Vegan Spicy-Citrus Tomato Soup

By Pam Hadder

Yes, I'm a little crazy for soup. I engaged in a little kitchen alchemy yesterday, using the veg I had on hand and getting a bit creative with seasoning and my Vegan Spicy-Citrus Tomato Soup was the outcome!

Everyone loved it, so I'm posting this recipe while the magic is fresh in my noggin! Don't be afraid of the citrus in this soup - yes, it contains orange, but it is not an overwhelming flavour.  Rather, it adds a lovely brightness to the soup and pairs nicely with the chilies, marjoram and tomato. Happy soup making - in my view, nothing beats a steaming pot of soup for dinner on a winter day xox

Pam's Vegan Spicy-Citrus Tomato Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
Sea salt to taste (I used 1 tsp.)
2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced
1.5 cups chopped celery (I use the pale inner stalks for soup, including leafy bits)
3 clove fresh garlic, crushed
500 g. sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tsp. dried and crushed marjoram
1 tsp. dried and crushed parsley
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried crushed red chilies
1 large tin mixed beans (540 ml), drained and rinsed
1.5 - 2 cups crushed, strained stewed tomatoes (tinned)
4 -5 cups water plus 1 vegetable bouillon cube (or 4-5 cups veg stock)
1/2 large orange, seeded and cut in quarters, rind on

METHOD:
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot for 2 minutes over medium heat, adding in the onion and salt.  Stirring occasionally, cover loosely and let the onions cook for 5-7 minutes, until beginning to turn translucent. Add in the carrots, celery and garlic, stirring to combine and covering loosely. Continue to cook for 10-12 minutes, then add in the mushrooms, marjoram, parsley, black pepper, chilies and one cup of the water - stir, loosely cover and simmer another 7-9 minutes.  Add in the beans, tomatoes, water, bouillon, and orange pieces. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Scoop out the oranges pieces and discard, then serve with pasta and a bit of grated veggie cheese, or as-is with some fresh bread and veggie "butter." Serves 4-5.

Winter Sunshine - Vegan Chickpea Stew

By Pam Hadder

Recently I had a fairly severe allergic reaction to a new "hypoallergenic" face cream. It has been several years since I've had this type of reaction, so it really caught me off guard.  My eyes almost swelled shut - so, not fun and a bit frightening. Aside from antihistamines, fresh cucumber masques and cool cloths, I tried to use nutritional supports to reduce inflammation and sensitivity. My Winter Sunshine - Vegan Chickpea Stew
resulted.

It is a vegan recipe, but you could easily adapt it to suit your food preferences - adding additional protein, for example, leftover chicken. However, it may surprise the carnivores and omnivores among us just how satisfying an all veg stew can be. I enjoyed this with a slice of fresh bread and veggie "butter" and it felt like a warm hug - not a good sick person, lol.  The magic ingredient is turmeric, known for its healing properties.  If you haven't cooked with turmeric, it is a yellow powdered spice common in Asian cooking that comes from the turmeric plant, and it is what gives curry powder blends their sunny yellow colour. The medicinal component of turmeric is called curcumin.  Some health sites note that fat and black pepper help our bodies to absorb the beneficial curcumin, so if you are adding a bit of turmeric to rice when cooking it, also add a bit of oil (I suggest olive or, my go-to, coconut oil), and serve it with fresh cracked black pepper.  Yummy and very healing for the body.  Also, turmeric needs heat to blend with foods, so you wouldn't add the dry powder to a cold salad dressing, but you could make a cooked vinaigrette that is served warm, or cooked to dissolve/blend then cooled to serve (and remember... fat, black pepper are your turmeric buddies!). 

