Sweet Potato Soup (raw)

Another no-recipe creation, with 3 c. sweet potato, 1.25 c. carrot juice, .75 c. apple juice, 1 T. agave nectar, sprinkle of pink salt, cayenne, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, coriander, cloves, and nutmeg, blended thoroughly, and then topped with yacon syrup and cinnamon.

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You can imagine the nutritional profile of this soup as far as vitamin A is high…..in the 939% of the RDA range, but it also is a good source of vitamins B6, C, E, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, sodium, thiamin, zinc, and protein.

Raw Soup & Wraps – Fun no-recipe preparations

To make things easier, when I feel like throwing something together without a recipe, I first wash all of the vegetables, fruit – good combos below of non-sweet fruit – and sprouts (I even rinse items such as avocado because you cut into the skin, thus taking anything on the skin into the flesh of the fruit).

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For the soup, I juiced 3 carrots, 3 celery, 1/2 of a large cucumber, and half of a lemon.  I added this juice to my Vita-Mix along with my three-seaweed garnish blend, 1 cup of spinach, 1 whole avocado, 2 T. red bell pepper, 2 T. grape tomatoes, 1 c. parsley, and 2 T. basil.  After blending, I poured this into the bowl and then rinsed the Vita-Mix with a tad of water and a few more cherry tomatoes to get more of that good green stuff out, then poured this orange mixture in a pattern around the soup.  The soup is garnished with more grape tomatoes, cucumber & zucchini sticks, chopped red bell pepper, celery, frisee, and mixed sprouts.  I tasted for salt and added a tad of Himalayan pink salt.  

Do check on the nutritional info of parsley if you get a chance; it’s a great source of many vitamins and minerals, including iron.

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The wraps have chard as the wrapper.  I washed the chard, then dipped and rubbed it in a fresh lemon juice and flax oil mixture to soften the leaves a bit.  The avocado paste inside is so flavorful, with one avocado, chard stem juice, lemon juice, garlic juice (normally, I don’t eat garlic but the juice was fine for tonight only), 3 T. basil leaves, 1 c. parsley leaves, and a tad of pink salt.  Then the wrap also has grape tomatoes, zucchini, red bell pepper, frisee, and sprouts.  They are so delicious, and I love eating with my hands!

raw-chard-wraps

Juice with Sprouts

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I’m obsessed with this drink right now, so much so that I’m washing my Vita-Mix and juicer TWICE a day to have it.  :)

4 plum tomatoes

4 carrots

3 leaves & stalks of kale

5-6 celery stalks

1.5-2 c. sprouts (your choice what kind)

Pinch cayenne and salt

Juice the tomatoes, carrots, kale, and celery, leaving one celery stalk out for a stirrer if you’d like.  Add the rest of the ingredients and juice to your blender and process about 30 seconds, until smooth.  Delicious!

(Disclaimer:  If vegetables don’t sound good to you, don’t make this.  Try to make things you enjoy.  And eat your vegetables so your body (and tastebuds) can get used to a healthy diet!

Dal

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With ginger, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and coriander seeds.

Lemongrass & Greens Soup w/ Raw Garnishes

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I got some lemongrass stalks and Thai basil from my friend Sara, so I thought I’d try to put them to good use and also eat plenty of raw in the process.

I made a broth with pureed coconut shreds, broccoli stalks, and kale, coconut water and homemade vegetable broth, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, a green chile, salt, and a small amount of the basil.  Then I cooked the broccoli florets in the broth but still found something was missing…..roasted peanuts!  They really changed the flavor of the soup for the better.  The garnish is carrots, bok choy, kale, avocado, and Thai basil. 

 It was really tasty but I think in the future I may just keep things more simple and start eating more raw broccoli.  I had previously thought I didn’t like it raw, but I had a few bites of a stalk and liked it.  Of course a sauce with the lemongrass would be excellent even raw!

Guest Star, Tunisian Chickpea Soup

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Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen

Coming to you all the way from California….some hot chickpea soup to combat the freezing weather and subsequent snow that covers the www.vegan.com headquarters.  This is one of my favorite soups ever, with cumin, carmelized onions, and harissa.

Veganomicon – Spicy Eggplant & Peanut Soup

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Veganomicon

I’ve been eating peanut butter or cashew-macadamia butter every single day like a madwoman, so I figured why not make the eggplant & peanut soup from VCon.  It’s legendary by now; all of the testers loved it!

I didn’t put the green beans in because I don’t like them very much and I added chives and sambal oelek because the soup wasn’t very spicy for me.  It’s very appetizing and creamy, with chunks of tender eggplant here and there. 

Have I mentioned I like eggplant?  :)

White Bean & Sweet Potato Soup w/ Cranberry Coulis

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1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes

The recipes in this book that appeal to me are the ones that are more vegetable- and legume-based; I find that there are a lot of cheesy and uninspired recipes, but with so many to choose from, it’s hard to NOT find one that you want to try.

This soup has white beans, sweet potatoes, and a Granny Smith apple, all pureed and then topped with the swirl of cranberry sauce.  I’ll say this – it’s one of the most simple soups I’ve ever eaten, with no added fat, but it’s also one of the tastiest!  I really like it a lot.

VeganMoFo – Beta Carrotene Bisque

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150 Vegan Favorites

A spoonfully good soup with sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and garlic.  Spiced with ground coriander and curry.  I never take my immersion blender for granted, per se, but it’s on days like this that I appreciate it that much more.

I am still trying to figure out what my favorite vegetable is!  :)

Chili w/ Tamale Dumplings

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Chili – 150 Vegan Favorites

Tamale Dumplings – Lighten Up!

Anticipating this chili all day has been very burdensome to my stomach!  It’s been in the crockpot since 9:00 a.m.

The recipe called for merely kidney beans; I chose to use black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans and also roasted the bell peppers prior to adding them.  This is a deeply-flavored chili, with little bits of tomatoes, celery, and onion.

I think the dumplings could more descriptively be called “masa harina dumplings”; I’d hate for someone to be excited about a surprise inside of the ball of dough, when really, it’s just a hunk of corn flour deliciousness.  As the name of the book suggests, these are low-fat dumplings!  And the chili is low in fat, too – these two guys were meant to bond.

The dumplings didn’t stay together perfectly, but the taste was phenomenal!  Picture shown with the chili garnished with green onions and sun-dried tomatoes.