Vegan MoFo Day 6 - Roasted Carrot and Parsnip Soup

Roasted Carrot & Parsnip Soup

serves 6

Ingredients

350g carrots, peeled and chopped

160g parsnips, peeled and chopped

140g turnip, peeled and chopped

310g diced yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, cut in halves

half a cup chopped leek

half a cup celery, sliced thinly

2 Tblsp olive oil x 2

1 tsp salt

1 and a half litres of good stock

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a roasting pan in a medium/hot oven for 5 minutes. Add the carrot, parsnips, turnips and onion. Roast for about an hour turning every 20 minutes or so. Twenty minutes before roasting has finished add the garlic.

Heat the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big pan and fry the leek and celery for 8 minutes. Add the salt and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the roasted vegetables and stock.

Simmer for 5 mins then whizz with a stick blender (or whatever fancy equipment you normally use).

Season with freshly ground black pepper and go and warm your tummies.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan Cream of Spinach Soup

I woke up this morning craving spinach and soup so there was only one way forward - Cream of Spinach Soup Yeeehah! This is so simple and soooooo delicious and is packed full of super human power inducing ingredients - so get a bowlful inside ya now. Cream of Spinach Soup serves 4 Ingredients 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 300 grams washed and trimmed spinach 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced 2 Cloves of garlic, diced 1 to 1 and a half litres vegetable water ('spose you could use stock cubes but you'd have to check the taste before adding seasoning) Quarter cup of Cashews Salt Black pepper

Method Heat the oil in a big pan and add the onion. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes until onion is softened. Add the spinach, potato and garlic and cook for another couple of minutes stirring all the time to incorporate everything.

Add 1 litre of the vegetable water (or stock). Put the lid on the pan and cook on low to medium for 20 mins. Take off the heat and add the cashews to the pan, leave with the lid on for half an hour or so. After half an hour blitzz everything up with a stick blender (or a normal blender, whatever). Add salt and pepper to taste. If you need to add the rest of the vegetable water or stock because the soup is too thick for you then do so now. Re-heat and EAT!

Super scrummy yumpalicious fabby dabby dosey

My craving is sated.

GO VEGAN!

Vegan MoFo 2009 Day #22: Soup

Didn't MoFo yesterday guys cos I flew back to Spain. HURRAH! I am home. There's no place like home. And what could be more welcoming than a bowl of freshly made Tomato Soup and home made Garlic Bread? Not a lot really. Feast your eyes GO VEGAN! GO MoFo!!

Cooking the Vegan blogs

Hi guys and gals Since entering the blogosphere my list of foods to make has just been growing longer and longer by the day! And it's ALL YOUR FAULT for making such awesome looking foods and sharing them with the rest of blog land. I took this week as an opportunity to start making my way through them all - no easy task believe me. First up was River's Meatless Loaf I've had my eye on this ever since River posted it and rabbit totally convinced me with her version. My haul of UK goodies that I smuggled home with me included some Realeat Mince which I just knew would be perfect for this. And it was. This recipe is awesome! I didn't have any adobo OR Mrs. Dash seasoning and in all honesty I don't even know what either of those things are! So after a consultation with aforementioned bunny I ended up using a quarter of a teaspoon each of Mustard Powder, Paprika, Chili Flakes, Onion Powder, Garlic Salt and Mixed Herbs. And I subbed the half cup of Tomato Sauce with a half cup of made up Bisto Gravy. Ahhhhh....Bisto! Obviously I don't have any photos (SOB) but don't take my word for it anyway - nip on over to River's and rabbit's and have a look at theirs. Second up has to be the most AMAZING Soup I have ever had in my life. EVER. And as most of you know - I have had a LOT of Soup. This little beauty I have The Vegan Slaughterhouse to thank for. It is called Peanut Tofu Thai Soup and I command you all to go forth and make it. I totally stuck to the recipe on this one EXCEPT (haha) I used Cous Cous instead of Rice because I thought it would be more "authentic" (don't ask) and I didn't have Maple Syrup. The Cous Cous worked FAB and I don't know what difference the Maple Syrup would have made because to improve on this recipe just doesn't seem possible. It really is an amazing Soup! Thanks for all your comments last week - all your support has just been wonderful. If there are any more fingers and toes left to be crossed then you could wish me and Mr treehugger luck on Monday - we have just put an offer in on our dream house!! *SQUEALS!*

