Simple Cabbage and Chickpea Soup with Fresh Basil

Right around the time my leg started feeling better, I came down with a cold. That was four weeks ago. My cold has worn out its welcome, but it is a rude visitor and doesn't care. It's also been cold. Really cold. As soon as the mercury dips below 50, I'm over winter.

Given these two factors, little else sounds as appetizing as yummy, comforting soup. This cabbage soup comes from Fat Free Vegan. It really is quite simple and so easy to put together, but it tastes amazing. Give it a go if you want a delicious, warm, comforting meal!

Untoppable Black Bean Soup

The recipe for this amazing black bean soup comes from Peas and Thank You. This was ridiculously easy to make, and so flavorful. I topped mine with sour cream, hot sauce, and cilantro. So perfect for chilly days!

Witch's Brew

Happy Halloween! I can't believe it's the end of October. This month was a whirlwind. I bring you witch's brew with a witch's finger to celebrate today and wrap up Vegan MoFo!

The soup is a cheesy broccoli soup. While I love all of the ingredients in this soup, the flavor left me wanting more. I'm not sure what it was, but it was definitely missing something. I googled a simple bread stick recipe and used this one. The flavor was great! I just added a sliced almond on the end for the fingernail.

Thank you all so much for the great feedback during Vegan Mofo, whether it was here, Facebook, or Twitter! I loved reading your thoughts and your experiences; it made Vegan MoFo that much more fun! 

Corn Chowder

Over the weekend, my dad gave me a dozen ears of corn to bring back home with me. While I love corn and the sweet gesture (and hello, free food), I thought to myself, "What in the world am I going to do with 12 ears of corn?!" I recently checked out a few cookbooks from the library - testing out new cookbooks for free is one of the myriad of reasons I love the library. Armed with a couple of new books and more corn than I knew what to do with, I searched for a recipe that would use the most corn.

In The Conscious Cook, I found a recipe for corn chowder. I was on the fence about making it, because eating hot soup when the weather feels like a hot, wet rag on my face is debatable. I decided to go for it because summer is corn season, and hello, I had a ton of corn.

This recipe came together so wonderfully, and I'm convinced red peppers and corn were made for each other. And the secret ingredient - Tal's cashew cream - gives the soup such a delightful creaminess (without an overwhelming nutty flavor). My only bit of advice is to prep as much as you can before you start cooking. You have to chop up a few veggies, and shucking corn takes forever, so if you do these two steps before you start cooking, the process will be so easy! You can blend cashew cream while the veggies and broth simmer, but be sure to thoroughly blend everything.

Sauteing the vegetables.

Six ears of raw corn! I found it's easiest (and less messy) to hold the ear of corn

over the pot and cut the kernels directly into the pot.

Preparing the cashew cream.

Cashew cream!

The recipe called for two ears of roasted or grilled corn, so I threw in the remaining four ears along with what was needed for the recipe. Roasted (and grilled!) corn really brings out the sweetness of corn, and I may or may not have been snacking on ears of corn this week...

Corn and Potato Chowder

Spring is dragging its feet with its arrival, so I decided to embrace the still chilly weather with another soup. It's no secret that I love both corn and potatoes, so I had to make this corn & potato chowder from Vegan Planet. It was a simple recipe with easy-to-find ingredients. I think the only thing I'd do differently is reserve a little bit of the corn prior to pureeing, or add a little more after pureeing, just to have more kernels in the soup.

An online recipe can be found here!

Roasted Butternut and Cauliflower Soup

On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring, and since the weather this week supports his prediction (sunny weather in the 60s? YES, PLEASE!), I'm trying to get in as many soups as possible before the weather becomes too warm to tolerate hot soups.


I came across this recipe on FatFreeVegan. The picture looked so lovely, I had to try it out. Although I was on the fence about cauliflower - my last go-round with it was when I was a child, and our interaction wasn't amiable - I love butternut squash! I omitted the sherry, and the soup wasn't lacking for it. And it turns out cauliflower and I actually can be friends.


If you're trying to make the most of the end of hot soup season, add this to your rotation!


