Parsnip and pear soup on a cooler spring evening

One thing I love about spring is that you get lovely days that provide hope that summer is on the way - but you also get the cooler weather so that you can occasionally have your favourite winter dish.

Last night was one of the chillier nights and so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to try out another parsnip soup. (Actually I had a parsnip to use up before going up to see the parents today). Nat and I really enjoyed the parsnip and pumpkin soup - but we didn't have any pumpkin - so I went looking for inspiration and I found this recipe created by Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs.

I didn't have any leeks but I had everything else (really simple easy recipe so there wasn't much else to need which is good because our fridge is pretty empty of vegetables). I altered the recipe a little so, while staying faithful to Ricki's recipe mine is a little different. It was lovely - sweet but with the lovely parsnip flavour (you could taste it but it was not overpowering which was good). It reminded me a bit of applesauce in consistancy (not in a bad way) and I can now understand how parsnips can be used in desserts, like in this recipe at the Vegan Feast Kitchen.

Thanks Ricki for a great recipe.

Pear and Parsnip Soup
1 onion - diced
1 large parsnip - cubed
1 stick celery - chopped
4 small pears - peeled and cubed
1 litre vegetable stock (I cheated and used bullion)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in a little water or broth for about 5 mins. Over medium heat, add celery, parsnip and pear and saute for about 15 mins, stirring constantly. Add vegetable broth and simmer over low heat for a further 15 mins. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool a little before pureeing it using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender.
Serve hot - we served ours with crusty bread.


I am baking some gluten free goodies for our nephew's naming ceremony/birthday celebration. Stay tuned people as I just realised I have no gluten free flour... this could be interesting!!!

Vegan MoFo - Soup to cure sickness

You must think that all I eat is soup. Now I think soup is one of my favourite types of food. Especially over winter - but now the weather is warming up I am more inclined to make a bean salad than a bean soup. However, Nat got home from guiding two nights ago coughing and spluttering. After a pretty restless sleep he stayed in bed for most of the day. He wasn't incredibly hungry during the day but I asked him what he thought he would like for dinner. His unequivocal answer was soup.

Now soup was not really what I felt like as it was quite a warm day (it got to 20 degrees - which isn't hot but when you have had a week or so of 13 degrees I was in tshirt and thai fishermans pants).

Anyway - I borrowed a copy of La Dolce Vegan from the library and so I sifted through the soup recipes and I came up with cauliflower and potato. I tweaked the recipe a fair bit so I will put it here.

It was really good - I had to add some more of the spices (this is just an estimate of what I added - just use your own judgement). I think I am not the biggest fan of cauliflower soup - so I don't think that what I can say about it would really do this soup justice - I mean it was really nice, but I prefer other types of soup flavours.

Nat on the other hand, was thrilled with the soup and said that it was one of the best he's had. He is wanting me to make it again very soon.

So maybe if you like milder soups and cauliflower, this is for you. I will be making this again purely because Nat was so happy with it.

Soup with Cauliflower and potatoes

1 onion - diced
2 carrots - chopped
1 stalk celery - chopped
3/4 large cauliflower head - chopped
2 medium potatoes- chopped (didn't peel because it was organic)
1 medium sweet potato - chopped (I didn't peel this as it was organic)
enough broth to just cover vegetables
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup soymilk (I used fat free)

1. Saute onion, carrot and celery in oil or broth until onion is translucent
2. Add the cauliflower, potato, sweet potato, broth, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
3. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15mins until the potatoes are cooked.
4. Stir in milk and then blend the mixture with a hand blender to the desired consistency (I love chunky soups with bits of potatoes). You can also use a blender or food processor to puree half or all of the soup.
5. Return to the heat and its ready to serve.
6. We served it with crusty homemade toast.

Chunky Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup

Don't you hate it when you get home... have a fridge full of wonderful veggies but just feel like getting leftovers out of the freezer. Well, I have a horrible (but yet wonderful) habit of getting a little too excited when I go veggie shopping at our local market and ending up with so many fresh veggies that I really need to do something with. Well... at the moment I have broccoli, zucchini, organic parsnips (lots of parsnips), capsicum, pumpkin, celery, corn, cabbage, carrots and leek (yes I warned you that I got excited). What I was worried about using up most was the parsnips. I have not really used parsnips that much apart from in casseroles, vegetable soups and shepherds pie. But I had about 5 parsnips!!! So I did a little searching on the net and found this yummy looking soup by Mihl at Seitan is my Motor. So I had all the vegetables that were needed... but no panch poran. So I just added the spices that make up panch poran to the soup... then I added some chilli paste and then some red curry paste. It was THICK!!



As dinner was a lot later than it should have been - in my rush to get it ready I didn't blend it quite as well as I should have... so it had chuncky bits of parsnip and pumpkin - which actually was really nice.

So here is my version of the soup.

Roasted Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup

600g pumpkin - cubed
3 large parsnips - cubed
1 red capsicum - halved

1 onion diced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger - minced
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp chili paste (I use sambel olek)
1 tsp red curry paste
1 1/2 cups red lentils - rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
2. Spray two baking trays with oil and place the vegetables on the trays. Roast in oven for 40mins or until cooked but not mushy.
3. Meanwhile, spray the bottom of a large saucepan with cooking spray, chuck in the spices and stir for a minute. Add onion and ginger and pastes (and a little bit of water) and saute until onion is cooked.
4. Add lentils and stock. Cover and cook for 10-15 mins.
5. Add vegetables and cook a further 10 mins.
6. Blend with an immersion blender or blend in batches in a blender. Add more water if it is too thick - I liked it being thick - I was hungry!
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Serve with crusy bread.

