Brothy Thai Curry

Another NYT recipe here- and this one also deviates from my norm, and it was a good- though not great- soup. Brothy Thai Curry With Silken Tofu and Herbs combined many of the flavors that I love (coconut, ginger, cilantro, lime, tomato). It called for 3 Tablespoons of curry paste (!) so I was worried it would be too spicy but it was actually fairly mild. I loved the inclusion of silken tofu to bulk it up and also added quartered mushrooms and broccoli florets (not called for in the recipe) to add yet more bulk. I used a pint of regular (fresh) cherry tomatoes vs. a canned variety. I smooshed the tomatoes in the pot a bit to bring about more flavor as they cooked, but I do wonder if this is one of those unique situations in which canned may have actually been more flavorful?  

For lunches at work, I packed up tupperwares of the soup with side dishes of a lime wedge, chopped cilantro and scallion so I could heat up the soup without making my herbs soggy. This was a vibrant and different choice for me and while I didn't love it, I did indeed *like* it. 

Rosemary + Cauliflower Win

This recipe is one of several you should see forthcoming from the NYT recipe pages. Last winter break I paid for a subscription on a whim when I was desperate for the No-Knead Bread recipe. Sure enough, I forgot to cancel and so my annual subscription hit my credit card a year later. I'm committed to getting some real value of this subscription, so expect to see more from the NYT recipe site between now and next December 14! 

I have made many cauliflower soup recipes in my day and this one was true to its name- it is super creamy- likely the richest and creamiest I've made! I'm unsure if I can attribute that to the significant olive oil in the recipe or my beloved Vitamix (that I didn't own when I started this blog... soup-life changing though) but either way, it is good- very good! The rosemary infused olive oil is interesting (and I have leftover for dipping purposes with good bread- yuuuummmmm....) and adds a depth and special element to an otherwise pretty basic soup. 

That said, note to self: Tone down the bullion when you make this one again in the future. It was simply too salty. I may have gone too heavy when I was stirring in the Better than Bullion and/or otherwise when it called for added salt. I'll check that next time, and there *will* be a next time! 

Seven Years Later... and a Vegetarian Chili Win

And to think that seven years ago I was lamenting about having missed 3 years of blogging- whoops! Suffice it to say that just a few things have happened in the past seven years that have taken me off both serious cooking and writing about cooking. Two kids, a Ph.D., Covid, to name a few...

These days, particularly with M & M at home, I've been able to get into a better cadence of cooking and packing lunches. Enter renewed interest in this blog/catalog of my best vegetarian soup recipes. While some of my former posts are a bit cringe-worthy looking back now, the concept of having my soup recipe reviews all together in one place has enduring appeal. Rather than set a specific time-bound goal (50 different soups in one year- what was I thinking?!?!) I aim to get this blog space to a total of 50 soups (inclusive of those that I've already posted about and reviewed). 

Last Halloween my neighbor friends and I had a pre-game trick-or-treat gathering. Andrea and Kevin brought this chili and even though it doesn't have any faux meat in it, I had to triple check that it was indeed vegetarian- it was just so hearty! Bonus, when I asked her for the recipe it led me right to a blog that I've used for curries and other dishes. Andrea and Kevin double the cumin and chili powder and add a bit of Frank's Red Hot too and I concur that these are important additions. 

I'm not sure why I thought it had meat in it initially, but something about the bean and veggie combo is uniquely filling in this dish. Nothing unusual or fancy in this, but well worth it (up the spices though)! I was also inspired to buy my first hardcopy cookbook in ages after this time making this chili. Kate's cookbook doesn't include this dish and the soup section actually is not all that intriguing to me, but it is a gorgeous cookbook with some interesting-looking salads and drinks that I'm excited to try too! 

Three Years Later...and Warm-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

Wow... three years later and this blog is still live and I even knew the password to login to post- fun! Needless to say, I didn't hit my initial soup # goal over the course of the first year (not even close...), but I am now realizing how helpful it is to have some of my favorite recipes cataloged with such detailed notes to myself (pretty sure that I was the only one reading anyway and that's a-okay for me).

So three years later, one baby created (and now 17 months old!), and many hours of PhD coursework completed, I'm still cooking (albeit not as often). I may use this space to review soup recipes still, but no self-inflicted harm if I don't post for months (or years...). I didn't cook a soup this weekend, but I'll comment on a soup that I made this past year.

