Category: soups

Green Gazpacho

green gazpacho - trust in kim

This soup is awesome! I was a little hesitant at first, as I’m not a big fan of green bell peppers, but since I have loved red gazpacho so much I thought I should at least give this a try.  After all, Yotam Ottolenghi wrote in his lovely cookbook Plenty that this is by far his favourite cold soup, so it must be good.  It is now one of my top favourites too.  It has so much flavour, and it’s got lots of healthy ingredients.  I made one big change, though – the recipe serving six people called for one whole cup! of olive oil! I cut that down to 1/4 cup.  Still takes great, and I feel better knowing I’m not eating almost 3 tablespoons of oil per serving.

While there is no cooking, there’s a bit of chopping, and then blending, so it’s not as quick as I thought it would be.  But it is totally worth a little extra chopping.

What you need:

  • 2 celery stalks (including leaves)
  • 2 small green bell peppers
  • 6 mini cucumbers (1 & 1/4 lbs), peeled
  • 3 slices stale white bread with crusts removed
  • 1 fresh green chile (I used a jalapeno)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 & 1/2 cups walnuts
  • 6 cups baby spinach
  • 1 cup basil leaves
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 4 tablespoons sherry vinegar (I used white balsamic vinegar)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt (I just used my plain yogurt)
  • about 2 cups cold water
  • 9 oz ice cubes
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • white pepper (I just used black)

What you do:

  1.  Lightly toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan or in the oven. Let them cool.
  2. Roughly chop the celery, bell peppers, cucumbers, bread, chile and garlic and place it in a blender. If you are using an immersion blender, as I did, just put the ingredients into a large bowl.  If you have the option to use a blender I recommend that, as it would be a bit easier to get the right consistency for all the vegetables.  Add the sugar, walnuts, spinach, basil, parsley, vinegar, oil, yogurt, most of the water, half of the ice cubes, salt, and some pepper.  Puree until smooth.  Add more water if you need, in order to get the right consistency.  Taste and adjust seasonings if you need to.
  3. Add the remaining ice and blend for just a second or two to break it up a little.
  4. Serve with homemade croutons or a few walnuts sprinkled on top.

This makes 6 very generous portions.  I cut the recipe in half, which would be a great option for a starter-sized portion.

 

Mexican Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Mexican Soup - trust in kim

Last weekend I was planning to have friends over for dinner, and I wanted to make a pot of soup and a loaf of bread, so I made up my own version of a Mexican soup. It’s got some chicken, beans, and lots of vegetables including a few kinds of peppers.  I served it with Mexican farm cheese, some cilantro, and a squirt of lime on top.  Hot sauce optional.  I also made a vegetarian version.  This was a great recipe to make for a bunch of people, and it was enjoyed by both adults and children.

I roasted the peppers and tomatillos on my gas stove but you could do this on the barbecue, or under the broiler.

What you need:

  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 2 poblano peppers
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 6 tomatillos
  • olive oil
  • 1 sweet onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 serrano pepper, minced
  • 1 dried guajillo pepper
  • 2 cans pinto beans, drained
  • 1 can peaches and cream corn
  • 4 limes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cilantro
  • Mexican farm cheese

What you do:

  1. Roast the poblano and bell peppers over a flame, turning often, until the skin is blackened all over.  Put the peppers into a container with a lid on it, and let them sit for about 20 minutes.  Continue with the other preparations, then go back to the peppers and remove their skin and seeds.  It’s okay if there are pieces of blackened skin remaining; those flecks will add character to the soup.
  2. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and roast them until they are lightly blackened and only a little softened. Set them aside.
  3. In a large pot heat a little olive oil and add the diced onions.  Cook for a few minutes, until they are becoming translucent, then add the garlic and cook for about a minute, stirring a bit.
  4. Add the chicken thighs and cook for a few minutes on each side.
  5. Add the chicken stock, minced serrano, and the whole guajillo pepper.
  6. Let this cook for about 20 minutes, then add the drained pinto beans.  Chop the roasted peppers and tomatillos and add them to the pot.  Let this cook for about 20-30 minutes.
  7. Take the chicken out and cut it into large chunks, then pull it with a fork so you’ve got stringy bits of chicken instead of cubes.
  8. Add the corn before serving and heat through, along with the juice of two limes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
  9. Serve with some chopped cilantro on top, a sprinkling of the farm cheese.  Set out some hot sauce so people can add as much heat as they like.

