Sweet potato and kale soup

So, I told you that you would be with me on this vegan journey through my successes and failures, right? Well…this is a failure. Not so much a failure, as it’s inedible, I will definitely still eat it, but a failure as in it’s not as good as the original. Sometimes tweaking a recipe to make it my own really works, and I am proud of what I have done and proud that I was able to take something good, and make it even better. This was not the case. Now, the original recipe truly is amazing, and I want to share it with you, and then I am going to tell you how I failed. So this http://joythebaker.com/2010/11/kale-and-sweet-potato-soup/ is the original recipe, and damn it’s good. So good. Plus I love her blog. It’s fun to read, kind of like how I hope mine is. The original is so good, I am not quite sure why I decided to mess with it, but I did.

So, I essentially followed that recipe, except instead of a quart and a half of vegetable broth, I thought…oooh, I will add some beer! Beer makes everything better, right? WRONG! It doesn’t make this soup better. So I did one bottle of a blonde ale, and then the rest of the liquid was veggie broth. Like I said, it is still really good, just not as good. But the beer isn’t what completely ruined it. I blame that on the quinoa. What did I just say? Quinoa ruined something? No! Surely you jest. No, I don’t jest, and stop calling me Shirley. I love quinoa and think of it as an almost perfect grain. I have swapped it for rice in many, many things and it works fantastically, but not in soup. Nope, not in soup. It just has a weird texture that makes the soup a little harder to eat. Look at the picture, the quinoa just looks like it doesn’t belong. But rice does. Still tasty, but not as pleasing of a texture as the rice has. So, here is my failure. It wasn’t a total loss. I still ate it, and I will continue to eat it for lunch for a few days until it’s gone because I don’t waste food. But you have to try the original recipe. It is amazing. So good. The flavors are so delicious and it’s a perfect cool weather soup.

“Beef” stew with beer and paprika

You might be noticing a trend. I am a sucker for soup. I love it. It’s so comforting. It’s so easy. It’s so delicious. I just love soup. One of my favorite stews before turning vegan was this Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika from Pioneer Woman. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/beef-stew-with-beer-and-paprika/ I made it with beef or venison and it was always delicious. I was craving it like crazy the other day, but obviously, as a vegan, I had to modify the ingredients. I also knew I was going to be gone most of the day, so I did it all in the crock pot. Super easy. I swapped out the beef for a 10 bean mix I got from the local grocery store’s bulk bins. It still had all the delicious flavor I wanted, and none of the beef or animal products. If you don’t have a crock pot, you can easily follow the recipe I post, but follow The Pioneer Woman’s instructions.

“Beef” Stew with Beer and Paprika

3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups 10 bean mix, or any other meat sub
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bottle or can of beer, 12 oz
4 cups veggie stock
2 cups water
1 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce, or soy sauce if you can’t find any
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp white sugar
4 carrots, washed and sliced
4 new potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
1 cup peas
1 cup corn

Take all ingredients, except corn and peas and toss them in the crock pot, stir and cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 10 minutes before you want to eat, add in the peas and corn. That’s it. That’s all she wrote.

I put some homemade garlicky croutons on the top of mine, but is also great with a side salad and some crusty bread. It has a really delicious and hearty flavor. It’s much thicker with the beans than it is with the beef because they break apart and thicken the stew as it cooks, so you can always add more liquid if you want. I added a little more beer the next day when I reheated it. But water or veggie stock would do just fine.

Udon Noodle Soup

So, I actually feel like writing a blog right now, but who knows if I will get distracted before I finish. A little about me. I suffer from cluster headaches. They hit me once or twice a year, and I get horrible anxiety, insomnia, and one horrible migraine, every day for about 6 weeks. Which totally sucks, except this time around, I am being blessed with 2 migraines a day. YAY! Go me. So exciting. So…any who, I drank two cups of coffee this morning, on account of the insomnia, and then I got a migraine, and took my migraine meds, which have caffeine, so I am in the middle of a caffeine apocalypse right now. Good times. At least my headaches gone, until it wakes me up at midnight tonight.

Back to the recipe. I made Udon Noodle Soup the other day, and didn’t feel like posting about it, but now I do. It’s like chicken noodle soup, but vegan. It’s so delicious and super comforting. I love it.

Udon Noodle Soup

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup cabbage, thinly sliced
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 cups veggie broth
4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp maggi
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup extra firm tofu, cubed
1/2 cup peas
6 oz udon noodles

Heat olive oil in large pot, add onions and garlic. Cook until crisp tender, add cabbage, celery, and carrots and cook until carrots and celery are crisp tender, and onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
Add the veggie broth, water, salt and pepper to taste, ginger, maggi (if you have it, just add a tiny more soy sauce if you don’t), soy sauce and simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes until veggies are soft, making sure to scrape all the browned delicious bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Add peas, tofu, and udon noodles and simmer until udon noodles are soft, about 10 minutes. That’s it. Super delicious. Enjoy!

Yay! I didn’t get too distracted. Now off to go run a marathon, or clean my house, or the world!