Vegetarian soup?

[mom22tots]

Can you share your favorite ideas for vegetarian soup...and recipes too? I tend to make the same few....slit pea, tomato-based vegetable, and I need to break out of my rut. TIA

[ErnieD]

This chipotle/sweet potato/apple soup is delicious-think I may have found it linked here in fact:

http://www.sistersrunningthekitchen.c...

I don't mess with the apple juice, and just add water if needed to get to the consistency I like. Sweet potatoes are plenty sweet without the added sugar, to me.

[meerastvargo]

I know this is not a specific recipe, but I HIGHLY recommend Vegetable Soups by Deborah Madison. Some of the recipes from the book that I really like are the chesnut lentil soup, the lentil sorrel soup, the peanut butter soup, and the Italian passato.

[puntiaguda]

Miso. Instead of, or in addition to stock. Miso is my secret vegetarian-soup weapon.

Except for when you want a light broth as the soup base, or when you need a mushroom stock specifically, a miso will add complexity and depth to most soups. Most importantly, it has tons of umami.

My black bean soup gets consistent raves, and the secret is using brown or barley miso. Potato-Leek soup with miso is another favorite, it becomes so much richer, more complex, heartier. I put smaller amounts in minestrone and vegetable soups, too -- nearly everything loves a little more umami.

If you use it, be sure to not add any salt until you taste, the miso is already quite salty. Also you don't want to cook the miso, you add it at the end, to taste -- mash it up with a bit a water, bit by bit, until it's thin enough to stir in. Enjoy.

BLACK BEAN SOUP

9 cups cooked black beans (6 cans, or about 1 ½ lbs or 4 cups dry beans)
a few Tbs. oil
2 onions
3 or 4 stalks of celery
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
juice of 2 lemons
some orange juice (maybe about 1 cup)
1 tsp. cloves
2 or more tsp. ground cumin
5 (or more) Tbs. miso (hatcho, brown, red, or barley – white or shiso is too delicate to stand up to the beans)

Cook the onion, garlic, and celery in the oil until soft and translucent. You can add dry beans and lots of water and cook the beans, or use pre-cooked beans or cans and just enough water to make it soupy. When beans are cooked, add all the seasonings except miso.

Let the soup cool a bit, then add the miso. Thin it first, or put it in a blender with a little bit of soup. Puree some or all of soup, in a blender or food processor, until it's a consistency you like.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with sour cream or yogurt and a crusty bread. Sourdough is very nice.

*Sometimes I throw in some potatoes, don’t use celery, use much more garlic, more lemons but no orange juice, or add some cayenne, and I vary the consistency from complete puree to mostly whole beans depending on my mood. You can also garnish it with lemon slices and cilantro if you like.

[Stein the Fine]

I sort of stumbled into doing an hilariously pared-down soup which I've named "Two Ingredient Tomato Bisque". The only veggie it contains is tomato so it doesn't solve the problem of getting children to eat greens, but what there is of it is wholesome and kid friendly in flavor. What you do is take 1 Tbsp. of good quality tomato paste per serving (I like the Contadina that's made w/ Roma-type tomatoes and is less sour than most, or Bionaturae organic from Italy when I can find it), mix in a small amount of milk, lowfat or whole to loosen the paste w/o creating lumps, then very gradually mix in more until you get a thick liquid texture you like for creamy soup. Heat it slowly on a low burner until just before it boils. It can actually be served like that and it's fairly nice, but I usually do season it. There are endless possibilities using the easiest ground dried spices and herbs, but my favorite so far is some onion powder, ground ancho chilis, smidge of cinnamon, and s&p. If you're a little under the weather but still have to come up w/ something hot to go w/ sandwiches, this'll do the trick admirably, and it costs a tiny fraction of what you'd pay for a deli soup.

[ken_tireman]

You can find some good vegetarian soup recipes and tips at http://www.savory-soup-recipes.com/vegetarian-soup.html
I have made a few of the recipes but the one that I like the most is roasted red pepper soup which has some heavy cream in it but you can leave that out and it tastes great. You can find that one at http://www.savory-soup-recipes.com/ro...

[pamd]

I makes soup constantly....
African peanut stew
sweet potato carrot
matzoh ball (just omit chicken, make veggie broth)
broccoli potato cheese
lentil
pumkin/butternut squash black bean chili

[basketwoman]

Corn Chowder. Cook onion, potatoes, red peppers, water or veg. stock, creamed corn (fresh is better, but frozen or canned will do) milk or cream, S&P, dash nutmeg. Top with sour cream when serving.