roasting poblano peppers - trust in kim

 

roasting tomatillos - trust in kim

Vegetarian Mexican Soup Broth

Vegetarian Mexican Broth - trust in kim

This recipe is for the vegetarian version of a Mexican soup I made recently.  It’s got a little kick to it because of the guajillo pepper

What you need:

  • 1 small onion or half a big one
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 dried guajillo pepper
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 stalk celery
  • half a dozen peppercorns
  • cilantro stalks

What you do:

  1. Put everything in a pot and add about 4 cups of water.  Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about half an hour.
  2. Strain the veggies out and use the broth to make a soup.

Vegan “Cream” of Mushroom Soup #2

vegan cream of mushroom soup - trust in kim

The “cream” in this soup is pureed cashews; they add creaminess without dairy, but also a hint of sweetness.  And it doesn’t taste like soup with nuts in it.

This yummy soup is one I’ve made before, but this time I kept some of the mushroom slices whole instead of blending them all in.  I really like that little mushroomy bite, both for the texture and the flavour.  I also used some dried mixed wild mushrooms in this version.

What you need:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • a few dried wild mushrooms (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken)
  • 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • salt to taste

For the Cashew Cream:

  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup water

What you do:

  1. Soak the cashews in the half cup of water and set aside.
  2. Soak the dried mushrooms in about 1/4 cup boiling water.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat and add the chopped onions, sautéing them until they are slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more, then add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Set a small bowl of the fried mushrooms aside to mix in later.
  4. Add the broth and the dried mushrooms along with their soaking liquid if you’re using them.  Cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 10-15 minutes.
  5. In the meantime, puree the cashews until they combine with the water to make a smooth, thick liquid.
  6. When it is ready, blend the soup until there are no large chunks of mushroom.  Stir in the cashew cream.  The original recipe says to strain the soup now, but I liked it the way it was.
  7. Season with pepper, and possibly with salt.  Because it has soy sauce you may not need the salt.
  8. Reheat the soup and serve with some fried mushroom slices on top.

This works well as leftovers, and for freezing.

vegan cream of mushroom with cheese toasts - trust in kim

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup

vegan cream of mushroom soup - trust in kim

I love creamy soups, but I don’t love cream, so I’m always looking for ways to get the texture and taste without the heaviness of cream.  I’ve heard of using cashew cream before, and finally got around to trying it.  The verdict? So good! Next time I’d leave some of the mushroom pieces whole, but this is great as is.

I found this recipe on Joy the Baker.

What you need:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken)
  • 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • salt to taste

For the Cashew Cream:

  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup water

What you do:

  1. Soak the cashews in the half cup of water and set aside.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat and add the onions, sautéing them until they are slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more, then add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the broth and cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 10-15 minutes.
  4. In the meantime, puree the cashews until they combine with the water to make a smooth, thick liquid.
  5. When it is ready blend the soup until there are no large chunks of mushroom.  Stir in the cashew cream.  The original recipe says to strain the soup now, but I liked it the way it was.
  6. Reheat the soup and serve.

This one also freezes well. Enjoy!

Tomato Soup

tomato soup - trust in kim

(Revised January 2021: This is a great soup recipe, however, my favourite is closer to the actual Burgoo recipe. And it has red wine in it! Click here to find the recipe.)

