The Perfect Veggie Soup

I have the secret to a perfect vegetable soup – every time.

The secret is in the broth. (You thought I was going to sauce, didn’t you? Well, if you’re in your mid 30s or older you probably did. Ha!)

I use an entire bottle of vegetable juice as my broth base in my vegetable soup – V8 style. If you like it spicy, use the spicy version. If you want low sodium, they have that too. If you love to juice – make your own. Regardless of your veggie juice delivery method, you may need to add some water or veggie broth to the juice. When I made soup tonight, I didn’t have room to add water because of all of the vegetables, but the veggies I used were watery enough that I didn’t need to add any.

When it comes to adding veggies, use whatever you have. That’s usually why I made vegetable soup – because I have veggies that need to be used (and I don’t feel like roasting). Tonight’s soup consisted of an onion, about a tablespoon of minced garlic, a diced green pepper, four small, diced summer squash/zucchini, two carrots, a few stalks of celery hearts and two bags of frozen veggies - stir fry style and Asian style. Lots of veggies like I said. Lots and lots of veggies. I didn’t even have room for the broccoli and greens I wanted to add! (But I have a plan to use them tomorrow.)

I have another secret ingredient, but if I tell you, it won’t be a secret anymore! (Hint: It’s A1 Sauce!)

Your Freezer is Your Friend

With winter here and bad weather coming and going, chances are pretty good you I won’t be able to get to the store some day when the craving/need for veggies hits (This actually happens pretty often, but it’s usually from laziness – ha ha!) That’s when it’s a blessing to have a well-stocked freezer.

I almost always have a couple (or more!) bags of frozen veggies in the freezer.

What is your favorite style of frozen veggies?

I actually keep quite a few things in the freezer: left-over dinners, muffins, frozen fruit (frozen bananas are overtaking the entire left side of the freezer right now), nuts and seeds, Daiya (Who knew you could freeze it?!), misc. meat substitutes (usually a bag or two of Gardein and TJ’s meatless balls), and whatever Mr. M has managed to squeeze in there.

Ignore that turkey pot pie and the dairy ice cream; those, of course, belong to Mr. M. Ah...the joys of a mixed marriage (vegan/SAD).

We use the freezer so much, we’ve seriously been discussing purchasing a small deep freeze. We’ve talked about it before, but we’ve never actually looked at and priced them, nor have we chosen a definitive place to put it in the basement. (It’s going in the make-shift pantry.) I’m excited! I hope we’re able to get one sooner than later.

Anyway, back to why the freezer is your friend. Besides the obvious benefits of being to preserve food for a length of time, the freezer can be home to some great, quick, and easy meals. This is one I came up with last week.

Veggies, Beans & Greens Saute

2 bags frozen veggies (your fav)

1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes (about 1.5 c)

1 can black olives (about 1 c)

1 can white beans (about 1.5 c)

Seasonings to taste (I like Italian flavors: oregano, basil, dried parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, etc)

Thaw and squeeze the excess water from your spinach. (I heat mine for 3 minutes in the microwave then squeeze handfuls until dry.) Add to large, deep sided skillet along with frozen veggies, died tomatoes, rinsed and drained beans and black olives. (I left mine whole, but sliced/diced may be easier to spear with your fork.) Heat everything through until vegetables are thawed and beans are hot.

I eat my veggies on their own, but you may want to add them to a bed of grain, such as brown or wild rice, quinoa, or even some pasta.

Frozen Veggies, Beans & Greens Saute

Grain-Free Veggie Lasagna

I came across this lasagna recipe by Mama Pea a few weeks ago and knew I had to make it – or something like it. It had been forever since I’d made a lasagna; as a rule, I try to avoid pasta, and I made zucchini noodles this summer with great success, so I knew they’d work in a lasagna. Actually, I may have already tried something like this, but this time, I had a much  better game plan.

Grain-Free Veggie Lasagna

4 small zucchini/summer squash

1 bunch kale

16 oz mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

1 med onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 box silken tofu (firm or extra firm), boiled to remove bean flavor

1 can (about 1.5 c) white beans

1 c nutritional yeast, divided

Splash lemon juice (about 1 tsp)

1 can (about 1 c) diced tomatoes

1 can (about 1.5 c) tomato sauce

Seasonings to taste

Slice zucchini lengthwise. Roast until tender (at 425F for 30-45 mins)

Meanwhile, saute garlic, onions, mushrooms and kale until veggies are tender and greens are wilted. (Use a little veggie broth or water to saute – no need for oil.)

Blend beans and tofu in food processor until smooth. Add 1/2 c nutritional yeast, a splash of lemon juice, and a little salt. Stir to combine.

To make sauce, combine diced tomatoes and tomato sauce in a bowl. Add Italian seasonings to taste (dried parsley, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, etc).

