Curry Carrot Soup

We just got back yesterday from a week long vacation on an Alaskan Cruise (a few pictures are at the bottom of this post), and I came home to a bare bones fridge without any willpower to make it to the grocery store.  I grabbed all of the surviving veggies out of the pantry and fridge and got to work.  Sometimes the best recipes come from those we throw together out of necessity, and this is a keeper!

It is ever so slightly starting to feel like fall in western Washington, so this creamy, comforting soup just hit the spot.  Along with an afternoon of football, knitting, and tea, this soup got me in the mood to cuddle up on the couch, wear fuzzy socks, and relax.  Ahhhh... :)

I made this recipe in my InstantPot Duo pressure cooker, but it can easily be done on the stovetop or a crockpot by adjusting the cooking times.  See my notes below for suggested adjustments.

Curry Carrot Soup
(Pressure Cooker Friendly)
Time: 10 minutes prep, 6 minutes high pressure
Servings: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
        2 cups chopped onion
        2 celery sticks, chopped
        4 cups chopped carrots
        1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
        1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
        1 tsp minced ginger
        1 tsp cumin seeds
        1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
        1/2 tsp dried mustard powder (optional)
        1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubbed
        1 cup dried yellow split peas
        1 cup dried red lentils
        6 cups water (boiling water will bring pot to pressure faster, optional)
        2 Tbsp mild curry powder
        1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

        3 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, deseeded, and chopped

Pressure Cooker Instructions:
1.)  In a large pressure cooker, saute the onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, cumin, and fennel seeds for 3-5 minutes.
2.)  Add in the remaining ingredients except for the roasted red bell peppers.  Stir to distribute spices throughout.
3.)  Lock the lid in place and cook at high pressure for 6 minutes.  Allow the pressure to come down naturally for 15 minutes, and then release any remaining pressure.
4.)  Carefully remove the lid once pressure has been released.  Add in the chopped roasted peppers.  Serve chunky or use an immersion blender to cream the soup, adding additional water to reach the desired consistency.  Serve hot and enjoy!

Amys Notes:
To make this soup on the stovetop, follow the same directions to saute, but simmer for 20-30 minutes in place of the 6 minutes cooking at pressure.

To make this soup in a crockpot, throw all of the ingredients in and cook on high for about 4 hours.

I would suggest topping with green onion, cilantro, parsley, basil, or nutritional yeast.  Again, I was running on empty cupboards, so mine pictured is merely garnished with fresh ground black pepper.

Now, here are a few pictures from our Alaskan Cruise last week... :)

Our first stop was in Ketchican.  We started the day by going to Creek Street (the old red light district), and then continued for a hike up Deer Mountain.  I hiked about halfway up (1500 feet) until we got to a beautiful overlook.  We met my parents halfway up the trail and Kevin and my dad decided to continue to the top of the mountain (3200 feet) while my mom and I slowly made our way down the mountain so I would have time to check out a yarn shop in town.

This is Kevin after the long hike.  The peak above is where him and my dad made it up to.  We were all a little sore the day following, but the views and scenery made it all worth it!

Our next stop should have been up the Tracy Arm Fjord, but unfortunately someone had a medical emergency that day on the ship and we had to proceed to Juneau instead of  seeing the Tracy Arm Glacier.  Huge bummer!  Thankfully, we didnt have any hard-set plans in Juneau and were able to take a shuttle up to Mendenhall Glacier.  The weather was perfectly sunny, but just cool enough that I got to rock some of my favorite knitted pieces.

Later in Juneau we took another shuttle to the Alaskan Brewery for a guided tasting.  Lots of fun to learn about the innovative ways the brewery has adapted to produce the quantities they do with more efficiency and less environmental impacts (recycling CO2 from fermentation and using spent grain biomass for energy).  The beer was delicious!

Health and Happiness,

Amy

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Pressure Cooker Potato Leek Soup

In our house, we have potato leek soup a couple of times a month.  The facts that potatoes keep on the shelf so well, are often the last produce around before grocery shopping day, and cook relatively quickly have made this soup one of our main staples.

When I first became a Nutritarian, I really missed the creaminess of thick soups and sauces, so potato leek soup was one of my first favorites because it gives you that creaminess without any cow cream.  To make a similar recipe, but on the stovetop, refer to Katies Creamy Potato Soup recipe here.  This was a recipe I adapted from my sister-in-law that I love love!

