Spicy Chickpea Carrot Soup

What’s more comforting than a bowl of soup? How about some spicy soup? You can decide how spicy, onion-y, and garlicky you want to make this. For diced tomatoes, I used fire roasted with green chiles from Muir Glen. This recipe is all up to your own taste. Also, I prefer to use a neutral veg stock/broth because some brands are “too vegetable-y”. (IYKYK.) Use a hand blender to smooth out, or you can use a blender. (I use a hand blender). These are the ingredients:

Ingredients

  • 2 cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes (either spicy or regular)
  • 1/2 large onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, chopped (you can roast them first too!)
  • 1-2 TB garlic
  • olive oil
  • 1 carton of veg broth (I like Swanson’s veg broth)
  • a little lime juice and zest to taste
  • corriander, to taste
  • cumin, to taste
  • crushed red pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a Dutch oven or stock pot, sauté onion, garlic, carrots in olive oil, medium heat until softened. Add the diced tomatoes, cover and cook until some of the liquid has cooked out and the tomatoes have cooked down (10-15 min, depending on your stove). Add the 2 cans of chickpeas and the spices, lime juice and zest too. Again, all are to your own tastes. I like it medium spicy, not too many onions or garlic. Stir and let simmer for 20 minutes. Then, take out your hand blender, use until the soup is well blended and smooth. There, you’re finished. Now go enjoy your soup.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Lately, I’ve been making a lot of brown rice and mixed (frozen) vegetables because it’s a quick dinner. I got tired of just adding Bragg’s so I made a quick spicy peanut sauce. You don’t really need that much on a couple servings of rice and veg, so you can adjust and make more for noodles or whatever else. You can also thin it out more, which is what I did. I think it’d be a nice veggie dip alternative to say, plant-based (or regular) Ranch dressing.

Ingredients

  • 1/4C natural peanut butter
  • 1/2C boiling water
  • 1 tsp agave
  • 2-3 tsp of hot sauce (or more!)
  • dash of crushed red pepper flakes
  • dash of Bragg’s (or soy or Tamari sauce)

Put peanut butter and condiments in a small bowl, then slowly add boiling water. I whip it up with a fork rather than a spoon. Get it to the consistency you desire and adjust the spice level. Drizzle over rice and vegetables. A little goes a long way!

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

fire roasted tomato soup

Mmmm, perfect tomato soup for a cold night.

fireroastedtomatosoup2

Add a dollop of pesto and some cheeeeeze!

My mom made this soup when I was recently home for a visit. It is perfect with some crusty bread and a glass of red wine. My version omitted the celery tops (because I rarely buy celery), but it is good with the celery and I used dried basil because I forgot to buy fresh basil (whoops!). The addition of sun-dried tomatoes gives the soup a nice depth. Anyway, I got to use my immersion blender which is one of my favorite kitchen tools ever.

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

  • 1TB butter
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 3/4C finely chopped carrots
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 1TB dried basil or 10 large basil leaves, torn
  • 4 sun-dried tomato halves, packed in oil
  • 1 28oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
  • chopped celery tops
  • 1 14oz can of vegetable broth
  • salt and pepper
  • dollop of pesto (to add on top when served, if desired)

Melt butter in stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes, or, until soft. Add the sugar, basil, celery tops and salt and pepper, cook for 5 more minutes. Then add the canned tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes and broth. Stir and let simmer for about an hour. Check on it occasionally and stir. Remove from heat and use an immersion hand blender to puree the soup (or, you can use a blender instead). Pour soup into bowls, dollop with pesto and a little bit of Pecorino or parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Goulash

veggie goulash!

When I was a kid, my Mom used to make Goulash for dinner on a regular basis and it was always one of my favorite meals. For some reason, I was thinking about it the other day and felt a little homesick (and nostalgic). Maybe it’s because I’ve not seen my parents since Christmas (sad face here:___). I asked my Mom about the recipe and the spices and I tweaked it to make it vegetarian. I think it’s very close to what she used to make. Maybe the next time I’m visiting them I’ll make it for them for dinner.

Vegetarian Goulash

  • 2-3 Tb Olive oil
  • 1 small to medium red onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pkg MorningStar Farms Grillers Crumbles
  • 1 1/2C cooked macaroni (al denté)
  • 1 28oz can diced tomatoes plus 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 14oz can tomato sauce
  • Dried Basil, Oregano, or an Italian blend of spices (to taste)
  • Hungarian (sweet) paprika, to taste
  • 1 bay leaf

A note on the spices: adjust them to your tastebuds. I don’t want to give specific measures because, well, I don’t measure when I cook; I just eyeball it, taste and adjust.

In a large soup pot, over medium heat, add oil, and sauté the garlic and onion, when translucent, add the veggie crumbles and turn down the heat (follow the package directions to cook crumbles). Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and then incorporate the cooked macaroni. Add all your spices, stir, cover and turn down the heat to low. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t stick, stir often. This will be ready in 20 minutes.

Spicy Three Bean Vegetarian Chili

vegetarian chili

Yum! Spicy vegetarian chili with three beans

I have several different versions of vegetarian chili and I can’t believe I never posted any of those recipes on this site! Vegetarian chili is a staple during the Fall/Winter for me. I like to switch up the recipe and use whatever I have on hand. Sometimes I use a grain like farro or bulgar, and vegetables like red/orange/yellow peppers, corn and green beans or edamame. It’s starting to get slightly cooler here in Brooklyn…it’s also rainy and grey and I wanted something warm, spicy and comforting for dinner. Plus, now that college football season has begun, I really enjoy “College Football Saturdays” (Go Blue!!) in my house where I’ll have a beer and a bowl of veg chili, so, it’s a win-win. More importantly, the chili freezes well and I can enjoy it later on.

In this version of chili, I use black, white and garbanzo beans. I like using Muir Glen’s Fire Roasted Tomatoes, regular and with green chilies. These tomatoes add an extra kick and level of flavor to the chili that I really like. I also used Penzey’s crushed jalapeños and for a smokier flavor, I use a little bit of smoked Spanish paprika. A little paprika goes a long way, so, you can just add it and the other spices by dashes (and not teaspoons/tablespoons) and adjust accordingly.

Spicy Three Bean Vegetarian Chili

  • 1 medium-sized red onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced/minced
  • 3 carrots, sliced
  • 1 can each: black, cannelini, garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained
  • 1 28oz can Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 14oz can Muir Glen diced tomatoes with green chilis
  • 1 14oz can Muir Glen tomato sauce
  • 2tsp cumin
  • 1TB chili powder
  • 1-2tsp Smoked Spanish Paprika
  • 1-2tsp dried jalapeños
  • 1-2TB olive oil

In a Dutch Oven or large soup pot over medium heat, add olive oil and let it heat up, add onions, carrots and garlic and sauté until soft. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, stir, then add beans and spices. Let chili simmer for 30-45 minutes. Spoon into bowls, add shredded cheese, raw onions or even small cooked pasta (this might be a Wisconsin thing because I used to have really good veg chili at the Fuel Cafe in Milwaukee back when I was in grad school, and they topped it with all three. It was delicious). Enjoy!