They’re coming – home gardeners who planted more zucchini than they need, arms laden with these beauties who just yesterday were 7″, today the size of props in a sci-fi film. Never one to turn down free food, I thank them and start planning. Of course, there’s zucchini bread, zucchini stir-fry, and spiralizing zucchini.
Then it hit me:
ZUCCHINI SOUP!
It can be a meal in itself or as a starter. Bonus: it freezes well!!!
ZUCCHINI SOUP
Note: Don’t worry about the chopped veggie sizes – everything will be blended
- 28g / 2 T butter
- 115g / 1 cup onions, chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp celery salt
- 1.75 tsp kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp table salt)
- 1/4 tsp black ground pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 683g / 1.5 lbs / 5 cups zucchini, unpeeled and chopped
- 445g / 1 lb russet potatoes, unpeeled and diced
- 690g / 3 cups vegetarian stock – homemade (click link) or purchased
- 17g / 1T soy sauce
- 60g / 2 oz / 1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 82g / 1/2 cup uncooked couscous (not the Israeli pearl couscous)
- OPTIONAL: greens, such as Swiss chard or spinach pieces
- OPTIONAL: small pieces of bread, such as pita
In a large saucepan (2 litres / 8 cups), melt the butter. Add onions and, over medium-high heat, saute for 5 minutes. Stir often.
Add in garlic, rosemary, thyme, celery salt, Kosher salt, and black pepper. Over medium heat, saute about 1 minute to bloom the herbs, stirring constantly.
Add in zucchini and, over medium-high heat, saute 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the potatoes, vegetable broth, soy sauce, and couscous to the pot. Bring to a boil, then decrease flame to maintain a simmer.
Cover the pot, leaving the lid slightly askew to prevent the liquid boiling over. Simmer for about 20 minutes, testing the potatoes are easily pierceable with a knife.
Remove lid and let soup cool about 20 minutes before blending. Then, pour cooled liquid into a blender (you may need to do this in batches) and blend until smooth.
Return soup to saucepot and stir in cheese, optional greens, and optional bread pieces. Heat to melt cheese. Taste for seasoning, correcting if needed.
Needless to say, having a food blog, I cook a lot! Not only do I prepare tried and true favorites, but I’m always on the search for something new. As we all have preferences in tastes, I often tweak other’s recipes to suit myself.
Chop the greens into 1″ (approximately) pieces.
Add in the ginger, garlic, paprika, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes – bloom 1 minute. (Blooming brings out the flavors.)
Add in cilantro – bloom for another 1 minute. 
Add in the vegetable stock, chickpeas, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cover with the lid slightly askew and let simmer for 20 minutes. 
Add in the tomatoes (plus their juice) and orzo. Partially cover and let simmer for 7 minutes.
Add in the Swiss chard (or whatever greens you want) and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. 
Add in the lemon juice, the parsley and Feta. 
Taste for seasoning. (I added 1/2 tsp salt.)
This soup started out as a Stuffed Squash recipe I was developing. I had a lot of leftover filling and, as it was on the bland side, knew we weren’t going to eat it. But as regular readers may know – I HATE waste!!! There was no way I was going to throw it out.
Let cool enough to handle. Scrape out and discard seeds and fibers. Cut into 1/2″ slices, then cut away the peel. Cut flesh into 1/2″ cubes. 
While squash is cooking, cook the rice.
Add in shallot, garlic, mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes over medium/high flame, stirring often. 
Add in squash, rice, garbanzo beans, cranberries, pecans, thyme, chopped tomatoes and it’s juice, tomato sauce, and water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered.
Stir in cilantro, adjust seasoning if needed, and serve.
Let me start by pointing out the quotation marks around the word SAUSAGE mean imitation. (For you carnivores, you can use real sausage.)
Add in onion, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Cook 3-5 minutes – until onions are softened. 
Add in stock, beans, tomatoes, salt, and black pepper. Bring to boil, cover, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer for 15 minutes.
Stir in spinach off heat and check for seasoning (I add another 1/2 tsp salt). 
Sprinkle servings with Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, if desired.
Green Chili Stew is an incredibly tasty blend of flavors that’s quick to put together. The little pop of lime is my favorite part!
If you’re using fresh chilis, turn oven to broil. Wash and cut pepper and chilis top to bottom. Discard seeds and ribs. Lay cut side down on cookie sheet.
Broil until skin starts to blacken. (It only takes a few minutes, so keep an eye on it!!!). Remove and discard blackened skin. 
Chop skinless pepper and chilis into bite-sized pieces.
Wash tomatillos well (they feel kind of waxy) and chop into bite-sized pieces. 
In a Dutch oven, place the oil, onions, garlic, cumin, coriander, and 1 tsp salt. Sauté over medium/high heat 4 minutes, stirring often. 
Add in corn, chilis, and pepper – cook 3 minutes, stirring often.