Now-a-days, I make my potato leek soup a bit differently, and in "my precious" pressure cooker.  Quite literally, I called it "my precious" in our move last weekend while a coworker of Kevins was packing it.  Yep...  I went full-on LOTR Gollum with an appliance, but if you have one, you will know what I mean.

In the recipe I am about to share with you, I like to add lots of veggies besides potatoes and leeks.  I often throw in whatever sounds good in my fridge that needs to be used up, but this is my general recipe.  In the pressure cooker, this takes only 6 minutes at pressure with a quick release at the end!

Pressure Cooker Potato Leek Soup
Time: 10 minute prep, 6 minutes high pressure, quick release
Servings: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:
        2 lbs mixed white, red, golden potatoes - peeled if not organic and cut into 2 inch cubes
        2 leeks trimmed, washed well, and sliced including most of the green portion
        2 cloves garlic, minced
        3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
        3 medium celery stalks, diced
        1 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped, any variety
        1 Tbsp dried herb mix - see note below
        8 cups of water (boiling when added, if desired to reach high pressure faster)
        1-2 cups unsweetened plant-based milk (optional)

Instructions:
1.)  On the saute function, saute the chopped leeks and minced garlic for 3-5 minutes, adding water as needed to prevent burning.
2.)  Add in the remainder of the ingredients EXCEPT for the plant-based milk.  Lock the pressure cooker lid in place and cook at high pressure for 5-7 minutes.
3.)  After the allotted time, do a manual quick release of the pressure, or allow the pressure to come down naturally.
4.)  With an immersion blender or high-powered blender, blend the soup to your desired thickness, being cautious not to overprocess.  Potatoes can get a bit gummy if they are blended too much.
5.)  Season with salt and pepper, and serve warm topped with fresh herbs, nutritional yeast, and/or green onion.


Amys Notes:

Sometimes I substitute one leek with one yellow onion or two bunches of green onions, depending on the price of leeks during the year and my pantry stock of onions.  I find the flavor to be just as nice, and save me a bit of money as well.

For the dried herbs, I like to mix it up from batch to batch, but I generally add at least 1 Tbsp total of dried herbs.  My favorite lately is Herbs de Provence, but you could also do a mixture of thyme, rosemary, fennel seeds, basil, oregano, parsley, marjoram, sage, etc.



Health and Happiness,

Amy

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Katies Creamy Potato Leek Soup

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!  Ive been busy with cooking, cleaning, and hanging out with friends.  Friday night a few of us went to the Spokane Oktoberfest to try out a few beers from over 20 different breweries.  It was a great time out with friends being beer connoisseurs.

For Healthy Vegan Friday I will be featuring the soup I had for dinners and I featured in this weeks What I Ate Wednesday.  My sister-in-law Katie sent me this recipe after she had described it to me as "Amazing!"  I found it to be a great recipe to use up some of the vegetables I had left from the veggie trays at our reception (the carrots and celery).  It is so simple, yet delicious.  Hope you give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 2 large leeks, roughly chopped
• 6 medium potatoes (or equivalent red potatoes), diced
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 medium celery stalks, sliced
• 8 cups water
• 2 cups non-dairy milk (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Some suggested spice combinations:
• 1/2 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp basil and 1/2 thyme

Directions:

1. Chop the leeks, carrot, and celery, and water saute in a dutch oven or large pot for about 10 minutes.
2. Add your selected spices to the vegetables while they are sauteing.
3. In the meantime, scrub potatoes and chop into 1 inch chunks (peeling optional).
4. Add potatoes, water, and salt to pot.  
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
7. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to a creamy consistency.
8. Stir in milk to thin and give a creamier taste (optional).

Amys Notes:

This a fairly versatile soup in how you decide to make it.  I used red potatoes and left the skin on, but you could easily use russet potatoes and choose to leave the skins on or off.  Also, if you dont happen to have leeks on hand, you might be able to use an onion or three in replacement.  The spices in this recipe are also very versatile.  Whatever your spice/dried herb preference, give it a try with this soup.  From the pictures you can tell that the soup in the pot is not as light in color as the soup in my bowl.  This is because I added a bit of almond milk once I served the soup.  This worked well for Kevin and I because he preferred to add his regular milk while I added my non-dairy milk.  This little trick also is great for saving room in your fridge with the leftovers.  If you dont add the milk until you are going to eat the leftovers, it will allow you to store thicker soup in smaller containers to save room in the fridge.

What is your favorite versatile recipe or your favorite recipe to use up vegetables in your fridge?

