Your Vegan Mom

Tomato Soup

My boy is two now and has become a toddler cliché.  For the last few months he was incredibly agreeable.  His favorite word was, “yeah,” delivered in this sweet little voice.  Example:

Are you ready for a bath?

Yeah.

89 cents for tofu? What a deal!

Yeah.

Three fish in a tree! How can that be?

Yeah. 

Oh for f@#%'s sake, turn already!

Yeah!

That last one was heard from the back seat while we ran errands during rush hour/ cranky time.  I was rightfully frustrated, but...oops.    

Now it's different.  Sweet little "yeah" has been replaced with big, full-bodied, arching-with-self-delight, screamed-from-the-tippy-toes, "NO!"  He practices.  Apropos of nothing at all, you’ll hear from his bedroom, with varying emphasis and volume, “No.  noooooooo.  NO!  no, no, no.  noooOOO!”

Just about everything receives one of those responses.  All sure-fire kid hits are now pushed away with exaggerated disgust.  No oatmeal.  No mac 'n cheese.  No sandwiches of any kind.  No.  No.  No.

    

So you can imagine my shock and delight when this soup was met with an emphatic yes.  He happily ate three bowls-full, while sitting in his high chair (another marvelously useful habit that I feared was behind us), and then protested when I finally put his bowl in the sink.  Oh, and two insignificant side notes - I like it too, and it's really easy to make.    

Tomato Soup

2 T. olive oil

2 smallish onions, diced

2 smallish carrots, diced

3 red potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

28 oz. can unsalted whole tomatoes with basil

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme

3 basil leaves

3 T. red miso

6 c. water

salt and pepper 

1. In a big pot saute the the onions, carrot, and potatoes in the olive oil until the onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.  Add the garlic, stir, and cook for another minute, until fragrant.  Add the can of tomatoes. Smash the big tomatoes with the back of the spoon or a potato masher and add the bay leaf, thyme, and basil.  Let the pot simmer while you prepare the broth.   

 
2. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and stir in the miso until dissolved.  Add the miso broth to the pot. Stir and let simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are falling-apart tender and the soup is reduced a bit.     
  
3. Remove the herbs from the pot and puree.  Taste for salt and pepper (the miso is salty, so it may not need any additional salt). 
  

4. To serve - top with your favorite tomato soup garnish - croutons or snips of basil or chives or thyme or a swirl of pesto or cashew cream.   

Makes 6 servings.  

P.S. Desmond just woke up from his nap and is now sitting on my lap polishing off the tepid bowl of soup that I put together for that picture.  I guess he was hungry.  The combination of lots of shouting and refusing to eat will do that to a kid.  How long does this last?  

School Night Cuisine: Lentil Soup

But before you stop reading let me just say, this ain't no ordinary bowl of lentils, I call this baby Provencal Lentil Soup with Roasted Potato Croutons, mostly because I'm not very good with titles, but also because it has some south of France kind of flavors goin' on. You should try it. Here's the recipe:

Soup:
about 2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 smallish carrots
3 ribs celery
1 large onion
2 tsp. herbes de provences
dash of red chile flakes
1 pound lentils
6 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
1/4 c. finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
salt & pepper

Potato Croutons:
2 medium red potatoes
about 1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
about 1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
salt and pepper

Dice carrots, celery, and onion and saute in olive oil over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes or until soft and fragrant. Stir in herbs and chile and cook for another minute. Add lentils to the pot then the liquid. Stir. Cover the pot and raise the heat to high. When the pot boils, give it a stir, leave the lid ajar, and turn it down to low so that it can enjoy an gentle simmer for about an hour or until your lentils are soft and soupy.

While your soup is asimmerin’, turn your oven to 425, and dice your potatoes. Toss potatoes with the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper, and spread them out in a single layer on a parchment covered baking pan. Roast for 30 minutes or until soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

To serve: ladle soup into bowls,top with crispy potatoes, and place a wedge of lemon on the side.

Tomato Lentil Soup

That's all. I don't feel good.

Much Better than Cup O' Noodles

But not a whole lot harder. This is what I'm eating for lunch. And well, I was just thinking, you should be too.

Mushroom Noodle Soup
Makes 2 hearty helpings

4 dried shitaake mushrooms
5 cups water
1 bundle soba noodles
1/2 medium onion
1 large carrot
about 1/3 block super firm tofu, diced
about 2 Tbsp. tamari
a dash of toasted sesame oil
a shake of red chili flakes
handful of baby spinach
half a lemon

Boil 1 cup water and pour over mushrooms to rehydrate while you prepare the other ingredients. Chop carrot and onion. Put remaining 4 cups of water in a medium sauce pan over high heat, add carrots and onions. When water is boiling, add noodles. Remove mushrooms from soaking liquid, slice into thin strips and add to noodles. When noodles are done, add tofu and the mushroom soaking liquid. Season to taste with tamari, sesame oil, and red chili flakes. Let simmer for about a minute. Stir in spinach; when it's wilted, but still bright green, serve with a wedge of lemon.

Out Sick

So Desmond and I kicked off our first Father's Day weekend with a cold. This, of course, calls for Magic Soup. There is no picture because this is not a pretty dish. It is not meant for company. To be honest, it's not even meant to taste good, but it will make you feel better. And if you eat it at the very first signs of getting sick with your vitamin C and zinc and echinacea, you're not going to get it. I know that is a powerful statement, but it is a powerful soup.

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic
1 inch hunk of ginger
1 fresh chili
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 dried shitaake mushrooms
2 Tbsp. white miso paste
Dash of tamari
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
2 c. water
1 block extra firm tofu
1 small (about an inch in diameter) bundle soba noodles, broken into bite size pieces and cooked

Directions:

Put the water in a pot over medium heat with the mushrooms.

Mince garlic, ginger, and chili. Squish them into a paste with the salt and sugar in a mortar and pestle if you're feeling earthy, or in a blender with a little bit of the water if you're not. Or, if you're making a big batch of broth to freeze in ice cube trays to have on hand when you're sick and don't feel like making yourself soup, then a blender is good for this case too.

Stir the garlic-ginger-chili paste into the pot. Add the tofu. Let this mixture simmer for about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the miso and lemon juice. Add cooked noodles. Fish out the mushrooms, slice them up, and return them to the pan.

Eat it while it's hot.

Now, I should note this "recipe" is comprised of approximations. This soup changes a bit whenever I need it. If I'm not feeling well, I'm not going to the store for fresh chilis, for example. If I don't have them, I use dried chili flakes. Sometimes the soup has mushrooms, sometimes it has noodles. Sometimes it doesn't, but it always has the garlic, ginger, spicy, miso, and tofu. From there, play with it until it's palatable. Also, if I really don't feel good, I skip the paste step, just chopping that stuff coarsely, letting it simmer in the broth, and then straining it. Or in more dire cases, simply eating around the pungent chunks.

Anyway, I won't say, enjoy, because if you're following this recipe then I assume you're not feeling well. So, rest up and eat your soup.