You'll need:
1 butternut squash
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed or chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons mild curry powder (see note)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon sherry or vermouth (optional)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
dash cayenne pepper (optional)
juice of one orange (or 1/2 cup orange juice)


Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut the butternut in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds. Spray or rub a rectangular baking dish with oil (lightly) and place the squash in it cut-side down. Put the squash into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the cauliflower florets into a small, oiled baking dish of their own. After the squash has cooked for 15 minutes, put the cauliflower in with it. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is beginning to brown and the squash can be pierced easily with a fork. (They will probably be finished at different times.) Remove from the oven and set the cauliflower aside.

Allow the squash to cool until it's easy to handle, and scrape the flesh out of the skin and into a bowl. Use a fork or masher to mash it a little.

In a large saucepan, sauté the onion in a little water until it is translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 3 more minutes, adding water as necessary. Add the squash to the pan along with the curry powder and the vegetable broth. Using a hand blender, blend the soup to a smooth puree. (Or, if you don't have a hand blender, puree the soup in your blender in batches.) Reduce the heat to low, and cook for about 15 minutes.

Add the cauliflower to the soup. Taste for seasoning, and add sherry, salt, cayenne, and additional curry powder as needed. Cover and allow the soup to simmer until the cauliflower is tender. Add the orange juice, cook for 5 more minutes and serve.

Makes 4 servings. Each serving provides 234 Calories (kcal); 1 g Total Fat; (2% calories from fat); 6 g Protein; 58 g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 560 mg Sodium; 9 g Fiber

Quick & Easy Potato Soup

Source: Fat Free Vegan

Winter is getting to the point where it's no longer cute. The initial excitement of wearing wool-free sweaters and gloves has worn off; I now curse any time I have to leave the house because of the 10 minutes required to bundle up appropriately. If I get my scarf stuck in my zipper one more time, I'm turning it into a cat toy. The near constant clouds and/or precipitation are nothing short of depressing, and the occasional few hours (or sometimes, if I'm really lucky, entire day) of sunshine feels like Christmas in February. I'm sick of looking at mucky lawns and dirty snow.

In short: winter at this points leaves me with little creativity and energy at the end of a long work day. And the longer winter drags on, the longer each work day feels. I think my students sense my discontent with the current season/weather, and view this as the most opportune time to go crazy.

When I was browsing FFV last week, I came across this recipe and my only choice in the matter was obvious. Quick and easy? Potato soup? Must add to menu for next week. This came together so quickly and so deliciously; it even got the Omni Mommy Seal of Approval and earned a permanent spot in my recipe box.

This recipe was obviously a godsend from the Gods Who Aren't Fans of Winter in February.

Broccoli-Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs

Source: Veganomicon

It's no secret that I love potatoes. In fact, I'd say potatoes are the vegetable equivalent to apples, because they're pretty versatile, and also undeniably comforting and yummy. Broccoli has always been one of my favorite veggies, so this recipe was a no-brainer when I came by it.

My only concern with this soup was, "Is it supposed to be this green?" A Google images search revealed that yes, being this green was reasonable. And really, once you taste the delicious blend of herbs, color becomes a moot point.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find an online recipe for this, so you might just have to suck it up and buy a copy of this book, but I promise it will be money well spent!

Black Bean & Corn Soup with Fired-up Jalapeno Cornbread

Source: 1000 Vegan Recipes

For my birthday - over the summer, mind you - a good friend of mine gave me 1000 Vegan Recipes. New cookbooks incite a special kind of excitement, but this particular book also invoked a feeling not typically associated with recipe books: trepidation. One thousand recipes? Kind of intimidating. I didn't know where to start. I've made a few recipes over the months I've had it, but I hadn't really dug into it.

One day, I decided enough was enough. I felt foolish for letting the sheer size of the book deter me, but I also kind of felt like a jerk for not getting the most out of a very thoughtful gift from one of my favorite friends. Whether I was ready or not, I added 1000 Vegan Recipes into my regular rotation.

Given my newfound sense of determination, I first tackled Black Bean Soup. Mexican-inspired food is easily one of my favorites. I attribute this to my affinity for: beans of all kinds, corn, and spicy foods.

The soup turned out beautifully. I love everything about this soup: the colors, the texture, the flavor. I also whipped up a batch of the Jalapeno corn bread, which went with this soup perfectly.

The undeniable yumminess of the soup only adds to my feelings of foolishness and jerkfulness. Oh, well. You live and learn.