Thrifty Living Soup and Bread Pudding

It's no secret that I am a complete Soup addict. I will gladly and happily eat Soup for breakfast, lunch and tea (and I often do). It has to be my most favourite food in the whole world and the fact that it is cheap, easy and healthy, not to mention extremely versatile, are all added bonuses.

I am always looking out for new Soup recipes to try and Felicity over at Thrifty Living totally tempted me with her Black Bean and Sweetcorn creation. The best bit about making this Soup (apart from eating it of course) was toasting and grinding the Cumin Seeds. The aroma that those bad boys gave off when being ground was just out of this world. I can see toasting and grinding Cumin Seeds is going to be a regular occurrence in the treehugger household. I pretty much stuck to the recipe as well except I didn't have Black Beans so I subbed them for half of Kidney Beans and half of Pinto. Also, I added extra Lentils and used the whole tin of Tomatoes because I'm planning on eating this Soup for the next two days so a HUGE pot of the stuff was in order. Because I used extra Lentils I also had to add more vegetable stock otherwise I would have had a more stew like consistency, which wouldn't have been a problem but by adding more stock I got more Soup!! Genius! And just to tempt you with a little teaser, here's some Bread Pudding I made but which you'll have to wait for the recipe for as it needs me to be a better recipe creator and actually write down exact measurements of things. And that's not just an excuse to make it again......or is it??!!

Go on, bite me!

Vegan MoFo Day 17: Mock-a-Leekie Soup

Mock-a-Leekie Soup Do you like what I did there! OK - more soup - HURRAH!

But first a funny story....... I served this soup up for dinner last night. When asked what flavour it was by Mr treehugger, I told him it was originally based on a recipe called Cock-a-Leekie. "Coq - spelt with a q - it's French then." To which I replied "No it's Scottish - it's spelt C.O.C.K ...." He asked me what it was made out of and I replied - without even thinking about it "Cock." There was so much snarfing going on that soup was snarfed across the table. Finbarr Saunders would have been proud. The recipe I used called for the carcass of a chicken. BLEURGH! I don't think so! Ain't no dead chickses going in my dinner thank you very much. So yeah....this is a traditional Scottish recipe veganised by yours truly. Enjoy! Mock-a-Leekie Soup seves 2 Ingredients 2 Tblsp Olive Oil 2 Large Potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes -ish 2 Leeks, sliced and washed 1 small Onion, sliced 2 Pints Vegetable Stock Salt White Pepper handful of chopped fresh Parsley Method In a big pan lighly fry the vegetables in the Olive Oil for about 5 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add the Stock, cover and simmer for 40 mins, until the Vegetables are cooked. Leave to cool. When cooled whizz it all up with your blender, return to the stove and heat through. Add Salt and Pepper to taste and stir in the chopped Parsley. Serve. Today's song is by Noah and the Whale - In Five Years Time. It is impossible to listen to this song and feel anything but warm and fuzzy!