Butternut squash soup has always been a favorite of mine, dating back to the Hanover High School Cafe (pronounced "caff"...) where they served it up in an 8oz. styrofoam coffee cup- rich and sweet for $0.75. So, it is common for me to try new butternut soups when I see an intriguing recipe. The recipe has to be different enough from my standbys to make it worth the risk of deviating from something tried and true though, and this time it was the array of spices listed as ingredients that sucked me in. It was winter, and I had to make a special trip out to Penzy's in Olde Town Arvada just to get the star anise and a few others. Through the snow/sleet with baby C in the Ergo, but it was worth the trek. The Warm-Spiced Butternut Squash soup was delicious and interesting. It was silkier and smoother than some butternut soups and had a unique enough flavor profile to set it a part from most others. It wasn't a particularly thick soup and despite not having any added sugar, it was perfectly sweetened (which really means not too sweet to me). In fact, I made a second batch less than a month later when Ethan and his family came to visit. And, as I am typing this I am realizing that I may still have a pint or two in the deep freezer- yum!

This one is also healthier than many of the butternut soups out there that I like-- no added sugar, no added dairy (it is vegan). Really it is just the squash, olive oil (which I cut), and the spices. I even went the extra mile with the pomegranate seed garnish, but those are definitely not the deal-maker in this recipe.

Back on track for the fall- Basil and Chili Corn Chowda'

So I took a bit of a summer vacation from this blog. As it turns out, my summer was hectic, it was hot in Colorado, and although there are some delicious cold soups, I wasn't into cooking them. However, we are in September and the fall season is upon us. In other words, soup season! I need to go count to see if it is possible for me to hit my 50 soup goal by the end of the year... if I up the ante to 2/week from here on out is it doable? Will see...

I opted for a vegan corn chowder with some kick this week. Corn is a summer vegetable to me, but corn chowder (the New Englander in me so wants to type/say Chowda'...) is a decidedly cold season soup. In other words, perfect to bridge from the summer to fall.

My recipe is compliments of the Vegan YumYum cookboook (and blog-- though I'm unsure if this particular soup was ever on the blog and she's no longer a blogger). It uses fresh corn and basil (there's the summer for you), along with potatoes and soy milk for a hearty texture. The heat comes from a bit of canned chilis in adobo sauce (and honestly I used a few too many for my preference... this stuff is spicy)!

The texture isn't quite as smooth/velvety as I tend to like (perhaps b/c the fresh corn isn't actually cooked- just blended and heated?), but the flavor of the basil and corn together is excellent. Next time less heat though! Also, although I think that my corn was good, it wasn't great. With super sweet Olathe corn and less heat this would be amazing.

Sweet Potato-Ginger-Miso Soup

This recipe for Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger + Miso combines many of my favorite flavors--- ginger may very well be my #1 flavor-- and this soup has plenty of it! It also happens to be one of the creamiest pureed soups I've ever made. I think that it probably has something to do with the sweet potato (I don't tend to make other pureed potato soups and come to think of it, potato is indeed a creamier ingredient to puree then say, asparagus). I actually did have some regular milk on hand to use up when I made this one, so made the recipe as is; however, I think that it would be just fine with a soy milk sub. (and maybe even a vanilla soy milk sub, though I tend to keep the Silk Light plain on hand).

One thing that confused me about this recipe though was that you add the miso, and then simmer it... All my other knowledge of miso is that you should not boil it-- as boiling/heating to very high temperatures kills some of the benefit of miso. See the notes on this recipe (speaking of which, that blog title is right up my alley... hmmm.. may be adding that to my list of recipes to consider...). In any case, for this recipe I simply concluded that the miso in this recipe was not for the health benefits, rather for the flavor that it imparts. I considered waiting to add the miso, but ended up following the directions as written.

This soup is a really pretty orange color (just as the photo in the recipe linked from this post shows). Enjoy!

Sticking with the Spring

The orzo/spinach/lemon soup was spring-ish... and I kept with the spring theme last week by making a fresh asparagus cream soup (compliments of Allrecipes.com). In fact, this soup didn't use cream at all... just soy milk and soy yogurt. I actually didn't have any plain soygurt on hand, so used regular (dairy) plain yogurt instead, but I loved that allrecipes was featuring a vegan recipe that wasn't marketed as such!

My starting asparagus was good... but not great. As such, the soup was good but not great. I think that if I had excellent fresh from the farm asparagus this soup would have been super. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the slightly tart and very springy flavor this week. Warning: this soup isn't pretty. Mine was sort of an olive green puree (almost looked like split pea soup color). I think that garnishing it with a top of fresh asparagus would have helped it look nicer, but I neglected to reserve any asparagus for this and just pureed the whole bunch.