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Mushroom Soup

By Christy on April 23, 2012 in Gluten-free, Recipes, Soups

This recipe can be used with any kind of mushroom you have on hand. I had some fresh button mushrooms and an assortment of dried ones. Rehydrate the dried ones by bringing 2 cups of water to a boil, pour it over the dried mushrooms and let them steep for 20-30 minutes. Do not throw the steeping water away! Strain out any sand or dirt particles and use the broth in the soup. The fish sauce is optional in this but I really like the umami flavor it adds, not fishy at all.

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 ounces dried mushrooms, rehydrated with boiling water and roughly chopped

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, like button or crimini, roughly chopped

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

2 sprigs of thyme

6 cups broth, veggie or chicken

1/2 cup milk or cream

2 tablespoons fish sauce (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add mushrooms and saute until browned, about 6 minutes. Add shallots and garlic and saute until translucent. Add the thyme and broth to the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove thyme stems and whisk in cream, fish sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer mixture into a blender, never filling more than half full and pulse till smooth. If you overfill a blender with hot liquid, it can blow the lid off the blender and send hot soup flying everywhere, so be very careful and work in batches or use an immersion blender right in the pot if you have one.

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Homemade Veggie Bouillon

By Christy on March 9, 2012 in Soups, Uncategorized, Vegan

As a rare cold winter day hits Austin, my craving for a warm bowl of comforting soup heats up. But who has time to spend all day chopping and simmering? Fortunately, I have a secret weapon in my freezer I can reach for in times like these. My homemade veggie bouillon has no msg or unpronounceable preservatives. Just farm fresh veggies and salt.

Before you ask, yes, you really do need all the salt to preserve the vegetables. You only use about 1 teaspoon of the bouillon per cup of water, so the overall salt content in the final soup is rather low.

Use the bouillon as the base for a homemade soup, to punch up a sauce, or mix with sour cream for a veggie dip.

Vegetable Bouillon

3 carrots, scrubbed and peeled, cut in 1 inch pieces

3 celery ribs, cut in 1 inch pieces

1 leek, white part only, sliced

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

12 sun dried tomato halves

8 ounces mushrooms (crimini, white button, portabla, whatever you like)

2 cloves garlic

1 bunch parsley, leaves and stems

7 ounces of salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon pimenton or smoked paprika (optional)

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it forms a smooth paste. Will store in fridge for about a week, store in freezer after that. Use approximately 1 teaspoon per 1 cup of water.

Hints- I have a smaller food processor, so I have to do this in 2 batches. You can add as much as you can fit in the bowl and pulse it down to add more if you need to also. This recipe is very versatile and you can use almost any vegetable you want. Don’t like mushrooms? Substitute parsnips. Want a Mexican style soup? Use cilantro instead of parsley. The sun dried tomatoes are pretty important to rounding out the flavor for me and fresh tomatoes would add too much liquid so I would not sub those out but experiment with your local box to find what works for you.

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Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

By Kathryn on December 15, 2011 in Recipes, Soups

Tomato soup may not come to mind when you think of winter holiday entertaining, but thanks to the wonder of hydroponics, we’re getting beautiful local tomatoes all season long.

Greenling has a limited number of inexpensive “seconds” tomatoes available each week, which can be a real money-saver if you’re planning to cook tomatoes in bulk. These tomatoes are perfectly fresh and safe to eat; they are discounted because they usually arrive very ripe and might have a few cosmetic blemishes.

Since “seconds” tomatoes arrive so ripe, you might need to cook them immediately so they retain their great flavor. For this soup recipe, you can roast the tomatoes and garlic in advance of actually making the soup, since the cooked tomatoes and garlic will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to make the soup, just pull out the cooked ingredients and proceed with the recipe as written.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup (yields 8, 1 1/4-cup servings)

4 pounds tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
5 whole cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons garlic herb butter
4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream, plus extra for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange tomatoes, cut side up, on a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Add unpeeled garlic cloves to baking sheet. Rub three tablespoons of olive oil on tomatoes and garlic, and then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Cook tomatoes and garlic for one hour. Allow to cool to the touch before peeling garlic and moving forward with recipe.

