Fall Into The New Season With A Bowl Of Homemade Vegan Soup
Posted in Videos on 21. Sep, 2009
The second it becomes pants weather I start craving soup. Any kind, so long as it’s vegan.Since vegan soup is not overly available at stores and restaurants, and since I am trying to move away from canned goods (for the fact that they are processed, heavy on the salt, and can contain BPA), I spend most of the fall and winter cooking in my crock pot.
After talking to some friends, I realized that a lot of people don’t know how to make their own delicious soup. Fortunately, I grew up with parents who both loved making homemade soup from scratch and today I’m sharing our secrets with you. Simply follow these basic rules from the Andersen household and you’ll have a delicious bowl in no time.
1. There is no need for store bought stock or the sodium that it is often laced with. Start your soup by heating some oil in a large pot. Saute chopped onions, carrots, and celery. After everything starts to soften a little, add your favorite spices. I always include sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and fresh or powdered garlic. You can others like: bay leaves, basil, oregano, ginger, and mixed blends. Throw in whatever you think will taste good with the ingredients that you plan to add in step 3. However, don’t add any spicy or hot seasonings, such as red pepper flakes, just yet – unless you want a ton of heat!
2. Add 3-4 cups of water. Let it simmer for a few minutes. This is your stock! You can make big batches of this and freeze it in ice cube trays. These stock cubes are the perfect moisture and flavor boost for almost any other meal – rice, stir-fry, etc.
3. In a crock pot (you can use a large soup pot, but the crock pot prevent boiling over and doesn’t have to have the stove top on) toss in the ingredients you want in your soup. If you are adding soaked, uncooked beans, add just them at this time and then the rest in a few hours. Some good soup ingredients are: beans, potatoes, mushrooms, peas, corn … the possibilities are endless! Save quick cooking veggies such as greens for the last hour. You will also want to taste test it in the last hour to see if you need more spices.
4. Add the stock and stir. Put on the lid and turn it on. Use the high setting if you want to eat in about 3 to 4 hours, or the low setting if you are cooking it over night or while you are at work during the day.
5. Enjoy!
6. Come back here and let me know how it turned out and what ingredients you used! What’s your favorite soup recipe?
Yum, sounds good! Any soup I make will be on the stove top but this makes it sound so easy!
lucky me, my omni mom is open to trying vegan food and got on this big homemade soup kick last winter so she made a ton of yummy vegan soups from scratch. i’ll have to pass this info on to her, she’s been using store bought stock which does tend to be too salty for some of her soups. i like the icecube idea a lot.
i do have a crockpot so i really should attempt this myself sometime. i used to, pre-crockpot and pre-vegan, when we were poor college students. i called it “cupboard soup” cause it was whatever odds and ends and half empty packages i had kicking around the cupboards/fridge but always turned out quite yummy. good way to stretch your groceries at the end of the month
Merri – I used to make it on the stove top all the time and it certainly wasn’t hard … but the crock pot is great for being able to leave it to cook while you are gone!
Sandra – I love making the ice cubes! That’s my mom’s trick. And “cupboard soup” is exactly what I make every time!
Some recipes call for pureeing half the soup and putting it back in the soup. It makes it look nicer sometimes. : )