[Veggie Liv]

mmm, I love corn chowder. Here is my version:

http://veggieliv.blogspot.com/2011/01...

[fikesa]

Here is a wonderful lentil soup recipe that doesn't taste like lentil soup. It's all Trader Joe's ingredients and takes less than an hour. It's awesome.

1 container Mirepoix (diced celery, carrots, onions)
1 container vegetable broth (32 oz, can use chicken if you prefer)
1 container (12 oz) mild salsa (get the one that's basically just chopped tomatoes and onions - not saucy)
1 package steamed lentils (in the refrig section)
1 package pre-cooked brown rice - in a plastic pouch on the grocery shelf, 10.5 oz

saute the mirepoix in a pan with a little olive oil for 6-8 minutes
dump everything into a big pot - bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, til all veggies are tender.
can add more broth based on preference.

I don't really love soup....or lentils, but this is my new favorite recipe - cravable.

[pasuga]

If you can find a copy of the NY Times Natural Foods Cookbook, they have several tasty soups... the lentil soup recipe is fabulous. Don't have the book to hand, but I recall simmering the lentils in vegetable stock or water with diced potato and carrot, adding tomato juice and basil later on. At the end adding dry white wine and a couple good handfuls of fresh spinach until just wilted and serving with grated Romano cheese. It's very hearty and has always been a big hit.

[velvetdc1]

My all-time favorite is a tuscan soup with white beans, tomatoes, garlic, onions. I stir in kale at the end and serve it over garlic toasts topped with a dollop of ricotta cheese. Yum!!

[tearingmonkey]

Sweet potato & Pear
Roasted Celery root & truffle oil
to be fancy or ..simply ...

Veg broth with lemon zest, parsley & orzo pasta (if you eat eggs: whisk together egg, grated parma and a little garlic, then whisk into the hot broth)

[piccola]

I make a lot of soup in the cold months. Lately, I've been making:

-black bean and pumpkin with chipotle
-mushroom and rosemary (using the big bags of quick-sale wild mushrooms from the grocery store)
-kimchi soup (with or without noodles), drizzled with toasted sesame oil
-tomato and cabbage soup with whatever other veggies I have on hand

[cathyeats]

I agree with todao that roasted vegetable soup is delicious. Here's my take on it:

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, thickly sliced
1 parsnip, thickly sliced
1 large stalk celery, thickly sliced
½ small butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
½ small fennel bulb, trimmed and cubed
10 whole fresh sage leaves
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
5-7 cups vegetable broth (use gluten-free broth if you are gluten-sensitive)
Chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish
Toasted pine nuts, for garnish
Aged balsamic vinegar, for garnish
Place the garlic, vegetables, sage and olive oil in a large roasting pan and stir to mix. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 35 minutes, turning once. Puree with stock in a food processor or blender. (The amount of stock you need depends on the amount of vegetables you end up with, so start with 5 cups and add more until you get the thickness you want.) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reheat and serve, garnishing with pine nuts, parsley and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Pictured here: http://www.whatwouldcathyeat.com/2010...

[cheesecake17]

I make soup quite often for dinner... always vegetarian.. sometimes will add cheese as a topping to some, but I don't use cream in my cooking. a few of our favorites:
- mushroom soup (creamy, but no milk or cream)
- root veggie soup
- creamy cauliflower w/cumin
- veggie with egg nooodles and lentils
- veggie/bean chili
- miso/mushroom/udon
- black bean/sweet potato (more like a stew)
- creamy black bean with cilantro
- chickpea noodle

[Veggie Liv]

I LOVE soup, and I make it often. There is nothing like a big warm bowl of love to soothe you after a long day.

Barley is always good to add to soup because it holds up, and also gives the soup a richness that a lot of vegetarian soups tend to lack.

Here is a recipe for some kale and barley soup: http://www.nibbledish.com/people/Vegg...

(There are also a lot of other vegetarian soup recipes on that page as well.)

[boyzoma]

French Onion Soup made with vegetable stock. Especially since you don't have an aversion to cheese. Very tasty.

[cheesecake17]

I've made French Onion Soup with veggie stock.. comes out really good. Reminds me.. I should make it next week :)

[velvetdc1]

do either of you have a link to a particularly good recipe? i can't believe i never thought to just make it - i've been vegetarian for 15 years and only regret it when i see french onion on the menu!