Add in hominy, beans, tomatillos, vegetable stock, and fake chicken or tofu. Turn burner to medium/high heat, bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to keep a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Stir in cilantro, lime juice, and additional salt, if needed (I usually add in 1 tsp salt).
Summer is the time when vine ripened tomatoes are plentiful. If you’re lucky, these red beauties are growing in your own garden. (I’m so jealous!)
Purée tomatoes. Place a large sieve over a bowl and pour in the tomatoes. 
Using a spatula or large spoon, slowly stir the purée until all that remains in the sieve is a pulpy mash – this can take 5-10 minutes. Discard mash into your compost pile or down the drain.
Put about 4 cups of the bread into the empty blender. Pour the strained tomatoes back into the blender. Let set for about 15-20 minutes to wet and soften the bread.
Add in the garlic, salt, olive oil, and vinegar. Blend until puréed. Add in more bread to thicken, as needed.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve either chilled or at room temperature, topped with chopped hard boiled eggs.
One, generally, associates ‘gazpacho’ with the red, tomato based chilled soup. But there are other types, including ajoblanco – an almond based gazpacho.
While the bread is soaking, grind 1¼ cups almonds in a blender until they become a fine powder – about 30 seconds. 
Gently squeeze water out of bread back into the bowl (you’re going to use this water). 
Place the bread into the blender with the almonds. Set aside 1½ cups of the bread water for later. Into the blender, add the remaining water in bowl (NOT the 1½ cups you set aside), the vinegar, garlic, salt, and cayenne. Blend for 30 seconds. 
With blender running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
Pour in the 1½ cups bread water and run blender to mix.
Strain soup into a serving bowl. 
Into a small bowl combine 1 T of the strained soup with the almond extract. Then pour 1/2 tsp of this mixture into the soup (it enhances the almond flavor) and discard the rest (a little goes a long way). 
Correct for seasoning, if needed (I usually need more salt). Chill, at least, 3 hours – more is better. Toast remaining 3 T almonds in a dry skillet or toaster-oven.
Chicken & Dumplings is one of those classic, stick-to-your-ribs meals that’s considered a comfort food by many. Of course, being a vegetarian, chicken was not an option. That pretty much left a watery broth and a few carrots, onions, and celery.
Add in mushrooms and continue to cook another 4 minutes, scraping fond on bottom of pan (the browned bits). 
Add dill, tomato paste, garlic, and 2½ tsp of the salt – cook 3 more minutes. 
Pour in the Sherry and continue to cook until evaporated, scraping any fond formed. 
Add the water, tofu, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, and parsley. Bring almost to a simmer. In a small bowl, make a slurry by combining the arrowroot with 1/4 cup of the soup. Stir slurry into soup until it thickens a bit – should take a few minutes. Taste for seasoning – adjust, if needed. Keep heating the soup to bring to full boil.
As soup is heating up, make the dumplings. Heat the butter and let cool a bit. Then combine melted butter with the buttermilk – it will get clumpy. Whisk the egg white a little, then whisk it into the buttermilk mixture. 
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and 
Form small dough lumps – 1″ or less. There will probably be about 62. (These will plump up with cooking.) Make sure you form all these balls before you begin dropping them in the soup so they cook at the same rate.
When soup has come to a full boil, one by one drop in the dough balls. Wrap a towel around the pot lid and cover. (MAKE SURE THE TOWEL DOESN’T DROP ANYWHERE NEAR THE BURNER! YOU DON’T WANT A FIRE!!!) The towel will absorb steam moisture so the dumplings don’t get soggy. 
Decrease flame to medium and cook 11 minutes. Remove lid and allow steam to escape a few minutes before serving.
Caldo Verde is a hearty Portuguese soup that is very quick to prepare. It can be made with or without sausage. (There are fabulous fake sausages available everywhere!)
In a large saucepot heat 1/2 T olive oil over medium/high heat. Add in the onions, salt, garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Sauté 3-4 minutes, until onions are translucent. 
Add in the potatoes and water. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then decrease heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until potatoes are tender when pierced – about 8-10 minutes. 
While soup is cooking, cut up the collards. First, remove and discard the center stem. 
When potatoes are cooked, remove 1/2 cup of the solids and 1/2 cup of the liquid to a blender. Don’t blend yet.
Start the blender and slowly drizzle in the remaining 1½ T olive oil. When it’s all added, continue to blend for 1 minute. 
Pour into soup. Add in the sausage (if using), vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning, as needed. (I add another 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.)
Cut out stem core from cauliflower. Remove and discard the outside area – you’ll see a difference in color – then slice up the remaining core. 
Cut the head into 1/2″ slabs. 
Remove 1 cup of cauliflower florets and cut into about 1/2″ pieces – these will become garnish. Set them aside.
While the soup is cooking, prepare the garnish: Into a small skillet, melt the remaining 
With slotted spoon remove cauliflower bits to a small bowl. Stir in the sherry vinegar and a pinch of salt. Save the butter in the skillet – that will be garnish, too.
Vegetarian Cooking For Carnivores BLOG 