To assemble lasagna, spray a large, rectangular or oblong glass dish with no-stick cooking spray. Then spoon in a thin layer or tomato sauce. Top it with enough slices of roasted zucchini to cover the dish. Add a layer of satueed veggie and top with dollops of bean/tofu mix. Top that layer with more zucchini slices, and top them with tomato sauce. Add remaining sauteed veggies, bean/tofu mix and tomato sauce. Top lasagna with remaining 1/2 c of nutritional yeast.

Bake at 350F for about an hour, or until sauce is bubbly and nutritional yeast has browned.

Makes 6 large servings.

Grain-Free Vegetable Lasagna

Check out those layers!

Leftovers Roundup

For those of you lucky (or unlucky?!) enough to have leftovers, I have a few suggestions for repurposing them, so you don’t have to eat the same ol’ thing for yet another meal.

Potatoes

If you happen to have leftover roasted potatoes, you can always try my Smashed Potato and Kale Soup or Smashed Potato Salad, which would go great along side my White Bean Burger – or any other veggie burger or veggie dog.

If you have leftover mashed potatoes, try using them as a topper for a Shepard’s Pie. I really want to try this one; it looks so good!

Raw Veggies

If your veggie tray was bigger than your guests’ stomaches, try making vegetable soup. I love clean-out-the-fridge vegetable soups. Just throw all of your left over veggies in the crock pot with a bottle of your favorite tomato juice or juice blend or a box of veggie broth and a little water, season to taste, crank up the heat and voila! The soup is ready when you are. Or, if you’re in a hurry (like I usually am), saute your denser veggies (celery, carrot, bell peppers) with onion and garlic in a little veggie broth or water (or oil if that’s how you roll) until they’re tender, add the rest of your veggies, a box of veggie broth or a bottle of tomato juice/juice blend, season to taste, bring to a rolling boil, reduce heat to a hard simmer, cover, and cook until all of your veggies are tender. The lid will help keep the heat in the pot and on the veggies. If you’re REALLY short on time, don’t forget about frozen onions and jars of chopped/minced garlic; they’re great time savers that don’t sacrifce quality.

Dip and/or Dressing

Don’t think you can stomach one more snack of veggies and vegan ranch dip? Try repurposing your dip into a sandwhich spread. Puree about a cup of your favorite beans (I usually use chickpeas) in a blender or food processor (be sure to rinse and drain first if using canned) until smooth (or leave it a little chuncky if that’s how you like your sandwhich spread). Stir in about a quarter cup of your leftover dip/dressing, some diced pickles, celery, onion, carrot, etc., and seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, dried parsley flakes, etc). Add my dip/dressing if mixture is too thick. Chill for a bit in the fridge if time, then spead on your favorite bread, crackers, veggies, pita, pita chips, tortilla, tortilla chips – whatever you can think of!

Sandwich Spread in a Pita

Apples

Make an apple pie but have left over apples? Not sure what to do with them? You can always make my Apple Pie Smoothie, or try a Two Minute Baked Apple!

Two Minute Baked Apple

1 med – lg apple, quartered and cored

1 TBSP raisins

1 TBSP maply syrup

2 TBSP oats

1-2 tsp cinnamon

2 pks stevia (or 1-2 TBSP sugar)

Quater and core apple. Add to bowl. Add raisins and maple syrup. Mix oats, cinnamon, and stevia. Sprinkle on top of apple/raisins mix. Cover bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Apples will be tender but not mushy. (They still have a little bite. For softer apples, microwave and additional 30 seconds until desired tenderness is reached.)

You can subsititue pears for apples.

Before their warm, steamy trip around the microwave2 Minute Baked Apples

Vegan MoFo Day 14: Bake Sale Goodies Part 2

Yesterday, I told you a little bit about our company bake sale to support the United Way. Aside from my Carrot Cake Muffins (that I dare you not to smear all over your face to slowly lick off the rest of the day), I also made Chocolage Veggie Muffins. They’re loosly based on HH’s Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, but I’ve made a few changes to suit me and my personal tastes .(Although, the originals are awesome too!)

Chocolate Veggie Muffins: Reporting for Oven Duty

Chocolate Veggie Muffins

1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c coco powder
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c pumpkin
1/4 c sugar
4 pks stevia
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c non-dairy milk
3/4 – 1 c veggie pulp (left over from juicing)
1/2 c applesauce, unsweetened

Preheat over to 350F.
Add dry ingredients to a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Add wet ingredients. Stirl to combine. Don’t overstir.
Add mixture to lined muffin tins, or spray tins with cooking spray.
Cook 20 minutes or until firm in the middle.
Makes 9 large muffins

All warmed up and ready for a snack

Have you check out the Vegan MOFO blog roll or the all-in-one RSS feed? You should. They’re awesome.