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Quick Tomato Soup

How was everyones Christmas?  I hope you enjoyed time with family and had save travels.  This year, Kevin and I went to his familys in Sequim, WA.  No White Christmas to be found, unfortunately, but still a lovely time.

I got quite a few kitchen goodies over Christmas from my parents, Kevins family, and Kevin, including a large glass measuring bowl (8 cups! with a lid!), two cookbooks (Thug Kitchen and The New Fast Food), a Washington shaped cutting board, a large Kitchenaid mesh strainer, and a new pizza baking stone.  Im so excited to try out and use all my new items....

But for now, we are spending some time relaxing and watching football.  (Have I mentioned that Im in the Championship game for my Fantasy Football league?!)  So today, I needed a quick recipe that I could whip up in less than 15 minutes during the morning games halftimes.  Since we have been traveling a bit, our fridge is a little bare, and no way was I going to run out to the grocery store. ;)

Quick Tomato Soup
Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:
        1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups pre-cooked)
        1 can diced tomatoes
        1.5 cups water (more to thin)
        1/4 cup raw cashews
        2 cloves garlic
        1 roasted red bell pepper
        1 tsp cumin
        1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
        black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1.)  In a high speed blender, blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy, adding water 1/2 cup at a time until desired consistency.
2.)  Heat the soup using one of the following methods:
Blender heated option (Blendtek, Vitamix, etc.):  Continue to blend on high until the soup is warm and steamy.
Stovetop option:  Pour desired amount of soup into a saucepan and heat on medium heat on the stovetop.
3.)  Store leftovers in an airtight container.  When reheating leftovers, you may need to add more water to thin.

Amys Notes:
This soup is wonderfully creamy, and surprisingly filling.  Feel free to top with fresh herbs, green onions, nutritional yeast, etc.

Note that there are two different options to heat the soup once it is blended.  Those with a crazy-powerful blender will be able to heat the soup by blending in just a few minutes.  I have a blender that is great for making things creamy, but doesnt quite have that umph, so I heated mine on the stove.

One thing I love about this soup, other than how quickly it comes together, is that it doesnt require any cutting or chopping.  Just toss the ingredients in, blend and yum!

After finishing the soup, I realized that it would also be an excellent pasta sauce if it isnt thinned by water too much.  This soup would also be very easy to freeze.

*Sorry for the untidy photo.
 I got about halfway through my bowl when
I realized that I NEEDED to share this with you guys. :)

Health and Happiness,

Amy

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Loaded Black Bean Soup

How was everyones New Years?  We spent ours going out to an early dinner at a nearby pizza place/bar, then headed home to watch Star Wars Return of the Jedi that Kevin had got for Christmas from my parents.  The days leading up to New Years Eve were spent around the house in sweatpants (me mostly knitting enjoying my new yarn, and Kevin writing the outline to the book he is starting to write).

Sweatpants time is soup time in our house, so I took this recipe written by Jill Nussinow that is in both the Instant Pot recipe book as well as her cookbook, The New Fast Food.  (Featured on this blog here as well.)  Ive altered it a bit to include more beans, spices, veggies, and corn.  A soup can never have too many things in it in my opinion.  This recipe can EASILY be adapted for the stove top with a bit more cooking time and using only canned beans.  Please see my notes below the recipe.

Speaking of Jill... have you heard about Jills new cookbook, Vegan Under Pressure that is being released on January 12th (pre-orders are available now)!?  I was lucky enough to be contacted by Jills book agent to feature a recipe and a giveaway on the blog this coming month.  I have gotten a peek at the recipes and I cant wait to share one with you!  Stay tuned!

Loaded Black Bean Soup
(adapted from Jill Nossinows original recipe, which you can find here)
Serves: 6
Time: 10 minute prep, 5 minute saute, 7 minute high pressure, natural pressure release, 1 minute high pressure, quick release


Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 large celery ribs, diced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
1 bay leaf
2 tsp dried oregano (or 2 Tbsp fresh)
1 1/2 cups dried black beans, soaked for 8 hours
6 cups vegetable broth (homemade or low sodium preferred)
........................................................
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn, non thawed
........................................................
salt to taste
cilantro to garnish
soy yogurt to top (optional)


Instructions:

1. Prepare all ingredients before beginning.
2. Sauté the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes in a heated pressure cooker, adding water as needed to prevent burning.  Add in the carrot, celery, and spices.  Stir well to mix and sauté for 2 more minutes.
3. Add in the soaked dried beans and vegetable broth.  Lock the lid and set to cook at high pressure for 7 minutes (those with an InstantPot can alternatively use the soup function for 7 minutes).  When the timer is done, allow the pressure to come down naturally.
4. After the pressure has been released, carefully remove the lid.  Use an immersion blender, or scoop several cups of the soup into a blender.  Blend until about half of the soup is creamy, leaving quite a few small chunks behind.
5. Add in the canned black beans and frozen corn.  Lock the lid and set to cook at high pressure for 1 minute.  Once the minute is up, carefully quick release the pressure.
6. Serve hot with cilantro to garnish and soy yogurt/sour cream to top.  Leftovers will thicken up in the fridge and the flavors will marinade to make the soup even better the next day!

Notes for adapting for the stovetop:

1. Prepare all ingredients before beginning.
2. In a large soup pot, water sauté the onion and garlic.  Add in the carrot, celery, and spices.  Stir well to mix and sauté for 2 more minutes.
3. Add in 2 cans of washed and drained black beans along with the vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
4. Use an immersion blender to blend about half of the soup.
5. Add in the 3rd can of rinsed and drained black beans as well as the frozen corn and cook for an additional 10 minutes without the lid.
6. Serve hot with cilantro garnish and soy yogurt to top.  Leftovers will thicken up in the fridge and the flavors will marinade to make the soup even better the next day!

Health and Happiness,

Amy

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Amys Favorite Lentil Soup

I know for some of the U.S., that nasty winter weather is still holding on.  In Eastern Washington we have been experiencing  the usual sporadic spring weather we are used to, but in light of the rainy conditions the last few days, I thought a nice warming soup was in order.

If you talk to just about any plant-based vegetarian, they all have their own spin on lentil soup.  My moms lentil soup comes with just about every veggie under the sun, including broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, depending on what she has in her fridge at the time.  My version is a little bit more simple, but oboy is it good!

What makes lentil soups such a popular go-to?  First off, lentils are easy-peasy to cook up in a soup from dried lentils.  Most types of dried lentils cook within 30 minutes, compared to dried beans that take soaking and cooking for a few hours (unless you have a pressure cooker, that is).  Lentils also have a great texture and go along very well with all sorts of veggies.  Lentil soups are also welcoming to all sorts of spice, herb, and flavor combinations.  I have tried a lentil soup that even added in some fresh lemon juice at the end, and it was an interesting and delicious kick!

For my household, lentil soup is always a favorite.  Even my husband, who is a die-hard meat and potatoes man, comes home at the end of the day wanting some of "whatever smells so good in our kitchen."  Over time, I have found that I can sneak in more veggies for Kevin if I chop them very small into a soup, but feel free to make your lentil soup as chunky as you want!

Amys Favorite Lentil Soup

Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:
    Vegetables: approximately 4 cups total
        2 cloves garlic, pressed
        1/4 large yellow onion, finely chopped
        3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
        2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
        4-6 mushrooms, roughly chopped
    Lentils: 1+1/2 cups total, rinsed and drained
        1/2 cup dry brown lentils
        1/2 cup dry french green lentils
        1/2 cup dry red lentils
    Liquid and Spices:
        4 cups water
        2 cups vegetable stock
        1/2 Tbsp no-salt seasoning
        1 tsp cumin spice
        1 bay leaf
        pepper to taste

Instructions:
1.)  Chop all vegetables as desired.  You can add or subtract any vegetables depending on your personal tastes or what you happen to have on hand, but make sure it adds up to 4 cups of chopped veggies.
2.)  Over medium heat in a large soup pot or dutch oven, dry sauté the garlic and chopped vegetables until tender and the onion in partially translucent, stirring frequently.
3.)  Add the lentils, liquids, and spices to the pot, stirring to combine.  Bring to a simmer, then turn to medium low heat and cover, simmering for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked.
4.)  Remove the bay leaf, season with pepper, and serve steaming hot.

Amys Notes:
Feel free to make this lentil soup to your tastes.  If you hate celery, but love broccoli, switch them out.  Or, if you have some Brussels sprouts that you are needing to use up, chop those up and throw them in!

Similarly with the lentils, if you dont have red lentils and just want to use brown lentils, feel free to mix up the lentil ratios!  Just make sure to add 1.5 cups of dried lentils total.

If you would like even more veggies in your soup, add some greens at the end of cooking.  If you would like to do this, then at the end of simmering, add in some washed and chopped dark greens.  Stir over the heat until the greens are wilted and serve.  I added some spinach to mine today, but and dark green such as kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, beet greens, etc. would work just fine.