Vegan MoFo day 13: Mediterranean Tomato Soup

I have been inspired by so many blogs that I'm gonna be busy in the kitchen for the next 6 months not to mention 10 pounds heavier by the end of it all ! There are so many great blogs out there, who knew? So MoFo scores yet another über point! I have seen some amazing soup recipes and photos in the last two weeks (2 Weeks!!) here are some of my favourite: Scotchless Broth Cravin Veggies Roasted Red Pepper Soup Pumpkin Lentil Soup Tomato Pumpkin Soup Leftover Mashed Potato Pumpkin Soup Chickpea & Herb Dumpling Soup Beet, Barley and Black Soybean Soup So is it any wonder I woke up craving soup this morning!! It's an old cliché but so true (aren't all clichés true?) that we eat food firstly with our eyes. I'm a sucker for contrasting colours and green and red do it for me every time PLUS I had the last of the harvest from my garden to use up as well. Look how little they are - sweeet.

And no, I don't have big hands - they really are little Peppers

So I wasn't going to fight all these things screaming "MAKE SOUP" at me and thusly this Soup was created - and in record making time too, well for me anyway. I served this with a Baguette/French Stick which was sliced in half and toasted and then drizzled with Olive Oil. Eating bread like this is a very typical Spanish Breakfast by the by, I had never seen or heard of it before I came to live here, but I implore you all to try it - you will be hooked. Mediterranean Tomato Soup serve 2 Ingredients 1 Tblsp Olive Oil Peppers, sliced (half red half green) 1 small Onion, sliced Half a Courgette (Zuchini), cubed 780g tinned Plum Tomatoes 2 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and sliced 1 tsp Smoked Paprika 2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Mixed Herbs Drops of Tabasco, depending how spicy you want it Method Heat the Olive Oil in a pan and add the Peppers, Courgette and Onions, saute for 10 minutes or so. Then add the tinned Tomatoes - juice an' all, you will want to squish up the Tomatoes for this - I find using a knife and fork the easiest, but do whatever works for you. Add the Garlic and Paprika and place a lid on the pan and cook for another 10 -15 minutes. Add the Salt and Herbs and simmer for 10 more mins. Check seasoning. Add a few drop of Tabasco, stir really well and serve.

I had this for lunch and then had it for dinner as well! It's soooo gooood. Today's song is White Man in Hammersmith Palais by The Clash - Played REALLY loud!

Pea and Ham Soup and Caaaake

More Soup Shenanigans in the treehugger household today. I always loved Pea and Ham soup in my pregan days and I've been dreaming about re-creating this recipe and, naturally, veganising it. It didn't disappoint. Pea and Ham Soup serves 4 Ingredients Half a Pint (550ml) of Dried Marrowfat Peas 3 Pints of Water 2 Medium Potatoes, peeled and sliced 1 Leek, trimmed and washed 2 Rashers of your favourite Vegan Bacon, diced 2 Bay Leaves Salt Freshly Ground Black Pepper Method Soak the peas in the water in a big pan for 12 hours. Strain the peas reserving the water and then rinse the peas thoroughly with cold water. Place back in the pan with the strained water, add the 2 Bay Leaves and bring to a boil with the lid on. Boil for one and a half hours - stir regularly. Add the sliced Potato, Leek and half the Bacon. Simmer for another 30 mins with the lid off, stir regularly. Check that the Peas are cooked - they should be soft and squishy but still retain their shape. remove the Bay Leaves and leave to cool. When cool - place the contents in your food blender and blend until smooth. Transfer back to the saucepan.Add the remaining Bacon and season to taste. I found it needs quite a lot of salt but add it gradually as it is easier to add more than it is to take away. This soup will be very thick - it's one of it's characteristics. However, if you want it to be thinner just add some Vegetable Stock until you get the consistency you're after. Heat through and serve. Yum!