Burgoo is a great comfort food restaurant in Vancouver.  They don’t have a lot of dairy-free options, so I tend to eat the tomato soup – which is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had!  I found this tomato soup recipe recently and omitted the milk to make it a dairy-free tomato soup.  I think it may be as good as the one I had at Burgoo; it is flavourful, and full of healthy ingredients.  It is also really easy to make, and freezes well.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

about 1 cup diced carrots

about 1/2 cup diced celery

about 2 cups diced zucchini (skin on)

1 large yellow onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, rubbed off the stems

2 bay leaves

salt and red pepper flakes to taste

about 4 cups (2 28-ounce cans) crushed Italian tomatoes

4 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

What you do:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Add the carrots, celery, zucchini and onion.  Saute for 10-12 minutes, until the onion is very soft and the zucchini has cooked through.  Add the garlic and stir for one minute.
  2. Add the thyme, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, tomatoes and chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until the carrots are very soft.
  3. Remove from the heat, and take the bay leaves out.  Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth.  Add salt to taste.

Enjoy it hot! And I can imagine it is awesome with a grilled cheese sandwich, but this theory is yet untested.

Cauliflower and Roasted Fennel Soup

cauliflower and roasted fennel soup - trust in kim

Well, I will definitely be making this soup again! The roasted fennel gives it some depth of flavour without tasting overly like anise.  It is smooth and creamy without any dairy or dairy substitutes.  You have the option of making it vegan, as the original recipe was, but I used chicken stock instead of vegetable.

The recipe is from Brian L. Patton’s Sexy Vegan Cookbook. I’m always happy to add healthy and delicious soups to my repertoire!

What you need:

1 fennel bulb

2 teaspoons olive oil + a little for roasting the fennel

1 cup chopped sweet onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into chunks of about 2 cm

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock (I needed more than this so I added some water bouillon)

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Cut the stalks off the fennel and set them aside.  Chop the fennel bulb in half and rub it with a little olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then place cut-side down on a baking tray.  Roast the fennel for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and tender.  Remove from the oven and cut into large chunks.

2. While the fennel is roasting begin making the rest of the soup.  Heat a large pot on medium heat and add about 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  Add the onion, sliced fennel stalks and a pinch of salt.  Cook for 4-6 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another 4 minutes.  Add the potato, cauliflower and enough stock to cover the vegetables, and bring to a simmer. When the fennel is roasted, add it as well.  Cook until the cauliflower and potatoes are very tender.

3. Puree the soup (I used an immersion blender, but a food processor or blender work as well) until very smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Whitewater Minestrone

trust in kim - whitewater minestrone

I’ve been working my way through the Whitewater Cooks cookbook, and I’m loving everything I make.  I love a soup that is a meal in a bowl, with lots of veggies and some protein, and of course lots of flavour.  This one is perfect, and I enjoyed the leftovers in my lunch all week.  You know it’s good when you can eat it for many days in a row!

This is a large recipe, enough to feed eight, or two for several days.

What you need:

4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon butter (olive oil to make it dairy-free)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 carrots, diced

1 large onion, diced

1 leek, cut in half, then sliced thinly

3 cups shredded green cabbage (I used savoy)

1 small potato, peeled and diced

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup red wine

5 tablespoons parsley

2 teaspoons dried oregano

3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1 teaspoon black pepper

salt to taste

1-14 oz tin kidney beans, rinsed

1 small can cherry tomatoes (or a few fresh tomatoes)

1/2 cup small pasta (I used Christmas tree shaped pasta because that’s all I had, but you can used macaroni or orzo, or whatever you have)-optional, or substitute    with gluten-free of you need to

parmesan rind (if you have it – I had one, so I threw it in while the soup cooked, and pulled it out before serving.  I didn’t even put parmesan on top)

parmesan to garnish

(the recipe also called for twice as much potato, butter, and a zucchini)

What you do:

1. Fry the bacon in a large pot.  When it is cooked but not crisp, remove and drain it on paper towels.  Remove the bacon fat from the pan.

2. Add the butter, garlic, carrots, onion and leeks to the pot.  Sauté until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the cabbage, potato, stocks, wine beans, canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat and add the oregano, 2 tablespoons of parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

4.  Add the pasta and cook until it is al dente.

5. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Add the rest of the parsley and the basil.

