Vegan Minestrone

"Big Soup" or  "Minestrone",  prepared without meat or dairy.

Minestrone Soup in a Slow Cooker

We made vegetarian stock, and after straining out most of the stock for future use, we added a few fresh items to make meal-in-itself minestrone soup.  Several batches are shown in this photo set, no two the same.

What distinguishes "Vegetable Soup" from "Minestrone"?  Usually minestrone has a few beans and a few pieces of pasta in it, though not always, and vegetable soup can have those too.  Probably the biggest difference is whether you are having it in an Italian restaurant ... or in the kitchen of your Italian grandmother... or whether it is seasoned with oregano...

Here are some typical vegetables for a good potful of stock and minestrone:

Onion
Celery
Garlic
Carrot
Green pepper
Mushrooms

Tomato paste
Green peas
Parsley with stems

Dice and saute vegetables to bring out the flavor before adding tomato paste, peas, parsley,  and water.  Tomato paste (or puree, which is just tomato paste and water) are needed for richness, and mushrooms and peas are needed for the same reason. These foods are high in "umami", the subtle flavor that tells our senses that the food is satisfying. Fresh tomatoes, if wanted, can be added later.

Soup cooked earlier, with cabbage ready to be added.

Bring the soup to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the vegetables are done.  Remove any portion of the broth that you want to save for use later as stock. Then add any, or all, of the following:

Cooked dry beans
Green beans
Kale
Cabbage
Brussels Sprouts
Parsley
Fresh tomato
Diced potato
Diced turnip
Diced rutabaga
Diced parsnip
Pasta*
Rice*
Seasonings

*Pasta and rice will continue to swell for as long as they are in water, so if you put them in the soup, eat it immediately.  Starches are better stored separately and then added to the soup just before serving.

Vegan Minestrone

At this point you have a hearty vegan soup.  Serve with crusty rolls or croutons.  If dairy is not an issue, the finishing touch is grated parmesan, to be spooned in at the table.  Or cheese toast, made from sharp cheddar and whole-grain bread, is the perfect accompaniment.

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).

This recipe is #80 in Baker's Dozen Challenge Countdown

Easy Hummus

Hummus made from chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic

2 cups garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
2 Tb olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp salt or to taste
Juice of 1 lemon

Other ingredients can be added: tahini, sesame oil, roasted red pepper, cayenne pepper, to name a few.

Squeeze in the lemon juice and turn on the blender or food processor.
 Stop when it is smooth and fluffy like a dip.   ...OR... my household actually likes lumpy hummus. Sometimes we put the ingredients into a shallow bowl and mash it up with the back of a fork, leaving visible bits of bean.
 
Spoon hummus into the center of a plate. Sprinkle with paprika, and make a well in the center in which to pour a spoonful of olive oil.

Add crackers or pita and some salad ingredients.

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).

This dish is #92 in the Baker's Dozen Challenge Countdown!

Vegetarian stock

I don't know whether it helps or hurts that I don't much like vegetarian broth - no brand or form of it canned is even edible, so far as I am concerned.  Ugh, what do they put in it?  So  I am trying to make it from scratch.  We've had several batches, all different, all okay, none perfect, but we're getting closer.

Ingredients.  We decided against the turnip.

One rule: don't overcook, because most overcooked vegetables, even seasoning vegetables, taste sour and awful. (There are exceptions; some green vegetables develop a different and much better taste after being cooked for an hour or more.)

Another rule, as I am learning, is that what meat contributes to good stock is an abundance of the flavor called "umami", a Japanese word meaning "deliciousness", which in its pure form is found in monosodium glutamate.  If a veggie stock is going to satisfy, umami must be included from vegetable sources.  Ingredients high in glutamates include ripe tomatoes and mushrooms, especially dried shiitake mushrooms.  Also high in glutamates are potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas. Thus, veggie stock will be more satisfying if it contains, at least, tomato paste, mushrooms, carrots and peas.  The more of those other ingredients included in the soup,  the more satisfying the broth will be.  With glutamate- rich foods as a base and liberal inclusion of the standard seasoning vegetables, we can produce a stock both satisfying and tasty.

Start with this:

Onion
Celery
Garlic
Carrot
Green pepper
Mushrooms

Dice and saute vegetables in batches to bring out the flavor, and when softened, place them in a cooking vessel (stockpot, crockpot, microwave- safe container, hotpot) about twice the volume of the vegetables you've sauteed.

Seasoning Vegetables

Then add:

Tomato paste
Green peas
Parsley with stems
Salt if wanted

Fill pot 3/4 with water

Cook on High until hot, then reduce to Low and cook until vegetables are just done.

Strain out as much of the broth as you want to reserve, leaving enough broth with the cooked vegetables so that with the addition of some fresh items you can serve it as Vegetable or Minestrone soup.

One pint of stock will fill a 16-cube ice tray,  giving you frozen stock measured roughly in ounces for use in quick "little soups" or in other dishes.

Vegetarian Broth

Note:  Other ingredients to consider for veggie stock are "kombu", a seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, soy sauce, and Chinese cabbage.  All these will undoubtedly increase the "deliciousness" of your stock, but whether the flavors are appropriate will depend on what you intend to do with the stock.

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).