speedvegan

Smashed pea soup for dinner, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 cup split peas
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water, divided
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp fresh parsley
1/4 tsp fresh thyme
1/4 cup farro (or barley)
1 medium carrot, diced
fresh ground pepper, to taste
fresh oregano, for garnish

1. In a large stock pot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent. Stir in the celery and cook for another minute.

2. Add the peas, broth and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and stir in the lemon juice, sugar, salt, mustard, parsley and thyme. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes or until peas are soft.

3. While the soup is cooking, combine farro and 3 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

4. Puree split pea mixture until smooth with either a handheld or standard blender. Pour back into the stock pot.

5. Add cooked farro to split pea mixture. Stir in the carrots and fresh ground pepper. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until carrots are tender, stirring occasionally. Adjust water if necessary.

6. Let soup sit for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish each serving with fresh oregano. Enjoy !

Mom’s Lentil Soup, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

I love my mom’s lentil soup. I remember eating it quite a bit as a child and, even now, I find it incredibly tasty and satisfying.

1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 tbsp tomato paste
5 cups water
2/3 cup dried lentils
2 tsp salt
1 small sweet potato, cubed
1 small carrot, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
fresh ground pepper, to taste

1. In a large stockpot, saute garlic, onion and green pepper in olive oil over medium heat until tender. Add tomato paste and cook for another minute or two.

2. Add water, lentils and salt. Bring to a boil. Add potato, carrot and bay leaf. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Stir in oregano and cumin and cook for another 30 minutes.

4. Drizzle with vinegar and season with fresh ground pepper. Stir, remove from heat and serve with crusty bread.

Potato Leek Soup, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

2 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
1 – 2 leeks, thinly sliced
6 – 8 russet potatoes, cubed
2 cups veggie stock
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup soy milk
2 tsp fresh thyme
salt and pepper (to taste)

1. Melt margarine in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Cook leeks until tender.

2. Add potatoes, veggie stock and water. Cook for 20 minutes.

3. Pour half of soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to the pan. Add soy milk, time, salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Serve while it’s hot and enjoy with crusty bead or saltines.

Carrot Ginger Soup, originally uploaded by cloudmonkey.

My favorite restaurant, Sublime, is open again. They’ve had carrot ginger soup a few of the times I have been there. It’s much better than the Whole Foods version, lighter and definitely tastier. I tried to make something like it since Geoff and I both love soup and bread for dinner.

2 lbs carrots, peeled and trimmed
4 cups water
1 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, grated
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
juice of one orange
dash ground nutmeg (optional)
vegan sour cream (optional)

1. Cut carrots into 1-inch chunks. Place in a medium saucepan with the water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until carrots are tender.

2. In a medium pan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Saute onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger salt and spices. Lower heat and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the orange juice.

3. Puree everything together in a blender. You may have to do this in several batches. Transfer the puree to another pot. Stir in nutmeg and keep over low heat until ready to serve.

4. Serve each bowl with a teaspoon of sour cream in the center and sprinkle with nutmeg, if desired.

Sometimes, Sublime adds a drizzle of chili oil on top. So, if you’d like an extra kick, try that !

Feel-Better-Geoffrey Miso Soup, originally uploaded by cloudmonkey.

Geoff was under the weather last night so I made him a batch of extra-special feel-better Miso Soup. At first I thought it would be too bland but it actually turned out quite tasty.

1 cup vegan noodles
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped
6 oz firm silken tofu, cut into small cubes
5 cups water
2 tbsp tamari sauce
1/3 cup miso paste
1/4 cup scallions, chopped

1. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Rinse and set aside.

2. Place carrot, mushrooms and tofu in a large stockpot. Add water and tamari sauce. Bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes or until veggies are tender. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in the miso paste until dissolved. Add cooked noodles and scallions. Serve immediately.

I had a bowl of this as well. It was yummy !

Cream of Asparagus Soup, originally uploaded by cloudmonkey.

I love soup and bread for dinner. I could have it every day of the week. Fortunately, so does Geoffrey. One of our favorite vegetables is asparagus. We had some left over from our “grilled veggie pizza” adventure the night before so I decided to use it in a soup. My sinuses have been acting up and it was a stormy night. I knew a nice bowl of creamy hot soup and crusty bread would hit the spot.

