It’s fall, it’s time to eat potatoes and root vegetables with every meal. I was craving potato soup this morning but didn’t feel like following my potato jalapeño soup recipe plus I’m out of jalapeños (sinful, I know!) I was also feeling lazy so I wanted the soup to make itself. That’s not too much to ask for, right?! I decided to roast Yukon potatoes with onions and a head of garlic and then puree the whole thing and add milk. Easy, right? So easy.
Category: garlic
Chick Pea Kale Garlic Soup
This is one of the easiest, simplest soup recipes I make, yet it is one of the most nutritious and comforting. I’m especially fond of it when I have a cold for all the yummy, garlicky goodness.
Chick Pea Kale Garlic Soup
4 cups of chopped and steamed kale
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of cooked or canned chick peas
6 cups of Vegetable stock or 2 bouillon cubes with water
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh black pepper
1 tsp of fresh or 1 tbsp dry thyme
Splash of soymilk (optional)
1. Steam chopped kale and set aside
2. Warm olive oil in a soup pot on medium high heat
3. Saute diced onions for 5 minutes, stirring often then add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes
4. Once they’re both soft add the vegetable stock, chick peas and kale
5. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for at least 20-30 minutes
6. Add salt, pepper and thyme
7. Add soymilk if you prefer the soup cloudy and want to cut down the pungent ‘garlicky’ taste into a softer flavor
Total Prep and Cooking Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Servings: 4 bowls
Spinach Artichoke Dip
After years of missing the hot gooey goodness of spinach artichoke dips I created this recipe, which I think comes pretty damn close to the original, without all the heavy cheese, cholesterol and cruelty.
Spinach Artichoke Dip
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp spelt flour (or flour of your choice)
1 small yellow onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves chopped, plus one left whole and raw
1 (12 oz) jar marinated artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
1 (8 oz) package frozen spinach (thawed, drained & squeezed dry)
1 (12 oz) package firm silken tofu
1 1/2 cups cooked chick peas, or other white bean (or 1 can drained and rinsed)
2 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup of fresh parsley
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tsp fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp of dried basil, divided
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Blend together tofu, chick peas, nutritional yeast, raw garlic clove, vinegar, lemon juice and parsley in food processor until smooth. Remove contents and place in large bowl
3. Heat oil in cast iron skillet. Add flour when hot and stir constantly until browned
4. Add onion, garlic and cook 3 minutes then add spinach & artichoke hearts and saute until onion is soft
5. Add cooked ingredients and spices to bowl and stir until well mixed. You can also puree all ingredients in a food processor for a creamy consistency or pulse to leave it chunky.
6. Add extra seasonings & nutritional yeast, as needed
8. Serve warm with toasted bread, tortilla chips or fresh veggies, such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and celery.
Total Prep and Cooking Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Servings: As an appetizer for 5-10 people
Nutritional Yeast ‘Cheese’
1/2 cup of raw almonds, walnuts or pecans
1 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tsp of sea salt
Blend all ingredients in a food processor until well incorporated. Keep in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Use it to top salads, mashed potatoes, soups or popcorn.
Split Pea Soup
After seeing how many soups have the option of pureeing all the ingredients after they are cooked, I decided to try something different with this one and puree all the vegetables prior to cooking them. The result? A delicious, even flavor with optional consistency.
Split Pea Soup
2 cups of dried green split peas, rinsed and sorted (optional: soaked overnight to increase digestibility)
2 tbsp of olive oil or earth balance
5 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 medium sized onion, coarsely chopped
2 medim sized carrots, coarsely chopped
2 celery sticks, coarsely chopped
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 bouillon cube and 6 cups of water or 6 cups of vegetable stock (adjust accordingly)
Herbs: bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, sea salt and fresh pepper
1. Place onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth (add a little water if needed).
2. Heat olive oil and/or earth balance in a large soup pot on medium high heat. Once hot, add contents from blender/food processor. Cook until slightly darkened.
3. Add washed and drained peas. Let sit for a minute in mixture to blend flavors.
4. Add bay leaf and vegetable stock or water with bouillon. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes, reduce heat to medium and cover.
5. Once peas are soft they’ll start falling apart. Pull out bay leaf.
6. Add remaining seasonings to taste (about 8-10 shakes of each herb plus 15 cranks of fresh pepper and a tablespoon of sea salt).
7. To puree you can use an immersion blender, a wire whisk (for a thicker
consistency), you can also puree in a blender or simply leave it as is.
8. Serve with some fresh ground pepper.
Total prep and cooking time: 1 to 1 1/2 hours
Servings: About 6 hearty bowls
The Spicy Vegan 