Category — Soups

Liz Vequist, my mentor through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, shared this Potato Leek Soup recipe on her blog with me when I told her about my recent soup kick. I loved it so much that I have made it twice in two weeks, and will likely make it again this week! It’s creamy and comforting, like potato soup should be, and it has just a little kick to it, although of course that can be ramped up or toned down depending on how much and which spices you prefer to use!

One of the best things about this recipe is that unlike some of those delicious, but calorie- and fat-laden, potato soups you might get in a restaurant, this one is dairy-free and it only requires a few wholesome ingredients, so it’s healthy and quick and easy to make.

I did make a few modifications of my own. I didn’t have vegetable bouillon either time I made the soup, so in place of the water + bouillon I used 4 cups of low sodium vegetable broth one time and low-sodium chicken broth the next, and both worked just fine! I also left out the thyme and bay leaf simply because I didn’t have them on hand, and the second time I made it I even left out the chili powder because I had run out of that, and it was still delicious and tasty. If it’s a little bland, try seasoning your individual bowl with extra sea salt and/or pepper, and even add a little shredded cheese or green onions (scallions) on top. I highly recommend this soup as a delicious lunch or supper with fresh bread. I’ll post a photo the next time I make it…and I don’t think it will be long!

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Lately, more often than not, the answer to “what’s to eat?” in our house has been “soup!” The cold weather and a craving for warm, creamy, comforting meals has led me to make butternut squash soup, sweet potato and coconut quinoa soup, broccoli soup, and black bean soup.

The sweet potato and coconut quinoa soup and the black bean soup were both recipes from my beloved Quinoa 365 cookbook (another recipe I tried and liked from it this weekend was the Mexican Casserole!) My experiences making those delicious soups led me to experiment with the broccoli soup recipe I usually make, and I am thrilled with the results.

I already knew that adding quinoa to any soup, much like adding rice, would be a good way to bulk it up a bit, both texturally and nutritionally, and would be a more healthful choice than, say, noodles. But what about a creamy soup? Turns out that is even easier!

What I’ve learned now that you can basically add cooked quinoa to any soup recipe, and, although I love the taste and the texture, if the soup is one that you blend or puree, you probably won’t even notice the addition (hint, hint, moms!)

However, that addition is giving you added protein and fiber with minimal fat. For someone like me, who gravitates toward a mainly vegetarian diet but is often concerned about getting enough protein (especially while I’m pregnant!) quinoa has been a great option, and adding it to my favorite soup recipes is just my newest favorite way to enjoy this superfood.

Here’s my slightly revised broccoli soup recipe. I’ve added in the quinoa and shifted other ingredient quantities just slightly based on experience. Give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 2 bunches broccoli
• 2-3 large or 4-5 small sweet potatoes, peeled
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tablespoons tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
• optional: Parmesan or organic cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Place quinoa and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until quinoa is tender.
2. While quinoa cooks, cut the florets off of the broccoli so that you have almost no portion of the stalk and place in a separate bowl.
3. Cut the stalks of the broccoli and the sweet potatoes into small pieces.
4. Place in a medium pot and fill with water just until the veggies are covered and bring to a boil.
5. Cook until soft, about 10-12 minutes.
6. Remove broccoli and potato from the water, reserving the water, and put into blender.
7. Add cooked quinoa and blend.
8. Slowly add the water from the pot to your blender until you get a good soup consistency.
9. Add garlic and tamari, and blend again.
10. Place soup back in the pot and add broccoli florets.
11. Leave on low heat for 5-10 minutes. Serve hot with a little fresh ground pepper.
12. Optional: sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese or organic cheddar on top of your bowl before serving.

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This is essentially the same recipe as Winter Squash Stew, but I have updated it a little bit to reflect our taste preferences and my first experience using a sugar pie pumpkin.

I expected the small pumpkin to be easy to carve into pieces, but it wasn’t at all–it was difficult to even split it in half! I decided to steam the pumpkin in large pieces in a steamer basket over boiling water to soften it before trying to peel it, and that did the trick. After about 10 minutes of steaming, I was able to scoop the flesh from the outer peel and add it into the pot with the other ingredients.

I thought about swapping in cinnamon and nutmeg instead of cumin, but after a week of experimenting with pumpkin muffin recipes (the final version will be in my October email newsletter–subscribe now!) I decided that a slightly different pumpkin flavor would be welcome. And it was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 sugar pie pumpkin, seeded, peeled, and cut into chunks
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• approx. 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. cumin

Directions:

1. Sauté finely minced onion and minced garlic in a tsp. of olive oil.
2. Place pumpkin in a pot and fill with stock until just covered, then add cumin, garlic, and onion.
3. Boil until tender (if pumpkin is pre-softened, just simmer all together for 5 minutes or so).
4. Move chunks of pumpkin, onion, and garlic to blender, along with some, but not all, of the liquid (save the rest).
5. Blend in blender until smooth, adding more of the cooking liquid to reach desired consistency.
6. If you didn’t use it all, discard remaining cooking liquid.
7. Return blended mixture to the pot to heat through.
8. Serve with cilantro, parsley, pumpkin seeds, and/or grated parmesan cheese on top.

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This soup—which I have also dubbed “hummus soup”—hit the spot! It has summery ingredients, but was a great soup for us tonight on a rare cool day in August because it’s served warm. Next time I’ll skip the parsley because I didn’t care for the taste and the soup doesn’t need it!

Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

Chickpea, Lemon and Mint Soup

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds
• 8 cups water
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tbsp mint., chopped
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Soak chickpeas in water in your refrigerator overnight. The next day/evening, drain chickpeas and put in a pot with 5 cups of fresh water, cooking over high heat.
2. While chickpeas begin to cook, heat oil in another large pot and gently saute onion, carrots, celery, garlic, cumin seeds and coriander seeds until softened.
3. When the chickpeas have just begun to boil, skim the foam off of the top and pour the chickpeas and the water into the large pot with the vegetables and spices. Add remaining 3 cups water.
4. Bring entire mixture to a boil, then cover and simmer for 1 – 1½ hours until the chickpeas are soft.
5. Strain the chickpeas, veggies, and spices out of the water and blend in a blender, reserving the water separately. Add water into blender as needed, but you probably won’t want it all.
6. Once well-blended and creamy, pour back into pot or into a big serving bowl.
7. Add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, then season with sea salt, ground pepper, and more lemon juice as desired.
8. Ladle into bowls and top each generously with mint and parsley.

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This recipe is an amalgam of a bunch that I found online. It was definitely missing something, or was just a little “off.” I think next time I’ll try less yogurt, and swapping out cilantro for dill or mint. Any other suggestions? Alternate cucumber soup recipes? Please leave me a comment and share!

Ingredients:

• 3 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled and diced
• 3 green onions (green and white parts included) roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup cilantro, plus a few extra sprigs for garnish
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• Sea salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a food processor or blender combine the cucumber, avocado, green onions, cilantro, and parsley. Pulse until the mixture is thoroughly chopped.
2. Add broth, sour cream and lemon juice and continue to process until smooth.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste and chill for 4 to 6 hours.
4. Taste for seasoning and serve in chilled bowls with garnish.

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Recipe adapted from SimplyRecipes.com.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 small jalapeno chili pepper (seeds, stems and ribs removed), chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 small zucchini (about 2 lbs), chopped with skin on
• 1 piece of day-old bread, chopped or broken into small pieces
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• Sea Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, then add the onion and jalapeno and sauté for 4-5 minutes. When the onions are translucent (but not browned) add the garlic and zucchini and sauté for another 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Sprinkle with sea salt.
2. Add the bread and broth and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and addd the mint and cilantro. Purée in a blender (or food processor) until smooth.
4. Return the soup to the pot or to a big serving bowl. Add the lemon juice, and additional sea salt and pepper to taste.
5. Garnish with sprigs of mint or cilantro and serve hot or chilled. Keeps for a week in the fridge.

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I’m not sure how well this recipe will work if you don’t have a Vita-Mix blender, but if your blender is up for the task I’d recommend this recipe. It’s creamy without having any cream in it—just vegetables, vegetable broth, and herbs!

You may need to cut it in half, though, depending on your blender size, and if you are worried the onions will taste too raw, saute them quickly before adding them. I served this with green onions on top and we each added salt and pepper to our soup.

Yield: 7 cups

Ingredients:

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 3 potatoes, scrubbed, baked, quartered
• 1/4 onion, peeled
• 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
• 3 Tbsp. frozen spinach

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into the Vita-Mix (blender) in the order listed and secure lid
2. Turn machine on Variable 1 (low), then quickly turn to Variable 10, then to high
3. Blend for 6-7 minutes or until heavy steam escapes from vented lid (assuming your blender has a vented lid)

Source: Vita-Mix recipe book

We had this with sprouted wheat bread from the Whole Foods bakery and some sweet potato fries. Delicious! It made more than 4 servings, too, so we will have plenty of leftovers for lunches this week.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large leek, white and light green parts only, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 bunch asparagus (about 1 pound), woody stems snapped off and discarded, spears cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/3 cup low-fat sour cream
• Sea salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions:
Melt butter in a medium pot over medium low heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, add asparagus and simmer gently until potatoes and asparagus are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pot from heat ad set aside to let cool slightly.

Carefully transfer soup to blender in batches and purée until smooth. Return soup to pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, whisk in sour cream and season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with chives and serve.

Source: Whole Foods, via my friend Gretchen!

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This made an excellent dinner last night after a cold and rainy day, although sadly I did not have a bread bowl to eat it in as a friend suggested. I didn’t have a red pepper so I used red pepper flakes, and I did enjoy it with Parmesan cheese on top! Yummy, indeed!

I’ve already posted this Broccoli Soup recipe here.

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This recipe turned out well, but the yield was not what I expected. It made just enough for 2 small bowls, which worked fine since I made it to have with reheated almond butter chicken from earlier this week.

My first experience using a ricer was pretty comical–I think I put too many tomatoes and garlic pieces in at a time, because it was a bit hard to press and it squirted out everywhere! It also got cold fast–I kept the bowl on top of the stove where the heat was coming up from warming the chicken while it sat with the basil in it. We also left the basil in!

The end result was tasty, but I may keep exploring other tomato soup recipes. I would like to find one that makes enough for eating and for saving some for later.

Ingredients:

• 4 organic, vine-ripened beefsteak tomatoes OR 6 organic Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 head of garlic, peeled, separated into cloves
• 5-6 whole basil leaves
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Roughly chop tomatoes.
2. Toss tomatoes and unpeeled garlic with just enough olive oil to coat.
3. Roast, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
4. The tomatoes should be charred, almost blackened.
5. Push tomatoes and garlic through a ricer, collecting the soup in a bowl.
6. Gently stir in the basil leaves and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Remove and discard basil leaves.
8. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
9. Just before serving, drizzle olive oil on top.

Source: Cameron Rupprecht

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