Serve with parmesan, if you wish.

I didn’t freeze any of this soup because I don’t like potato in soups when it has thawed; I find that it just falls apart, and I don’t like the texture after freezing.

Cauliflower and Cannelini Bean Soup

Continuing my love affair with cauliflower, I wanted to make a soup that was creamy and dairy-free. Rather than using potato to add creaminess and thickness, I  pureed a can of cannelini beans.  Adding the beans for protein also made it into a soup I could use as my main dish for lunch.

Roasting cauliflower brings out its sweetness; if you’ve never roasted a cauliflower before, you’re going to want to give this a try, and you might become as addicted to it as I am.

I crisped some sage leafs as a garnish when I first served it, but for a subsequent serving fried up a little chorizo and arranged it on top.  Now I think a combination would probably be perfection.

trust in kim - cauliflower cannelini soup

What you need:

1 large cauliflower

1 garlic bulb

1 can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

1 leek

4 cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons fresh sage, plus more for garnishing

olive oil

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. As soon as you’ve turned it on you can toss in a bulb of garlic.  Just slice off the end, wrap it in foil and throw it in the oven.

2. Cut the cauliflower into florets and then cut the larger ones in half if you need to.  Roast for 25-40 minutes, or until the cauliflower has browned slightly.

3. While the cauliflower and garlic are roasting, heat the broth in a large pot.

4. Drain the cannelini beans and add them to the broth, and then add the sage.

5. Chop the leeks into rounds, rinse them, then add them to the broth.  Bring this to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes.

6.  When the cauliflower is ready, add it to the broth.  The garlic should be ready when the cauliflower is done, so unwrap it from the foil and squeeze it into the pot as well.  Let this simmer for about 10 minutes.

7.  Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup for several minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

8.  For the garnish, heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan.  Add several sage leaves and fry them until they have crisped.  They can turn brown pretty quickly, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the pan while they are still green.  Arrange on top of each serving of soup.

This soup freezes well, so you can make a big batch to save for a rainy day.  It’ll warm you right up.

Lentil Bacon Soup

trust in kim- lentil bacon soup

I’m not usually a fan of canned soups, but my friend Sarah recently introduced me to Baxter’s Lentil and Bacon soup, and I thought it was pretty yummy.  It inspired me to make up my own lentil bacon soup.  I’ve made lentil soup before, but I like that in this one the lentils are pureed, and the little bit of bacon adds a lot of flavour.  It’s pretty easy to make, and just takes a bit of time to cook the lentils.

What you need:

3/4 cup green lentils, uncooked

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2-1 cup dry white wine

about 1-2 cups water

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, in about 2 cm chunks

1 large potato,  in about 2 cm chunks

1 leek, sliced into rounds and rinsed

4 whole cloves garlic

salt and pepper to taste

5-6 slices of bacon

What you do:

1. Put the lentils in a large pot with lots of water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 50 minutes.

2. Fry the bacon and let it cool on paper towel. Chop the bacon once it has cooled.  I use a cast iron pan with a large capacity so I can add a lot more ingredients to it after frying the bacon.  If you don’t have a frying pan large enough just do the next steps involving the vegetables, then transfer to the pot that you cooked the lentils in, which should be large enough to hold everything.

3. Remove most of the bacon fat from the frying pan. Chop the carrot, celery, leek and add it to the frying pan.  Add the whole garlic cloves .  Cook for about five minutes, stirring from time to time.  Add the chopped potatoes.  Now add the chicken stock and wine, along with enough water to cover the vegetables, and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

4. When the lentils are very soft you can drain them and add them to the vegetables and broth.  I actually pour it all into the pot that the lentils were cooked in. Continue to simmer until all the veggies are tender.

5.  Puree everything with an immersion blender or wait until it has cooled a bit and whiz it in a blender until it is smooth.

6. Stir in the chopped bacon, then add salt and pepper to taste.

This soup freezes well!