I hope you will enjoy making and eating this soup recipe in good health - even if you don't have an allergic reaction, cold or other health ailment, turmeric is a wonderful additive, if only for it's subtle bitter flavour and sunny colour. This recipe is easily doubled or tripled for larger groups, or to make-ahead for easy meals - freezes very well. xo

Winter Sunshine - Vegan Chickpea Stew

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp. olive oil (or coconut, canola, sunflower oil)
2 medium cooking onions,  chopped
1.5 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
Sea salt to taste (depends on seasoning of your broth)
2 tsp. dry, crushed savory or sage
2 tsp. turmeric powder
4-6 cups vegetable soup stock
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced/crushed
4 large or 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1.5 cups peeled and chopped carrots
1.5 cups chopped fresh celery (I save the paler inside stalks and greens and use them for soup)
1 large can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 lemon, seeded and quartered
1.5 cups chopped fresh parsley

METHOD:
Heat the oil for 1-2 minutes in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add in the onions, sea salt and black pepper, stirring frequently. Once the onions begin to soften, cover and reduce heat and cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, celery, carrots, potatoes, turmeric, savory/sage, and four cups of broth. Add enough additional broth or water to cover all vegetables. Increase heat and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add in the chick peas, squeeze the juice from the lemon pieces into the pot and throw the lemon pieces, rind and all into the pot. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add in the parsley, stirring to combine - simmer an additional 15 minutes, scoop out the lemon pieces and discard, and serve. 

Other great add-ins: homemade dumplings, grated veggie cheese, or a dollop of yogurt.  I think some stewed diced tomatoes and zucchini would be great in this soup - also frozen peas or corn.  Have fun personalizing your delicious pot of soup :)

Note: If you like a thicker or thinner stew, adjust by adding a bit of water or additional stock - adjust seasonings accordingly, to your taste. 

African Peanut Stew

By Pam Hadder

I love African peanut soup and stew and have been trying various recipes for over 20 years! Typically, I don't experiment too much with the recipes, because they aren't from my cultural origin, but I wasn't quite getting the flavours that pleased me. 

This recipe was made out of my head, inspired by many years of trying peanut stew and peanut soup recipes, and is a vegan version. If you eat meat, you could easily add chopped cooked chicken and could use chicken broth instead of the vegetable broth.  Other additions could to boost protein are tofu and chick peas - tofu can be cubed, seasoned and pan fried first and added at serving time; chick peas can also be seasoned and lightly oiled, then pan fried or baked to add to the stew. Nice garnishes are fresh chopped cilantro, parsley, peanuts, cherry tomatoes or greek yogurt (any or all of these items pair really nicely) - be creative with what you have on hand and what you enjoy eating.  I love this soup "as is" with a scoop of steaming rice, but it is also fun to have a few options on hand allowing your family and friends to customize their bowl!

I hope you will will feel free to put your own stamp upon this recipe, based upon your flavour preferences and dietary needs. Enjoy in good health xox

Pam's African Peanut Stew

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large cooking onion, finely chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2-4 cups water, depending on desired consistency
1 - 540 ml size tin diced tomatoes
2 sweet potatoes (approx. 750 g), peeled and cubed
1 - 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 tsp. crushed red chilies
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1-1/2 tsp. dry ground ginger
3 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
6-8 star anise pods
2/3 cups chunky peanut butter
4-6 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
*Optional: 1/2 lemon, juice and rind

Method:
Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat, and stir in the onions, sea salt and black pepper.  Stirring frequently, loosely cover and cook onions 5-7 minutes until they begin to turn translucent. Add in the carrots and garlic, reducing heat, and loosely covering - cook an additional 10-12 minutes, adding a bit of water or vegetable stock if the vegetables begin to brown.  You want the veggies to soften, but not caramelize - you may need to reduce the heat.   After cooking the carrots with the onions for 10-12 minutes, add in the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetable stock, all seasonings and spices - reserve the star anise, peanut butter and spinach.  Add enough water so that all vegetables are covered.  Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and loosely cover - allow to simmer 45 minutes.  When there is 15 minutes left on the 45 minute timer, I start my basmati rice (recipes follows).  Add in the peanut butter and star anise pods, along with all of the spinach. Optional - squeeze in juice of 1/2 lemon, and removing, seeds, cut squeezed rind in quarters and add it to the broth.  Stir well and simmer an additional 15-20 minutes. Remove the star anise pods and lemon rind, if used, serve in bowls over a scoop of hot basmati rice.

Method/Recipe - Basmati Rice:
1 - 1/2 cups dry measure rice
3 cups cold water
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. coconut oil

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Add in the dry measure of rice and the salt. Cook, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes. Add in the water, increasing heat to bring to a boil. When the rice boils vigorously, reduce the heat to low, tightly cover and set a timer for 15 minutes. At 15 minutes, turn off stove element, uncover and stir the rice, recover and let stand 3-5 minutes. Serve as desired.