Vegan Mofo #10- Ultimate comfort - Pumpkin-lentil Soup and La Dolce Vegan.

**I just got La Dolce Vegan from the library (I am now in the habit of borrowing cookbooks before I buy them so I can see if it is my sort of cookbook). If you have some favourites from there I would love to hear them as there are just SO many recipes. I am rather excited about trying as many as possible. Your suggestions would be appreciated. **

Thick and spicy soup on a windy night... could it get any better?? I don't think so. I discovered this soup in winter this year and Nat and I make it at least once every couple of weeks. The recipe is an adaptation of a recipe I found on recipezaar. It is thick, it is spicy, it has protein because of the lentils - and it is easy to make a large batch so that we are guaranteed leftovers. I make this differently every time and every time it just turns out yummy. For instance, tonight I used 2 turnips and 2 potatoes (usually I just use potatoes) as the turnips needed to be used up.

Indian style pumpkin soup

1 onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 - 2 red chillies- chopped (or 1-2 tsp chilli paste)
2 tsp curry powder
2 cups pumpkin - chopped
2 stalks celery - (I omitted this tonight as I didn't have any)
1 sweet potato - chopped
4 potatoes (I used 2 turnips and 2 potatoes and it turned out just fine)
1 cup red lentils
1 1/2 litres vegetable stock (I used stock powder and water)

1. Saute onion, garlic and chilli in water
2. Add vegetables, stock and lentils and bring to the boil
3. Lower heat and simmer soup until vegetables are tender (about 20mins)
4. Blend the soup and serve. If its too thin, simmer until it is reduced. If it is too thick add extra stock or water.

Vegan MoFo #7 - Call them what you like... black eyed peas rock

I bought some dried black eyed peas (or black eyed beans or cow peas) from the health food shop the other day with a stew in mind. Anyway - I started soaking them last night and then asked my husband what he would like for dinner only to hear him say soup... well the only black-eyed pea soup recipe I could find was more of a broth than a nice chunky soup... so I decided to create my own soup. Now when I start getting creative - the results are usually so so. But this soup was amazing. It was warming, spicy and just the perfect texture for sitting listening to the windy night outside.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. I think I will be making it again rather soon.


Thick and Spicy Black Eyed Pea Soup

2 onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tsps chili paste (or 2-3 mild fresh chillies)
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 large potato diced
2 cups of black eyed peas cooked (or 1 can)
1 can tomatoes, diced (or equivalent fresh)
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp fresh coriander, roughly chopped (optional)

1. Saute the onion, garlic and chilli in oil or water until the onion is browned.
2. Add tumeric, cumin and coriander and combine with the onion mix
3. Add the beans, potato, tomatoes and stock and simmer 20-30 mins or until potato is soft.
4. Blend with a hand blender- don't puree too much - leave it a little bit chunky - just make sure you get the bits of potato blended.
   
5. Stir in coriander (if using) just before serving.
   

Home alone with Zucchini soup

Well my boy has gone away to work for the weekend. Last night was my first night alone in our house since the wedding - so it was a bit weird trying to work out what to eat. The wind has been wild and crazy lately and I felt like something warming but not too heavy. I had found some cheep zucchinis at the market yesterday and so, without too much thought, I opted to make another of my favourite "mum" recipes. This soup is so easy and if you have the zucchini, all the other ingredients are staples in my house. The flavour is very mild - but I like that. Its very different from the curries that I often consume.

I made enough so that I could have some for lunch today. Ahhh the joys of leftovers.



Mum's Zucchini Soup

3 medium zucchini (about 1-1.5kg) chopped
2 stalks of celery - chopped
1/2 piece wakame, broken into smaller pieces (optional)
1tsp dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh
1 large onion - dices
2-3 cloves garlic - minced
enough water just to cover the vegetables
salt to taste

1. Fry onions, garlic and celery in water or oil until soft
2. Add zucchini, basil and wakame, cover with water and bring to the boil
3. Reduce heat and simer until zucchini looks cooker, approx 5-8 mins
4. Blend gently and season with salt and pepper.

Spring, showers and pumpkin soup

I have been thinking about starting up a blog for some time now. Don't ask me why I have started now... I think the main reason was that the camera was sitting on the kitchen table while I was cooking tea... so I took a few photos and here I am. I was lucky enough to grow up in a vegan household and mum was always cooking wonderful creative recipes. Dinner tonight was one of "mum's recipes". Its a pumpkin soup. I have another pumpkin soup recipe that is much heavier (which I will post here when I next cook it), but this one is lighter and perfect with some freshly baked bread. My husband and I prefer a little more spice than what mum used to use so I added a few extra things.
Mmmmmmm...

Mum's Pumpkin Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp curry powder (I use a madras curry powder)
1 tsp sambal olek (optional)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1.5kg pumpkin, chopped (about one medium sized butternut pumpkin)
1 1/2 litres water
1 tbsp chicken STYLE stock powder
fresh herbs to garnish (optional)
hot sauce to taste (optional)

• saute onion in oil or water, add spices when onion is soft.
• Add remaining ingredients (except garnish). Bring to boil and then simmer until pumkin is tender (about 30mins)
• Blend the soup until smooth.
• Serve with fresh bread

Mum's Homemade Breadmaker Bread
2cups wholemeal spelt flour
2 cups white spelt flour
1/4 cup soy flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
420ml water

Place ingredients in breadpan in the order that your breadmaker specifies. Set cycle to rapid with a light crust.

Makes 1kg loaf