We’re still in a bit of winter at the moment in North America. With that in mind I figured it was time to pull out the soup ladle and soup bowl and dish us up a piping hot bowl of tasty vegan soup.
There are many reasons to love soup. Not the least of which is that it is a hearty and satisfying meal that will often contain a good amount of vitamins and minerals but at the same time vegan soup is low in calories. Generally. The broth type soups will be lower than the chowders or vegan cream soups. But compared to the regular style chowders or cream soups you’re getting both less calories and no cholesterol.
I call that a win-win.
Soup can be made in advance and last days. Simply reheat over the stove or microwave and you’ve got a delicious meal that keeps on giving. On cold winter nights like tonight a soup will literally warm the cockles of your heart.
I like to add some toast or crackers or even a nice hunk of bun to the side for a more filling dish.
Of course, soup has been well known to hang out in the magnificent company of salad. A soup and salad is probably one of the best meals you can eat ever.
So today we’ll look at two vegan soup recipes. The one is a vegan cream soup and the other a more pedantic but still very pleasant non-cream soup.
Speared through the heart vegan cream soup
This tasty fellow is also known as the vegan asparagus cream soup. It is very easy and will serve 4 to 6 folks depending on appetites and how big your soup blows are. Asparagus comes into season late winter to spring. This is a delicious soup especially for those of us who are fans of the asparagus.
Just to help you enjoy asparagus more, you should know that it contains decent amounts of the following vitamins and minerals. And when I say decent amounts I mean more than 10% per cup of raw asparagus: vitamin A, C, K, thiamine, riboflavin, folate, iron, copper an manganese.
You will need:
2 cups of vegetable broth. I use water with vegetable bouillon powder or cubes
1 pound fresh asparagus cut into small pieces
1 large potato chopped
1 medium onion chopped. I like sweet red onion
2 stalks celery chopped
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups soy milk
2 tbsp oil
0.5 tsp dried tarragon
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pan add the oil and sauté the onions until translucent over medium heat. Then add the broth and bring to a gentle boil over high heat. Now reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the asparagus, potato and celery. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
Take the contents from the pot and blend well in a food processor, adding the flour before you blend.
Return the blended soup from the processor back into the pot and put it back on the stove to simmer. Add in the rest of the ingredients which are soy milk, salt and pepper and tarragon. Let simmer until thick or at least 15 minutes or so. Enjoy!
Cute as a pumpkin vegan soup
I don’t really consider this soup a cream soup, but I suppose you could take issue with me in the fact that it isn’t a clear broth soup either. Let’s split the difference down the middle and call it a damn good cold winter evening vegan soup!
This vegan soup is always a hit around All Hallow’s Eve aka Halloween. Pumpkins are good for you and plentiful at this time of year.
Pumpkin is a generous lad offering up more than 10% of the following vitamins and minerals per 1 cup cooked: vitamin A, C, riboflavin, potassium, copper and manganese. This recipe will also make 4 to 6 depending on who’s eating and how much they’re eating.
You’ll need:
2 tbsp margarine
1 medium onion chopped
16 ounce can of pumpkin or the same of mashed boiled pumpkin
1.25 cups of water
3 cups plain soy milk
0.5 tsp nutmeg powder
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot add the dollops of margarine and over medium heat fry up the onions until translucent or lightly browned.
Toss in all the rest of the ingredients and stir into a nice smooth soup. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until nice and hot stirring consistently. Try not to let it boil as it might spit up at you… and that’s not very polite.
Serve with your favourite croutons on top or make your own by chopping up hunks of bread and letting sit to dry for a day or so.
If you’re just staring out cooking vegan or you want to have a vegan cookbook on hand for when vegan guests come over, I recommend The Complete Vegan Kitchen as a great place to start. 300 tasty and healthy vegan recipes there is bound to be something you enjoy.