1 bunch asparagus
2 tbsp non-hydrogenated margarine
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large potato, cut into small cubes
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp tamari
2 1/2 cups rice milk
salt and pepper (to taste)

1. Chop the asparagus into 1-inch pieces, reserving the tips.

2. In a large saucepan, melt margarine over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic, asparagus, potatoes and rosemary.

3. When onion is translucent, pour in the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until the vegetables are tender, roughly 15 minutes.

4. Stir in the flour and cook for one more minute.

5. Transfer saucepan contents to blender. Add tamari and 1 cup rice milk. Process until smooth.

6. Return soup to saucepan. Add remaining rice milk and the asparagus tips. Stir until well combined.

7. Cook over medium heat until the soup thickens and tips are tender.

8. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with vegan sour cream and crusty bread.

We will definitely be making this one again !

Color Me Cool Salad, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

Summer is in full swing in South Florida. Humidity hit a whopping 90% yesterday. That was around 8am. When it is this hot, I prefer to eat light and preferably cool. Geoff and I decided on salad. The outcome was something so pretty that Geoff insisted I take a photo. Oh, it was yummy too.

bunch of mixed greens (enough for two)
4 oz blackened tofu, chopped
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 seedless cucumber, chopped
1/2 orange pepper, chopped
20 kalamata olives, pitted

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
dash of dried dill
salt and pepper (to taste)

1. Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Whisk dressing ingredients and pour over salad.

3. Serve with bread and love.

So easy !

Southwestern Black Bean Soup, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

I had the best black bean soup in Mount Dora. I tried to make something like it at home. It didn’t turn out the same, but I liked it enough to post the recipe.

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 vidalia onion, finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp bar-b-q sauce
1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
16 oz veggie stock
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper (to taste)

1. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat.

2. Saute onion, pepper and garlic for 3-4 minutes, or until tender.

3. Stir in bar-b-q sauce, black beans, chili powder, coriander, cumin, and oregano.

4. Add the veggie stock, vinegar and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

6. Serve immediately with vegan sour cream. Garnish with parsley.

We had this with a Greek Salad. I know it’s an odd combo, but it worked.

Banana Chip Walnut Salad, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

A few months ago, I made a Banana Nut Salad. I wanted something like it this week, but my left knee was still the size of a cantaloupe. Standing around for a long time would only aggravate it, so I cheated a little bit. I was so happy with the results that I decided to blog my creation.

generous amount of baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup banana chips
1/2 cup walnuts

Dressing:
1 tbsp flax seed oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp strawberry or raspberry preserves
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper (to taste)

1. To make dressing, whisk ingredients until smooth.

2. Combine spinach, banana chips and walnuts.

3. Transfer to serving plate and pour dressing over salad.

We had this salad at least 3 times this week and it was yummy every time !

Agave Mustard Dressing, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

I don’t know why I hadn’t attempted to veganize Honey Mustard Dressing before. I used to enjoy it quite a bit back in my non-vegan days. I decided to try it tonight for some unknown reason. I had been craving a salad, but I’ve been having trouble consuming enough calories lately so I had to add a lot of protein and a bit of fat to it.

4 oz organic arugula
8 oz seitan, cut into bit size pieces
bragg liquid aminos
1/4 cup wild rice flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Dressing:
2 tbsp vegan sour cream
1 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper (to taste)

1. To make the dressing, mix mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard with wire whisk. Add agave nectar, lemon juice, salt and pepper, stirring until well combined. Set aside

2. Spray (or brush) each piece of seitan with braggs.

3. Place flour and garlic powder in a large zip-lock bag. Place seitan inside of the bag. Close the bag, making sure to leave some air in it.

4. Shake the bag until each piece of seitan is coated with the flour mixture.

5. Heat olive oil in a wok or large pan over moderate high heat. Gently add seitan and cook for about 10 minutes or until each piece is golden brown.

6. Place a generous amount of arugula in a bowl. Add some of the cooked seitan and then pour the delicious dressing over it.

Wow ! I couldn’t believe how good this dressing is. I will definitely be making this more often. If you want, you can add some sunflower seeds too.