Soup

When it's cold outside, is there anything better to warm up with than a bowl of homemade soup? Maybe...maybe not. But if soup is your thing, today's post is sure to please. Check out the Roasted Autumn Vegetable Soup, the Italian White Bean and Kale Soup, or any of the other yummy soups in today's post. Enjoy!

HERBED CARROT SOUP



From the December 2005 issue of Runner's World; reprinted from HerbWise: Growing, Cooking, WellBeing, by Bruce Burnett



Ingredients

2 pounds of carrots, chopped

1 large onion, diced

6 sprigs of fresh parsley, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, and 6 six black peppercorns, bundled together so that they can be easily removed after cooking

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 Tbs of butter

6 C of vegetable stock

Freshly grated mace or nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Lightly sauté the onion and garlic in the butter. Add the stock and carrots and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the bundle of herbs and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes. Remove the herbs, allow the soup to cool, and put it through the blender in batches. Reheat the soup over low heat while adding the mace or nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some fresh, homemade bread and garnish with some fresh parsley and a little chopped fresh thyme.

Note: The original recipe called for vegetable or chicken stock.

ITALIAN WHITE BEAN AND KALE SOUP

This recipe is from Vegetarian Times, and begins, “Add a slice of crusty bread and a tossed salad to this soup for a quick, satisfying cold-weather meal.

“To make the soup without the Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, simply substitute two 15-ounce cans whole tomatoes for the slow-roasted tomatoes and water used.”

View this online at https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/italian-white-bean-and-kale-soup-recipe/.

Servings 4

Ingredients

10 thawed Slow-Roasted Tomatoes (1 cup)

1 Tbs. olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 large onion, finely chopped (2 cups)

6 oz. lacinato kale, coarsely chopped

1 cup cooked white beans

Directions

Blend tomatoes with 2 cups water in blender or food processor until smooth (you should have about 3 cups); set aside.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until translucent. Add tomato purée and 4 more cups water, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Add kale and white beans; cook 10 minutes more, or until kale is tender. Serve drizzled with oil.

VEGAN FENNEL AND PUMPKIN POTAGE

This recipe from Vegetarian Times begins, "Potage is the French term for a thick, blended soup that’s usually served at the start of a meal. A single potato gives this vegan pumpkin potage recipe a rich, creamy texture — without the cream. Fennel gives the soup a sophisticated, anise-like flavor that compliments the rich pumpkin and a bit of tomato paste keeps things from getting too heavy.

"While we can certainly imagine setting down to a big bowl of this on a chilly evening and enjoying it all on its own, it certainly shines as intended, as the first course of an elevated cold-weather dinner menu. Consider serving it for a harvest-time gathering before the lentil-nut loaf and butternut lasagna hit the table."

Makes 6 servings.

To view this online, go to https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/fennel-pumpkin-potage/.

Ingredients

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1-1/2 cups)

1 medium bulb fennel, trimmed, fronds reserved, cut into 1-inch chunks (1-1/2 cups)

1/4 cup white wine

2 cups pumpkin purée or canned pumpkin

1 medium Yukon gold potato (5 oz.), peeled and cut into chunks

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 Tbs. tomato paste

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Directions

Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and fennel, and cook 7 to 10 minutes, or until beginning to turn deep brown, stirring occasionally. Add white wine, and stir to deglaze pan, scraping up any browned, stuck-on bits.

Stir in 4 cups water, pumpkin purée, potato, garlic, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and 3 cups water. Season with 1 tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. black pepper, if desired. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 30 minutes, or until potatoes and fennel are very tender.

Purée soup in batches in blender or food processor until smooth, adding more water or broth if necessary to obtain desired consistency. Reheat as needed, and serve garnished with fennel fronds.

CORN CHOWDER

This comes from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list. Makes 4 servings; Time: 30 to 40 minutes

Ingredients

4 to 6 ears of corn

4 cups water

1 tablespoon butter or neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tomatoes, cored, seeded, and chopped

1 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves, optional

Directions

Shuck the corn and use a paring knife to strip the kernels into a bowl. Put the cobs in a pot with 4 cups water; bring to a boil, cover, and simmer while you continue.

Put the butter or oil in a saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter melts or the oil is hot, add the onion and potatoes, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes; add the tomatoes if you’re using them and cook, stirring, for another minute or two.

After the corn cobs have cooked for at least 10 minutes, strain the liquid into the onion-potato mixture; bring to a boil, then turn the heat down so the mixture simmers. When the potatoes are tender, add the corn kernels and milk and heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, garnish with the parsley and serve.

ROASTED AUTUMN VEGETABLE SOUP

This comes from an old Weight Watchers emailing list, and begins, “This warm, comforting soup will stick to your ribs on cold fall days. Roasting the vegetables helps bring out their natural sweetness.”

POINTS® Value: 2; Servings: 8; Preparation Time: 25 min; Cooking Time: 30 min; Level of Difficulty: Easy

Note: This recipe originally called for “3 cups fat-free chicken broth.” But since this is a vegetarian blog, I substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Ingredients

1 large onion, cut into large chunks

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

6 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

4 cups winter squash, cubed

2 servings cooking spray (5 one-second sprays per serving)

3 cups fat-free vegetable broth

1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk

1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste

1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a large roasting pan combine onion, carrots, parsnips and squash; coat with cooking spray. Roast for 15 minutes.

Place vegetables in a large pot; add broth and milk. Season to taste. Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes to allow flavors to combine. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender in pot, and blend until smooth, about 4 to 5 minutes. (Puree soup in batches to prevent hot liquid from splatterng, if necessary. Or allow soup to cool before pureeing.) Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Notes

You can add more water or broth to the pureed soup to achieve desired thickness.

FENNEL AND TOMATO SOUP

This comes from page 28 of the January/February 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times. It begins, “Fennel and tomato pair nicely for an Italian-style tomato soup. Save fennel fronds to use as a garnish.” Serves 6 in 30 minutes or less.

To view this online, click here.

Note: The recipe originally calls for 2 Tbs. dry vermouth, dry white wine, or water. Since I don’t keep alcohol around the house - except for rubbing alcohol - I left the vermouth and/or white wine out of the recipe and substituted water.

Ingredients

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 large fennel bulb, diced (4 cups)

3 vegan Italian sausages, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds (2 cups)

1 tsp. fennel seeds

2 Tbs. water

4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

3 Tbs. chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preparation

Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add fennel, and sauté 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in sausages and fennel seeds, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until fennel seeds are slightly softened and bits of sausage are stuck to bottom of pan. Add vermouth, and cook 5 to 10 seconds to deglaze pan, scraping up any brown bits. Add broth, tomatoes, and parsley; cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

nutritional information Per 1 2/3-cup serving: Calories: 163; Protein: 6 g; Total Fat: 8 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Carbohydrates: 19 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 380 mg; Fiber: 5 g; Sugar: 2 g; Vegan