[JonParker]

Here's the one I use. Never tried it with veggie stock , but it's really good.

http://www.cookography.com/2008/the-b...

[velvetdc1]

Looks great - thank you! I won't know til I try :)

[missmasala]

I have a vegetarian daughter who loves soup, so I make a lot of them. She doesn't love the smooth pureed veggie soups, so I tend to make chunkier ones. Mostly I just improvise with what I have in my fridge--Soup is a great way to use up leftover or about to go bad vegetables and starches. Here are some in our rotation:

creamy cauliflower soup with dill and farina dumplings
creamy tomato with flour and egg dumplings
soupy dal (indian lentil soup)
tuscan vegetable soup (aromatics simmered with white beans or chickpeas, handful of pasta, tuscan kale, veg stock or water and a parmesan rind)
black bean soup
soupe au pistou (like the tuscan veg, but with slightly different veggies and pesto swirled in at the end)
vegetarian borscht
saar (spicy indian style tomato and coconut soup)

[mamachef]

creamy cauliflower soup with dill dumplings? that sounds like a great, big bowl of love!

[Bigley9]

Add a slice of bread to the bowl for the second day of the Tuscan vegetable soup and heat it in the oven - ribolita!

[small h]

missmasala, could you share the cauliflower soup recipe? The closest thing I found was this:

http://kirstenlindquist.blogspot.com/...

I have a lot of dill. And I'm sick of mushroom barley and borscht.

[JonParker]

If you eat cheese then this one is really good:

http://www.closetcooking.com/2007/11/...

[small h]

I do eat cheese, and I thank you kindly for this excellent suggestion.

[JonParker]

It's really good. That guy has several really good soups on his blog -- I've made three or four of them and they've all been excellent.

[small h]

I made the cauliflower soup today - very nice! Except it needed more stock, more cheese & more dill than the recipe called for (all of which I had, so no problem there). And then I thought, hmmm. Maybe I just used an unnaturally large cauliflower. It *looked* normal, but obviously it was some sort of super-sized mutant. Anyway, thanks again!

[Veggie Liv]

HAHA! I hate those mutant foods that just don't seem to do you right when trying to follow a new recipe.

[small h]

It's a lose/lose. Either the recipe calls for a very accurate four cups of chopped cauliflower, in which case you eyeball a cauliflower trying to determine how many cups it will actually yield, because what are you going to do with 3/4 cup of leftover cauliflower? Or the recipe calls for *a* cauliflower, for which there is no standard measure. Stupid vegetables and their stupid variability.

[mamachef]

Any bean soup is better if you make it 7-bean soup!
If you're not vegan, creamed winter vegetable soup; always a plus. Broccoli, Cauliflower/apple/curry, carrot soup with five-spice powder and a good extra hit of star anise.
Onion Soup! Made with veg. stock, and all the usual criminals loaded on top!

[magiesmom]

If you are vegan ( or not!) coconut milk makes a wonderful creamy soup. I always keep some cans in the pantry.

[Rasam]

Peanut butter makes a fantastic creamifier for soup too.

One of the best soups of all times is Spicy Eggplant Soup from the book Veganomicon, here is a link to the recipe:

http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/spicy...

[tastesgoodwhatisit]

I use Tom-Yum soup mix as a base, and add lots of vegetables and a squeeze of lime juice for a good spicy vegetable soup - check the Tom-yum paste though, as it may contain shrimp paste.

Tomato based soup with a spoon of pesto thrown in for some variety.

The broth left over from cooking dried beans makes a lovely rich broth for whatever you want to add in.

[Emme]

Mushy Miso Green
saute chopped onion, add garlic, then add a melange of slice wild mushrooms and chopped greens (mustard, bok choy, collards, kale, etc) and asparagus. add miso broth and simmer til veggies are done. add in chopped tofu or stream in seasoned egg (whites) while the broth simmers. adjust seasonings with lemon juice, soy sauce or bragg's, mustard ( a tad), etc.

[mom22tots]

That sounds delicious!! Thank you

[MplsM ary]

Broccoli rice soup. http://ethnicvegan.com/broccoli_rice_...

I use cow or almond milk as I find soy milk too 'flavorful.'

[Megbeck]

One of my favorite things to make is peanut stew in the crockpot. Yes, it uses a cup of peanut butter, but it makes A LOT, so it probably isn't that bad for you on a per serving basis.

