a simmer then add all the spices. 
4. Take 2 cups of this mixture and puree it in a food processor or blender then add it back to the pan. 
5. Add the veggie broth, coconut milk, water and the cup of lentils. 
6. Cover and simmer on a low boil for 35 minutes until lentils are tender but still hold their form. 
7. Add the green beans and spinach and stir until it wilts. 

Serve over your favorite rice.

If you don't love this I don't even know what to tell you. I am looking forward to work tomorrow because I am having it for lunch. THAT'S how good it is. Seriously, make this.

How healthy is this?

First of all look at how healthy one cup of brown lentils is:
 molybdenum 330%
 folate 90%
 fiber 63%
 copper 56%
 phosphorus 51%
 manganese 49%
 iron 37%
 protein 36%
 vitamin B1 28%
 pantothenic acid 25%
 zinc 23%
 vitamin B6 21%
 potassium 21%

Secondly, look at the nutrition in one cup of cooked spinach:
 vitamin K 987%
 vitamin A 105%
 manganese 84%
 folate 66%
 magnesium 39%
 iron 36%
 copper 34%
 vitamin B2 32%
 vitamin B6 26%
 vitamin E 25%
 calcium 24%
 vitamin C 24%
 potassium 24%
 fiber 17%
 vitamin B1 14%
 phosphorus 14%
 zinc 12%
 protein 11%
 choline 8%
 omega-3 fats 7%
 vitamin B3 6%
pantothenic acid 5%

In fact, besides the oil and salt, everything in this recipe is beneficial in some way. I love that I am getting stuff my body needs in such a delicious meal. Not only that, but it came together quickly and was simple to make. You should try making it! :)

Garden Vegetable Soup

I love soup so much and when the ingredients are this fresh, I love it even more. So good!

Vegetable Soup

Homegrown Veggies

Most of the ingredients in our soup today were harvested from the garden!

Snow Peas

The peas are growing like crazy out there, and needed to be picked so we are trying to incorporate them into every meal we can. 

Snow Peas

Beans

The beans are just getting started, due to late planting, but there were enough today to throw into the soup. We used a few Royal Burgundy bush beans and some green beans.

Chopped Beans & Peas

Potatoes & Carrots

The carrots aren't big yet either and needed to be thinned out in order to bulk up, so we thinned them out and used the teeny carrots in the soup.

The potatoes are still small too, but we've been harvesting a few of them anyway. We harvested a red potato plant called "Chieftain" for the soup.

Carrots & Red Potatoes

Kale

Kale isn't one of our favorite veggies, but it's great in soup so we made sure to chop a few leaves for it today. 

Kale

Fresh Herbs

The herbs have been growing well all summer and we harvest them as often as needed, and dry as many as we can for winter. Last year's herb harvest lasted all winter and we are still using some of them from 2015 this summer. We harvested parsley, thyme and oregano for the soup.

Parsley, Thyme & Oregano

We still have a bag of store-bought onions so we left the ones we planted in the garden to keep growing while we use what we already have. 

Garden Vegetable Soup Recipe

1 box vegetable soup

2 cups garden vegetable cocktail

4 cups water

1/4 cup rice

1/2 cup red lentils

1/2 cup soup mix (contains barley, lentils & various grains)

Several sprigs of parsley, thyme and oregano

3 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Whatever vegetables in whatever amounts you want. I used:

• 2 small onions, chopped
• Handful of snow peas, trimmed and chopped
• Handful of green beans, trimmed and chopped
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 3 cups potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups kale

Directions

I started with sautéing the onion in 1/2 cup water, then added the carrots. Next, I poured the box of vegetable broth in and then added the dried ingredients (rice, barley, etc). From there you can start adding the potatoes, beans & peas, kale and herbs, timed according to what takes longer to cook. I added the vegetable cocktail at the end, then began seasoning with the salt and pepper, tasting with every pinch to make sure it's not over-seasoned.

There are no real rules for making soup, but for it to taste good, seasonings are key. Salt is usually desired, but if you need to go low-sodium, go heavy on herbs, pepper, etc.

Pot of Soup

Vegetable Rice & Barley Soup

I made this soup today because I crave soup sometimes. It was inspired by spotting the aging carrots in the fridge which reminded me they needed to be used soon. After some debate about whether to use turnip and potato and turn it into a stew, I decided to keep it as a soup and use white onions, mushrooms, rice, lentils and barley. After serving it twice, I was told by Laura and Missy that the recipe needed to be documented for future reference.

Vegetable Rice & Barley Soup

Recipe

1 white onion, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

4 oz mushroom, sliced

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 cup long grain rice

1 cup red lentils

1/4 cup pearl barley

900 ml box of vegetable broth

2 cups garden vegetable cocktail (like V8)

2 cups water

2 vegetable boullion cubes

3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs fresh parsley

Sauté the onion, carrot and mushrooms in the oil then add the dried herbs. Add the grains, boullion and liquids, give it a stir and let simmer for 40 minutes until rice is cooked. The lentils will dissolve into the broth and the rice and barley will absorb most of the liquid. Keep an eye on it in case more liquid is needed and then add as necessary water, vegetable broth or vegetable cocktail, whichever you prefer. I prefer to add vegetable broth so as not to dilute the flavors. Add the fresh herbs near the end of cooking. Taste while cooking and season accordingly with more salt or herbs you like.

Soup and roll

We had this with rolls spread with vegan butter and it was fantastic!

Comforting Veg Stew

On a stormy winter day, what's more awesome than a steamy bowl of nourishing and delicious vegetable stew?

Veg stew

So Healthy You'll Crave a Naughty Dessert

Okay, not that healthy. And not really room in tummy for dessert.

I added 1/2 cup barley and 1/2 cup red lentils to boost up the protein factor, but they also served to boost the flavor and texture. As well, they add some iron and magnesium and a few vitamins, but then, the veggies have a lot of that stuff too. Needless to say, dumplings and potatoes aside, it's a really healthy meal.

Pot of veggie stew with dumplings

Veggies

The veggies included potatoes, rutabaga, carrots, onions and parsnips because that's what we had on hand and neither of us felt like braving the weather. These are pretty much all a stew needs anyway.

Grains/Legumes

The barley was pre-cooked in vegetable broth and added once tender, and the lentils were pre-cooked, pureed and then added at the end as a thickener. As it turned out, between the barley, potatoes and dumplings, it probably didn't need an additional thickener but still glad they're in there.

Broth

The broth is 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth and about 2 L water.

Seasoning

Dried thyme and oregano, salt and pepper for seasoning.

Dumplings

Dumpling recipe
The naughty part of the meal! Laura made the dumplings using this recipe.