Spring Onion Soup

This soup needs no introduction (...except to tell you that it was adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe).

Spring Onion Soup
Serves 4


2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds spring onions (and I'm thinking Martha meant to add 'just the bulbs', since her soup doesn't have the slightest hint of green in it...)
5 sprigs asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
chopped fresh dill

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent but not brown, about 15 minutes.  Add asparagus, salt, broth and water.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Using an immersion blender, carefully puree until smooth, 1 or 2 minutes.  Ladle into bowls and top with dill.

The dill really adds a nice, fresh flavor to the soup and it complements the deep onion flavor so well.  Try not to leave it out if you can help it!

Next on the list:  Curried Lentil Soup ~ Coming Soon!

Soup Spoons

I've been washing a lot of spoons lately.  That's probably because I've been making a lot of soup lately.  It must be the weather.

Since my last soup entry (Zucchini-Asparagus Soup with Basil), I've made several more.  The first was Spring Onion Soup, mostly because I'd gotten almost a dozen of these in my weekly box:

It's hard to make green soup look appetizing!  In fact, I'm wondering now if this was actually supposed to be made with only the bulbs of the red spring onions... Either way this was surprisingly delightful.  I was sure that anything prepared with that many onions, and not a lot of other ingredients, was bound to overwhelm even my taste buds!  Why I imagined it would taste like biting into a raw onion, I don't know.  Instead I found the taste of the onions to be subtle and almost sweet, even creamy.  

The next night I made a Curried Lentil Soup that seemed to get better with each reheating.  

The same could be said of this Lentil Barley Soup...

We had leftovers today and the flavors had fused together perfectly.  Pictures with no recipes...am I evil or what??  Here's one, with more to follow very soon (I promise!).

Lentil Barley Soup

Serves 8

2 Tbs olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 onion, diced

1 medium parsnip, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 tsp cumin

10 cups vegetable broth

3/4 cup barley

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, no salt added

3/4 cup lentils

1 bunch kale, cute into 1" thick strips

chopped fresh dill, for garnish

Heat oil over medium heat in a large soup pot and add carrots, onion, parsnip and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, for about 7 minutes.  Add cumin and cook 1 minute.  Then add vegetable broth and barley and bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and cook, partially covered for 25 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes with their juices and lentils.  Continue to simmer another 30 minutes, or until barley and lentils are tender.  Add kale and simmer 10 minutes.  Garnish with dill and serve.

*If you're eating macro and avoiding tomatoes, they can easily be left out of the recipe, but you'll need to add another cup or so of vegetable broth so the soup doesn't get too thick.

...promises you don't intend to keep...

Okay, so I keep promising things and then not delivering.  That's just not right!  Especially when it has to do with FOOD!  So, as promised.....

Yellow Split Pea and Sweet Potato Soup
Serves 8

8 1/2 Cups water
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbs finely grated ginger
2 Cups dried yellow split peas
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 Cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Bring 1/2 cup water to simmer in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook about 5 minutes or until translucent.  Stir in ginger and cook 1 minute, stirring.  Add remaining 8 cups water, peas and sweet potato cubes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Uncover and continue to simmer 15 minutes.  Carefully puree soup with a hand held processor until smooth and creamy.  Garnish with pumpkin seeds.  Enjoy with a French baguette.

Recipe courtesy of Whole Foods

Curry Anyone?

I found this awesome recipe on my Whole Foods App and had to try it (thanks, facebookers, for your votes!  I'll get to the split peas tomorrow).  Imagine seeing creamy, curry, and soup all in one title...Irresistible!  And boy, did it deliver.  It was so creamy it tasted like a spicy bisque.  This recipe is super simple (don't let the seed-baking intimidate you, it's a snap) and it will make your house smell amaaaazing.  Oh, and try not to eat all the pumpkin seeds before the soup is ready.

Vegan Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup


Serves 4
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds, which is what I used)
3 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk, divided
3 tsp mild curry powder, divided, and more to taste
1 cup chopped yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
5 cups (about 1 medium head) cauliflower florets

Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a small bowl, toss sunflower (or pumpkin) seeds with 1 teaspoon almond milk and 1 teaspoon curry powder.