Toss in crockpot:
8 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped,
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T chili powder or blend
1 t cumin
28 oz diced tomatoes
1.5 c lentils (or 1 c lentils, 1/2 c rice)
Add in any other veggies you have lying around (green beans, sweet potatoes, whatever)

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4
Stir in 1 c peanut butter and simmer another hour.
Serve with sriracha!

[Emme]

i do something similar, except omit the peppers and chili powder, as well as peanut butter. i use coriander in addition to the cumin, and sometimes sub cauliflower for the lentils (i know, they're so not the same.)

[EllenMM]

Mushroom barley soup from "Joy of Cooking". I use either veggie or mushroom stock instead of beef and it's yummy. I just finished eating a bowl of it, and after a rich Thanksgiving, it hit exactly the right note.

[JonParker]

By the way, can you say what you meant by vegetarian? Is dairy ok? Understanding the limits of your diet would enable people to help you better.

[mom22tots]

Personally, I meant anything not containing meat. Dairy's okay by me.

[greygarious]

Lentil soup, dal.

If you want to shortcut vegetable stock, Better Than Bouillon comes in vegetable and also in mushroom. Just omit the salt in the recipe until you've tasted the broth.

[LauraGrace]

And no-chicken chicken flavor, which is amazing and totally convincing! :)

[arp29]

I like this recipe for zucchini vichyssoise made with vegetable stock. And I prefer it hot.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/in...

[JonParker]

Saute a chopped onion in a T. of oil. When it begins to soften, add a few cloves of crushed garlic, stirring constantly. Add 1 T. ancho chili powder and 1 T. cumin. Stir with onion and garlic until fragrant.

Dump the whole mess into a large pot. Add 4 cans black beans and 2. c. stock -- I use chicken, but veggie would work for a vegetarian soup. Bring to a simmer.

Turn oven to broil. Put 5 or 6 medium sized poblano peppers on a foil covered cookie sheet. Broil until they just begin to blacken, flip them over and broil the other side to the same color. Remove from oven and place in a plastic bag -- grocery bag works well here. Twist the neck of the bag or otherwise seal it. Let sit for 20 minutes.

Remove the peppers, pull off the necks, remove the seeds and peel under running water. Chop peppers into about a 1/4 inch dice. Add to soup, simmer for a couple of hours, adding more stock or water if needed.

Mash some of the beans against the side of the pot or give it a couple of seconds with an immersion blender to puree some of the beans and thicken the soup. If your vegetarian diet allows dairy, a dollop of sour cream goes well on top.

Variant: a tsp or so of five spice powder added to the onion-garlic-spice mix adds an interesting flavor. Sometimes I feel like it, sometimes I don't.

[Make Me Dinner]

Do not put the peppers in a plastic grocery bag. Do not! Anyway, moving on. It might be easier to roast the peppers if you seed them, halve them, brush the skins with oil, and put them under the broiler (skin side up). When they start to blacken, take them out and stack them one on top of the other, and let them sit for 10 minutes or so until they're cool enough to handle. The peels should come off easily; not sure if I'd try doing it under running water, though. You're welcome!

[JonParker]

Thank you for your insightful post.

[Make Me Dinner]

Apology accepted.

[magiesmom]

If you stack them in an bowl and cover it you will get the benefit of the extruded juices, not to be missed, IMO.

[chef chicklet]

I roast pepper and don't advise to run them under water, you can simply scrape the seeds away. The little pod inside, if you make a T shape cut, snip the pepper off all the way around. If you want to leave the stem (for rellenos)then just snip the pod off at the top with scissors. You lose flavor by washing the peppers, and once you break that little pod of seeds up, seeds end up everywhere. I find a paper bag works fine, or place them on a plate with foil. The charred peel will come right off.

[bear]

I agree on not washing the peppers. Scraping with a spoon is often helpful, too, for both the skin and the seeds.

[Harters]

Cream of mushroom
Carrot & coriander

[iL Divo]

the only one I know of is a recipe I took from a cookbood and tweaked it.
so it no longer resembles the original and it is delicious.
it's vegetarian and minestrone, you didn't say vegan right? cause it contains a small amount of parmesan cheese.
gotta look it up

[todao]

Roasting a lot of vegetables, including an assortment of mushrooms, then cooking them in a rich veggie stock can be delicious.