This recipe is great to make ahead of time and reheat throughout the week.  Sometimes I make a double batch and freeze half of it for meals to defrost in the future.  Like many soups, this one tastes even better the next day!

What do you put in your version of lentil soup?

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Mexican Pinto Bean Soup with Carrot Top and Cilantro Chimichurri

I was so excited to pick up my very first Full Circle basket earlier this week!  I decided to start adding a lot more organic foods into my repertoire, and the most affordable and time efficient way of making that happen (before the summer farmers markets come) was to join Full Circle.  They are 100% organic and strive to provide as much local produce as possible.

Full Circle has its roots in CSAs, but in a way that is accessible and affordable for more people.  As of now they are available in California, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, and Western and Eastern Washington.  They have 4 different sizes/prices of boxes depending on your family size or vegetable/fruit intake.  What I like best about it is that I can see what will be delivered a week in advance and change any of the items to another item from a list of 20 or more.  You can also add some grocery items to your cart from their big list of items, from fruits and veggies, to nuts, grains, and even flowers!

I will let you guys know my opinion of them as time goes on.  This was my box this week:

This week I got apples, carrots, snap peas, tangerines, braising cut greens mix, and cilantro.  I added on extras of kale raab, red chard, and yellow onions.

Overall, Im pretty happy with the quantity and quality of the produce.  The only thing that left something to be desired was the kale raab (very center with yellow tab).  I havent tried it yet, but the bunch was significantly smaller than I was expecting, but braising cut greens mix and red chard made up for it.  Im also super excited to try out the sugar snap peas sometime this week!

Obviously, with all of this fresh organic produce, I just HAD to make something new!  I used some of the carrots, an onion, and the cilantro and carrot top greens in the recipe below.  Hope you enjoy!

Mexican Pinto Bean Soup
Time: 15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking
Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:
        4 cups filtered water
        4 cups vegetable broth
        3 cups pinto beans (homemade or 2-16 oz cans rinsed and drained)
        2-16 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained (I used petit diced tomatoes)
        1 lb. red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 4 cups)
        4 medium carrots, peeled if not organic, and chopped
        3 medium celery stalks, chopped
        1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
        1/4 cup chopped green chiles, fresh or canned (optional)
        2 Tbsp tomato paste
        1 Tbsp your favorite no-salt seasoning
        1 Tbsp chili powder
        1 tsp cumin
        1 tsp ground coriander
        1 tsp paprika
        1/2 tsp onion powder
        1/2 tsp garlic powder
        1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

(Optional creamier soup variation, as pictured)
        1/2 cup cashews
        1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Note that I used tomato paste, pinto beans, and green chiles that I had frozen.  Thats why they look a little funny in my ingredients picture above. ;)

Instructions:

1. Prep all ingredients and add them to a large stovetop pot (except creamier soup ingredients).
2. On medium-high heat, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Allow to simmer, uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the other vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
4. (Optional Creamier Soup Step) Once the soup is done cooking, scoop a cup or two of the soup into a high powered blender along with the cashews and nutritional yeast.  Blend on high until smooth and creamy.  Add back to the soup and stir to combine.
5. Serve hot and topped off with Carrot Top and Cilantro Chimichurri.

Amys Notes:

When I heated this up to serve the next day.  I added a little bit of leftover quinoa to the mixture and it went over very well with my tried and true taste testers (a.k.a Mom and Dad :)), not to mention, quinoa added a bit more protein to the soup.

If you dont have the ingredients to make the chimichurri below to add to the soup, fresh chopped cilantro will give you a similar taste.

Carrot Top and Cilantro Chimichurri
Time: 10 minutes
Servings: use as a condiment

Ingredients: 

• large bunch carrot tops, stems removed
• bunch cilantro, roughly chopped with the stems removed
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (lemon or rice vinegar would work too)

Instructions: 

Combine all ingredients into a food processor.  Process until well combined, but chunky like a pesto.  Serve as a dip, as a spread, in a burrito, or any way that you might use a condiment.  I decided to top my soup off with it.  Mixed in, it complemented the soup perfectly!

Amys Notes:

Who knew that carrot top greens could be so flavorful?!  I think pre-ETL, I probably just would have tossed them thinking that they were inedible.  So happy I found a good use for them for when I get carrots again in my Full Circle box. :)

Here is a picture of the chimichurry mixed into the soup.... Not nearly as pretty, but boy does it taste delicious! 

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