Spread out on a small parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake, tossing once or twice, until toasted and fragrant, 6-8 minutes (or 12 for pumpkin seeds); set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup almond milk in a large pot over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes.  Add cauliflower, remaining 2 teaspoons curry powder and almond milk, cover and simmer until cauliflower is very tender, about 40 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning with more curry powder if you like.  Using an immersion blender, carefully puree soup until smooth.

Alternately, puree in batches in a blender.  Transfer to bowls and garnish with sunflower or pumpkin seeds and serve.

Where's the BEEF? I mean...the BEETS!

I love beets.  But growing up, I always thought they only came in a can.  Don't laugh.  My mom is Japanese, okay??  Not a lot of communication in the pantry department!  Anyway, when I started working for Be Wise Ranch, a local organic grower in San Diego, they would give me a box of produce every week as a bonus.  One day, that box included beets.  So...I get it now.

I made this the other night.  It was so warming it made me wish it were colder out...

Vegan Borscht


1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced thinly into half-moons
4 medium sized carrots, grated
5 small beets, peeled and grated
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
1 bay leaf
2 Tbs brown rice syrup
6 cups Low Sodium Vegetable Broth (or Water + 4 tsp Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Vegetable Base)
1/2 large head or 1 small head of cabbage, thinly shredded
3 large red potatoes, skin left on, diced
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat and saute onions, carrots and beets until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the garlic, bay leaf and brown rice syrup and cook for 1 minute.  Add broth, cabbage, potatoes, and season with pepper.  Simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and lemon juice.  Add salt as needed.  Ladle soup into bowls and dollop with vegan sour cream.

Tip: If you like things a little spicy...add a teaspoon or two of cayenne before simmering.

Now, a question for you guys.  Would you rather see a recipe for Yellow Split Pea and Sweet Potato Soup or Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup tomorrow?  I'm making one of these tonight and can't decide which.  Help!

Getting To Know MISO

This one's for all you miso soup lovers.  

What is miso?

Miso is made from a bean (usually soy but not necessarily), sometimes a grain, salt, and a special bacteria called koji.  Because it's fermented and unpasteurized, miso is full of live enzymes that are great for digestion.  High in protein, vitamins (like E), minerals, and alkalizing to the blood, miso keeps the body balanced and happy, so it's fine to have miso every day if you'd like.  I do.  Sometimes I'll even have it once with breakfast and then again that night with dinner.  The minerals in miso also help support immune function because of it's zinc content.  I'm guessing all you sickies are wishing you've been eating a whole lot of miso soup lately...go make some right now!

Varieties ~

The different types of miso include:

• hatcho miso (made from soybeans)
• kome miso (made from white rice and soybeans)
• mugi miso (made from barley and soybeans)
• soba miso (made from buckwheat and soybeans)
• genmai miso (made from brown rice and soybeans)
• natto miso (made from ginger and soybeans)

Since there are so many varieties of miso out there, you might be wondering...

Which type of miso should I buy?

Be careful when buying miso from an asian market.  Most contain MSG, which is just not natural (and can cause headaches, nausea, heart palpitations...need I go on?).  Miso made with barley and aged at least 2 years is considered preferable to other misos in terms of its medicinal properties.  You can usually find barley miso at health food stores, or you can buy them online here or here.  If you try barley miso and you're not wild about it, try alternating with other misos that are more mild tasting.  Personally, I love barley miso.  It warms me from the inside out on the coldest days...

How do I make miso soup?

I thought you'd never ask!

Restaurant-Style Miso Soup

Serves 2

1 scallion, thinly sliced

2" piece wakame, cut into small pieces with scissors

1/4 of a block of soft or silken tofu, diced into small cubes

2 teaspoons barley miso

Bring 2 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium pot.  Reduce heat, add scallions and wakame to pot, and simmer over low heat for 6-8 minutes.  Fill a ladle with some of the soup broth, dissolve miso in it, and then add it back to the soup.  Add tofu cubes and heat on low heat for 2 more minutes.  Serve immediately.

You can easily turn this into a hearty soup by adding all kinds of things - boy choy, dandelion greens, kale, cabbage, brown onions, carrots and other root vegetables - whatever your little "asian" heart desires!