Before my vegan days I used to love baking, well...I still love baking it's just that I haven't done enough vegan baking to be confident at the results I will get. There's been a few hits and misses. Tonight I felt brave enough to have a go at veganising a Farmhouse Cake recipe that I used to make frequently in my pre-vegan days. And Oh my Lordy Lord! The success of this has given me a kick up the pants to try and veganise some more of my pregan favourites. This cake is delicious! It is light and fruity and caramelly and just....ahh ...wonderful. Farmhouse Cake Ingredients 1 cup Wholemeal Flour 1 cup Plain Flour 1/2 cup Sultanas 1/2 cup Dried Prunes, chopped up 1 tsp Mixed Spice 1 tsp Cinnamon 1/4 cup Sugar 1/4 cup Gooseberry Jam 1 cup Soya Milk 2 tsp Vanilla Extract 1 Tblsp Maple Syrup (plus more for drizzling) 200ml Canola Oil 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda 1/2 tsp salt Golden Granulated Sugar to sprinkle on top Method Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together the Flour, Bicarb, Fruit, Sugar, Cinnamon, Mixed Spice and Salt. In another large bowl whisk together Soya Milk, Vanilla, Maple Syrup, Jam and Oil. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dried and mix until combined. Thoroughly grease a cake pan 9 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep (if it's any smaller or deeper you will have to adjust cooking times) and pour in the cake mixture. Bake for 60 minutes in the middle of the oven. My oven's rubbish so I had to put a layer of tin foil over the top after 20 mins otherwise it would have burnt to a crisp! Just keep an eye on yours to make sure this doesn't happen. Take the cake out the tin by placing a flat plate over the top of the tin and inverting the whole thing over - then transfer the cake to a wire cooling rack. I drizzled over some Maple Syrup whilst it was still hot and was then going to sprinkle on some Golden Granulated Sugar - but I'd ran out. DOH! Anyway.....Mmmmmm...caaaaaaaake..........

Asparagus Soup

A title to make the PPK'ers giggle for sure!

One thing I hate more than anything is waste. One thing I hate possibly more than waste is wasting food. I NEVER throw away food, if I have something that needs using I will use it. One thing I love more than anything is Autumn! And one thing I love more than Autumn is SOUP (OK I'll stop now). I find making soup to be so satisfying. The heathen in me likes the fact that everything is done in one big pot and soup making is kitchen witchery at it's finest. Soup is so good for using up left overs that I rarely make the same soup twice. They are varied and different each time depending on what veggies I have that need to be used. We had Asparagus the other night and I always save the bits of the spears that don't get used and make soup with them. Apparently they are tough and stringy but these characteristics are lost in the process of soup making. I always save the water after I've steamed any veggies as this makes wonderful stocks and gravies. I have lots of plastic tubs that I save for the sole purpose of storing this vegetable stock in the freezer and inevitably my freezer gets rather full up with them so soup making season started at the right time! I also had half an Aubergine (Eggplant) left in the fridge so that got chucked in as well. Some home made croutons and a fresh baked Ciabatta and you have yourself a very fine and filling meal in no time.Asparagus Soup serves 3-4 Ingredients Bunch of leftover Asparagus Stalks 1 Medium Onion, sliced into thin rings 2 Cloves of garlic, diced Half and Aubergine (Eggplant), chopped into cubes - skin and all 1 Litre of Vegetable Stock Bay Leaf 1 teaspoon Italian Mixed Herbs (Thyme, Oregano, Sage, Rosemary) 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil Salt and Pepper Heat the Olive Oil in a big saucepan, add the Onion rings and cook on a medium heat for 5 mins stirring every now and again. When the Onions start to turn translucent, add the Garlic, Asparagus stalks and Aubergine. Fry for another 5 minutes. Add the Vegetable stock and Bay Leaf and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on. Remove the Bay Leaf and put the contents of the pan in the blender. Whizz for a few minutes until everything is smooth and there are no lumps. Transfer this back to the pan, add the Herbs and Salt and pepper to taste and heat through. Croutons Slice of Bread 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 1 Clove of Garlic, diced Squeeze of Lemon Juice Cut the Bread into cubes. In a baking pan place the Olive Oil and Garlic and squeeze Lemon Juice over the top. Add the Croutons and toss so they are all covered in the oil. bake in a hot oven for 15 mins checking regularly and tossing a few times throught the cooking time. Sprinkle on top of the soup.