Carrot Bisque

This is another from my *favorite* cookbook: Vegan with a Vengeance. I made this carrot bisque one year for Thanksgiving when we were in NY with my extended family. It was a hit and I've made it a few times since then. I've definitely upped the maple syrup BUT depending on your carrots the sweetness level can vary considerably. This is also a gorgeous (bright orange!) soup so looks great for a fall-themed/holiday spread. 

Originally I was using my immersion blender for this and the carrot texture is apparent (and just fine this way). But, for a super-smooth soup, go for the high-speed Vitamix blending and it really ups the ante for this one! 

Beet, Barley, and Black Soybean Soup with Pumpernickel Croutons

If you like beets and are looking for a change from basic veggie soups, this one is definitely worth making! Another win from my favorite cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance, this combines beets, barley, soybeans, pumpernickel, dill (and I often add a dollop of sour cream- or could do vegan sour cream if you want vegan). It is not a borscht but just as beautiful! This one isn't posted on the Post Punk Kitchen (excellent repository for other veg. recipes though), but this site has it down. 

This is definitely a winter/cozy up/eat-hearty soup for cold days! 

Note: Black soybeans can be difficult to find but I've been able to purchase them at our larger Whole Foods (and stock up- they come canned). I imagine you could also purchase online or possibly other more natural grocery stores (though the Natural Grocers near me has not carried them). 

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

This is one of my OG go-to soup recipes. When I was in college I moved off campus my senior year with 3 friends. We had our own half-a-house, no more meal plan, a rickety kitchen (with a random useable toilet in the pantry... but that's another story) and big aspirations to be 'adult' by cooking for the first time in our 20-year old lives. One of my roommates, "Rank" knew that two of us were vegetarians and photocopied and spiral bound the entire Molly Katzen Moosewood Cookbook as a gift for us. I've since purchased many Molly Katzen books so don't feel *too* badly about this copyright infringement. Included in that cookbook is this recipe for a cauliflower cheese soup. While it does indeed have cheese in it, several times I've considered not adding the cheese, as it is really tasty as-is (and the carrots add a nice orange cheesy-color). The caraway seeds nod to an Eastern European or Russian flavor profile. 

Creamy-Tomato Balsamic Soup

Of all the homemade tomato soups I've made over the years, this may be my very favorite. It is another one from Cooking Light (RIP), but I found it on another fan of the magazine's blog (thank you, Plain Janes). This uses canned (!!!) whole tomatoes, but roasting them in a balsamic concoction first really works to bring about a rich tomato taste. Then, blending with a bit of half-and-half is what brings it over the top- YUM! Note that I've made this with a veg. broth (subbed for the beef) with no issue. A faux beef broth might be even tastier, but regular ol' Better than Bullion veg. does the trick too. 

Note: Given that this is a blended soup, I'll take a moment to give a PSA about my Vitamix. I bought myself a Vitamix at Costco right around the time my 2nd daughter was born (I've never been into the 'push present' concept, but if that worked to support me spending $300 on a blender as a push present for myself I'll go with that...). It is seriously life-changing. My favorite kitchen appliance by a landslide and still going very strong 6+ years later. I often use my Braun brand immersion blender for blended soups too, but when you need something REALLY creamy, there's no comparison to the Vitamix. 

French Onion Soup

I used to be a regular subscriber and avid recipe-maker of the now-defunct Cooking Light magazine. It was a great resource for interesting recipes and by the mid-2000's their online community was pretty decent for reviewing recipes too. For a while there I could have sworn they merged with myrecipes.com but I can't seem to find the older Cooking Light recipes on there any longer. In any case, I digress, but there are a few old CL recipes that I have written down and still refer to and use. This recipe for French Onion Soup is one such recipe. 

I've made this with vegetable broth (errr... Better Than Bullion) instead of beef and it is almost as good as the beefy version. This has a very rich and sweet onion flavor (it mixes red onions with Vidalias- and lots of them!). I often skip the bread on the top (but NEVER skip the melted Swiss...). I love French Onion Soup so much that I've toyed with the idea of even buying those cute little crocks to go into the oven... maybe one of these days I'll spring for them! 

Cream of 'Turkey' & Wild Rice Soup

I think that I have 2 other wild rice soups posted here already (perhaps more?) but that's because I really love wild rice in a soup. Wild rice holds its texture better than standard white or brown rice in soups and makes for a more interesting dish than the standard rices. 

Years ago, I followed a food blogger named Catherine who had an informal blog called Food Snob (which hasn't been updated in many years now). She was a mostly vegetarian who did a lot of adapting of non-veggie recipes. This soup is an example of that, as the original calls for leftover turkey. Like Catherine, I wanted to try this in vegetarian form. While she suggests simply omitting the turkey, I have made it many times with faux chicken (Gardein works well here but I think that I've also used Quorn-- and some of the newer meat subs might be even better here). I also have used a standard wild rice blend instead of instant (this Lundberg brand blend is great but I'm sure others would work well too). 

This is quite hearty and the mix of the chewy wild rice, creamy broth, veggies, and faux chicken is very filling. Enjoy! 

Gazpacho: Two Ways

About 10 years ago, when my dad was living in Southern Spain, I fell in love with really excellent gazpacho. Up until that point, I had only had bland cold tomato soups, but the Spanish did it right! I came home determined to find a delicious gazpacho recipe. After much Google research on the topic, I settled on this recipe from Alton Brown/The Food Network. Indeed, it was just what I was looking for-- rich tomato flavor but with subtle other fresh flavors shining through. Oh- and it was pretty creamy too-- thanks to the 1/4 cup of olive oil in it. I made this several times, but it was an effort, given that it called for peeling fresh tomatoes, seeding, etc. etc..

Then, about two years ago, a neighbor-friend, Amy, told me that her favorite gazpacho recipe was this one. I was skeptical at first, as I was worried the tomato skins (no peeling!) would somehow make the soup texture off, but I was glad to be wrong about that! Indeed, Love and Lemons has been a trusted go-to source for recipes and this one was a hit too (perhaps the 1/2 cup of olive oil helps??). I don't know that I've made the Alton Brown version since I discovered this much easier option, but I'll keep both recipes on hand.