October 15, 2009

Chipotle vegetable soup / veganmofo 2009

I should call this post "Pantry Soup" because I made use of stuff from the refrigerator and pantry in an effort to move older stuff out and use up leftovers, including a container of leftover pasta sauce and the end of a bag of frozen corn. I started out wanting a simple cauliflower soup but one thing led to another, and before I was done, it was a full-blown vegetable bean soup. I quick-soaked a cup of kidney beans in eight cups of water by bringing the water to a boil then turning off the stove and letting the beans sit for an hour in the covered pot. I then cooked the beans until they were tender, adding more water as necessary. When they were soft, I added the leftover tomato sauce. I made a flavoring mix of peanut butter, miso, chipotle powder and dried crushed red pepper, and added it to the beans. The onions were caramelized by cooking slowly in a wok for about 30 minutes. After making three soups from "Love Soup" that required caramelized onions, I've become very fond of the added flavor caramelizing brings out. The veggies (except corn) were cut, and simmered with water in a separate pot (to preserve color) to tenderize them and make broth. When cooked, they were added to the beans.

The corn was added last so it wouldn't get over-cooked. I intended to add parsley at the end, but our bag of parsley was gross and unusable. So what's in your refrigerator? Maybe it's time to make soup.

I'm providing a list of ingredients but all quantities are approximate, as they should be. Remember, a tasting spoon is your most valuable piece of cooking equipment!

Vegetable and kidney bean soup
kidney beans (cup dry)
water (8+ cups for the beans, more for the veggies)
leftover tomato sauce (cup) or a can of tomatoes
onion, chopped - caramelized
cauliflower, cut up (head)
celeriac, sliced thin (chunk)
potato, large dice (1)
carrot, sliced (2 large)
frozen corn (cup)
salt to taste
peanut butter (Tbsp.)
mellow white miso (Tbsp.)
chipotle powder (tsp.)
dried crushed red pepper

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Vegetarian spiders found

Just in time for Halloween comes a nice but slightly creepy spider story. The spiders in question are (almost) vegetarian so I thought you'd want to know about them. Except for an occasional treat of ant larvae, these tropical spiders eat plant buds. Check it out. This is real - not a joke.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds yummy! When I have lots of random veggies in the fridge that need to be used up, I usually turn them into soup too.

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  2. I love that soup can be made from almost anything you have needing to be used up. Your soup looks tasty and healthy.

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  3. It's totally soup weather here!!! Thanks for the inspiration... I have onions, carrots, zucchini, beets and carrots left from the garden. I'm sure I can find lots more in the pantry and make some soup!

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  4. Kiersten, Mandee, Claire,
    Soup is kind of like edible compost, in a way. :)

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  5. Dear friends, Brahmakumaris are vegetarian... and emphasize that when cooking in a peaceful, loving frame of mind, the resulting food will nourish the

    emotions as well as the body. There is Brahmakumaris meditation...that relaxes the mind...nurtures a healthy balance between inner and outer worlds... recharge... rejuvenate the inner-self... From Gita

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  6. I am so happy I found this recipe. This is amazing for a Vegan soup! I’ll definitely make them soon. Let me also share something, I also follow one website which talks about vegan food and fitness, http://www.bodybyblasian.com/
    take care!

    ReplyDelete

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