Heat herbed butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy bottomed stock pot. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes, until it has softened. Add honey, tomatoes, garlic, broth, and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or puree it in small batches in a conventional blender. Pour soup through a food mill or strainer into a clean pot. Add heavy cream and stir to combine. Gently reheat, if necessary. Garnish each bowl of soup with a drizzle of heavy cream and a sprinkling of black pepper before serving.

This dish is part of our Organic Entertaining on a Budget series. A complete menu of recipes is available here.

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Roasted Carrot Soup with Dill

By Kathryn on December 12, 2011 in Recipes, Soups

This morning, I woke up groggy, grumpy, and stricken with a mean craving for some vegetables.

I had a cookie hangover, courtesy of the 16 different holiday sweets I sampled at a cookie exchange last night.

I wish I could say this was my first cookie hangover of this season, but I am all too familiar with the icky feeling of overindulgence, especially during the holidays. This carrot soup is one of my go-to recipes for post- sugar binge recovery.

Roasted carrots and onions have natural sweetness that brings me down gently from the sugar high, and stomach-soothing dill offers digestive relief. Using skim milk or unsweetened soy milk in place of heavy cream helps to keep the calories down, too, so I can balance out my cookie consumption.

The best part about making this soup the day after a cookie swap is that the carrots and onions roasting in the oven make the house smell like veggies, not cookies. Someday I’ll learn to have just ~~six~~ two cookies at holiday swaps. Until then, I’ll keep some comforting carrot soup in the fridge to help atone for my pastry sins.

Caramelized Carrot Soup with Dill (yields 6, one-cup servings)

3 cups peeled, chopped carrots, about a pound
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup skim milk or unsweetened soy milk*
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a large stock pot, cook the carrots, onions and garlic in the olive oil for 25 minutes over medium high heat. Stir occasionally, so that the vegetables caramelize evenly.

Once vegetables have softened and browned, add vegetable broth to the pot. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, and then use an immersion blender to purée the soup in the pot. Stir in the milk of your choice, along with the dill. Season the finished soup with salt and pepper.

*Check the label carefully when you buy soy milk for this recipe. Many “regular” flavored soy milks add sugar or evaporated cane juice, and using one of those here will result in a soup that’s too sweet. If you must use soy milk with a sweetener in it, add lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to help brighten the soup’s flavor a bit.

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Vegetarian Chili

By Kathryn on November 10, 2011 in Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups, Vegan

You may have noticed a flyer for this year’s Vegetarian Chili Cook-off in your Greenling bin this week. The Vegetarian Chili Cook-off started in 1989 when four vegetarian societies from across the state of Texas joined to form the Lone Star Vegetarian Network. In the years since, the cook-off has been held in multiple locations all across the state, including West Columbia, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, South Padre Island, and Fort Worth.

This year nearly 1000 people are expected to visit Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock for the 23rd annual cook-off. The fun begins at 11:30 AM on Sunday, November 13th, and all are welcome.

To drum up excitement for Sunday, the Chili Cook-off organizers offered to share a winning recipe for us to publish! This vegetarian chili recipe comes from Stevie Duda, editor of Austin Vegetarian Living, the newsletter of the Vegetarian Network of Austin. With assistance from other VNA members, Stevie’s chili won First Place at the 2007 Lone Star Vegetarian Chili Cook-off, out of about 20 entries.

Stevie Duda’s Award-Winning Vegetarian Chili

2 medium zucchini, seeded and diced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup diced red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable broth
4 15-ounce cans stewed tomatoes, diced
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1/4 cup julienned carrot
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded (but don’t remove ribs) and diced
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, minced
3 tbsp no-salt-added chili powder
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt

In a large pot, saute zucchini, onion, bell peppers, and garlic in the oil or broth, until tender. Stir in all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.