Cheezy potato soup

Yes, I have a documented fondness for potatoes and nooch (nutritional yeast to the uninitiated). This recipe makes perfect sense. If cheezy sauce and potatoes are perfect, why not just combine them into a single pot? Remember, this is a soup recipe, and quantities are estimates. Taste as you go, you can always adjust quantities. This does come together pretty quickly and makes it good for a weeknight when you don’t have a lot of time but want something homey. Since I came up with this, I’ve been making it about once a week. The leftovers are great as well, and because the “cheese” is nooch and not actual cheese, it reheats well without the curdling or emulsion separating issues of some real cheese soups. Good vegetable stock will make a big difference here (I use roasted vegetable stock when I can), but in a pinch you can use water. Sorry, no pictures for this one, but it’s a great dish that you really should try.


Cheezy Potato Soup

Ingredients
1 large onion or 2 leeks, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
2 tsps olive oil
¼ cup white wine
5-6 medium yellow potatoes cut into ½ inch pieces
Vegetable stock
1-2 cups of almond or soy milk
½ - ¾ cup of nutritional yeast (depending on how how noochy you want it)
Salt and pepper
Hot sauce, optional for serving (I like Frank’s Red Hot)
Lemon wedges, optional for serving

Method
1. Heat a Dutch oven or 4 quart sauce pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onions or leeks, carrots, and garlic and some salt and sauté until the vegetables are slightly browned, about 7-8 minutes.
2. Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add the potatoes and enough vegetable stock or water to just barely cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and turn to medium low heat and boil until the potatoes are tender and starting to break down slightly (about 15-20 minutes).
3. Add the almond of soy milk and use an immersion blender to puree the soup. I usually keep a few lumps in it to keep it interesting.
4. Add the nooch and stir to combine. Add more soy or almond milk if it seems a little thick. Taste for salt and pepper.
5. Serve with the hot sauce and lemon wedges if desired.

Red Lentil and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

 I’ve always loved all kinds of lentils. They have a huge amount going for them: they’re inexpensive, low fat, high protein, high fiber and they cook incredibly quickly, especially for legumes. Brown lentils are more common in the US, but you can also find black, green, and red lentils pretty easily. My local supermarket carries all of these types in their bulk area. The use of brown versus red lentils is largely a geographic one. In Western Europe, the brown, black and green varieties are more common. As you move east towards Turkey and the Middle East, red lentils become predominant. They’re also a staple of Indian cooking where they’re called Masoor Dal. This recipe is Indian influenced, but it’s not a traditional dish. It has a fair amount of ingredients, but it comes together pretty quickly and you can make it all in about an hour. I puree it, but you can keep it chunky if you prefer. If fat is no object and you want to make it richer, you can add some coconut milk just before serving it, but I normally don’t because I think it’s incredibly satisfying as is. Serve it with any type of flatbread.



Red Lentil and Roasted Pepper Soup

1 Onion, finely diced
3 teaspoons of oil, divided (your choice – olive and canola both work well)
2 teaspoons of salt (you can add more or less if you want)
2 cayenne peppers (or more if you want), finely diced
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, finely diced (or grated if you prefer)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds, toasted and ground
4 sweet red peppers (roasted, peeled, and seeded), diced
2 cups of red lentils (about 1 pound), well rinsed
3 oz. tomato paste (half of a small can)
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole black mustard seeds
6 curry leaves (optional)
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cups diced cilantro
½ cup of coconut milk (optional)


1. Add the two teaspoons of the oil to a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and sauté for 5-7 minutes until they start to brown.
2. Add the cayenne peppers, garlic, ginger, and roasted red pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Add the ground spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin, and fenugreek). Cook for an additional 30 seconds.
3. Add the red lentils, tomato paste and 6-8 cups of water (depending on how thick you like your soup). Bring to a boil and then turn down to a low simmer. Cook until the lentils are tender and starting to fall apart, about 30 minutes.
4. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot, or transfer in batches to a blender. (You can also skip this step if you want it chunky)
5. In a small pan, heat the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil and add the whole cumin and black mustard seeds (and curry leaves). Cook until the seeds darken and the start to pop. Add the contents of the pan to the soup.
6. Add the lime juice and coconut milk (if using).  Add the cilantro and server. 

Miso Soup

This isn’t a 100% traditional, authentic Japanese recipe, but it makes great soup and takes about 20 minutes. It’s also incredibly adaptable and can be modified into a heartier soup that becomes an entire meal (but those modifications make it even less traditional).

The basis of miso soup, and arguably of Japanese cooking in general, is dashi, a stock made from kombu seaweed and dried bonito flakes. Obviously the vegan version drops the bonito flakes but that makes the recipe easier and doesn’t require two pots or straining the dashi. Unlike traditional European stocks, dashi is a quick stock. You likely will need to find a Japanese grocer for the kombu. Different types of kombu are available and I normally buy flat sheets designated as dashi kombu (sometimes spelled konbu).

Miso is a paste made from fermented soybeans and grains (usually rice or barley). It’s a living food (like yogurt) and needs to be refrigerated. It’s been widely studied for health benefits in Japan and it’s said to treat everything from radiation sickness to high cholesterol. It’s also high in B vitamins and can be used to add a richness to soups, stews, and dressings. There is a wide variety of miso available and it can be confusing to decide which one to get. The most widely available are shinsu (medium), white, red, and brown. Shinsu is the most like an “all purpose” miso, but I’d encourage you to experiment with them all.

Buy the best miso you can afford because there is a great difference in quality. Here in Portland, we’re lucky to have Jorinji which is a small producer of traditional miso. I don’t believe it’s shipped outside of the immediate area. It is about twice the price of other brands, but worth every penny since they use long fermentation times and non-GMO soybeans, which gives it an incomparable flavor. (Sorry they don’t seem to have a website, but their miso is available at Uwajimaya.)


Miso Soup

Makes 6 cups (4-6 servings)


6 cups of water
4x4 inch piece of kombu
4-6 tablespoons of miso (I use half white and half red, but use whichever kind you like)
6 oz. firm or extra firm silken tofu, cut into cubes
1-3 green onions, finely sliced (try to find smaller, tenderer onions)

1. Wipe the kombu with a damp paper towel but don’t wash it since it will remove much of the flavor. Add the water and kombu to a pot and put over medium high heat. Just before the water comes to a boil, pull the pot from the heat and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Remove the kombu.
2. Put the pot back over medium low heat. Add the cubed tofu and green onions and heat through.
3. Remove about a cup of the stock in a bowl or measuring cup and mix in the miso. Stir with a fork or whisk until it’s completely smooth and dissolved. Add to the soup and stir the pot.
4. Ladle into bowls and serve.



Variations:
- Add more vegetables to make it more substantial. Julienned carrots, sliced shitake or other mushrooms (or soy pickled shitakes), wakame seaweed, julienned blanched spinach, or sliced bok choy.
- Cook some noodles (soba, somen, rice noodles, etc.) and place them in the bottom of a bowl, ladle the soup over the noodles. You can also double the amount of tofu to make it a one bowl meal.
- Add sliced ginger to the dashi stock (which is totally untraditional)