Quick & delicious noodle soup Ⓥ

Noodle soup

This is an easy and quick recipe for either lunch or dinner.

The tofu is seasoned and crispy, the noodles cooked al dente, the miso gives the soup an umami flavour and the roasted sesame seeds add a crispy & nutty taste.

Main ingredients (4 servings)

• Noodles of your choice (I used gluten free brown rice/ pumpkin & ginger noodles) for 4 people (about 250g)
• 1 pack of firm tofu (250g)
• 2 to 3 carrots, sliced julienne style
• 1 large leek or 2 small leeks, sliced
• 1 large chunk of ginger
• A handful of sesame seeds
• Optional: some leafy greens such a bok choy or fresh (baby) spinach, washed and shredded.

Seasoning ingredients

• Vegetable stock powder
• 3 tbsp black bean & garlic sauce (from a Chinese or oriental store)
• 5 tbsp of olive or coconut (or other neutral vegetable) oil
• 4 tbsp tamari or shoyu sauce
• 4 tbsp miso paste (rice, soy or another type)
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp of chili flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Optional: salt to taste (it’s already salty due to stock powder, miso & soy sauce)
• Optional: 2 tbsp no fish sauce (vegan shop or Jumbo in The Netherlands)
• Optional: 1 tsp sambal (very spicy sauce) or sriracha 

Preparation

1. Lightly press the tofu with both hands (careful not to break it) to drain the water from the tofu (use your hands or this method) & cut in cubes (of about 1-2 cm each).
2. Prepare the marinade for the tofu: mix the black bean and garlic sauce, tamari, no fish sauce, sambal/ sriracha & spices together and stir in the tofu cubes. Set aside.
3. Wash the veggies and cut the carrots in julienne strips; peel the ginger and slice thinly; cut the leek in slices.
4. In a frying pan, heat some oil, add the tofu cubes and fry for about 5 minutes on all sides until crispy. Turn heat off.
5. Heat a small frying pan, add the sesame seeds and roast until crispy, not black. Turn heat off.
6. Bring about 1l water to boil, add the vegetable stock powder (see packaging for directions, put half of suggested quantity), as well as the veggies and the noodles bring to boil and let simmer for about 4 minutes (depending on the instructions on the noodle package)*.
7. Serve: add a tablespoon of miso paste to 4 bowls; take a few spoons of the hot stock from the soup and add to each bowl to mix with the miso paste. Once the noodles are al dente, add the noodles with vegetables and stock. Top with tofu & toasted sesame seeds. Add soy sauce to your liking.
   1. Optional: add some shredded leafy greens to the bowl and let it wilt for a minute or so (no need to boil).
   2. *Tip: cook the noodles in a separate pot, drain & rinse with cold water to ensure they’re al dente and especially if you won’t eat all the soup in one go.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Noodle soup in the making

Vegan tofu paté Ⓥ

This is a fabulous recipe if you need to make something for a potluck or a brunch. The paté is wonderful on toast with veganaise, but also as a main dish with rice or quinoa and a salad or green vegetables on the side. It’s delicious both warm & cold.

Ingredients

• 1 pack of firm tofu (350g)
• 2 to 3 carrots
• 100g pumpkin of sunflower seeds
• 5 tbsp sunflower (or other neutral vegetable) oil
• 4 tbsp tamari or shoyu sauce
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 to 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, to taste
• 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp asafetida powder
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp of chili flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In a large bowl, grate the tofu & carrots.
3. Add the seeds, spices, oil, tamari/ shoyu, flour, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, parsley & mix everything well together.
4. Oil a baking dish & add the mixture.
5. Place the dish in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden.

This is a tweaked recipe, the original recipe in Dutch.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Incredible egg free chickpea salad Ⓥ

This is a fabulous recipe if you have lots of chickpeas because you basically need the aquafaba to make chocolate mousse… Angela Liddon from Oh She Glows has delicious and relatively easy recipes and I used this recipe from her cookbook and then tweaked it. The salad is wonderful on toast, but also with raw vegetables as an aperitif.

I used kala namak (black salt or Indian volcanic rock salt) which give the salad its distinct egg smell and taste. It’s really crazy how it resembles egg salad without the cruelty. Use just a little bit as it can quickly be overpowering.

Ingredients

• 1 jar of of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (save the liquid aka aquafaba in the jar)
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pickles
• 3 tbsp store-bought or homemade veganaise
• 2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp turmeric curry powder
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp of chili flakes
• 1 1/2 to 3 tsp fresh lemon juice, to taste
• 1/4 tsp kala namak or sea salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas with a potato masher until flaked in texture.
2. Stir in the green onions, pickles, fresh herbs, mayonnaise, and spices until combined.
3. Season with the lemon juice, salt, nutritional yeast and pepper, adjusting the quantities to taste.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Fast noodle soup Ⓥ

Some nights, you just don’t have time to prepare an elaborate meal. Welcome this relatively quick home made noodle soup! This soup can be made with real (soba) noodles, gluten free noodles or spaghetti or linguini, whatever you have in your pantry or suits your taste.

You can substitute the textured vegetable protein (also known as TVP) with tofu as well (I like to season it and stir fry, not just boil). Enjoy !

Ingredients (2P)

• Brown rice noodles (or other vegan noodles of your choice) for 2
• 1 cup of TVP (dry)
• Vegetable stock (enough to boil the noodles)
• 1 broccoli head
• 2 tbsp miso (I used chick pea miso)
• 2 tbsp tamari or shoyu sauce
• 1 tbsp of tahin
• Optional: 1 cm of fresh ginger
• Black pepper

Preparation

1. Clean & wash the broccoli. Cut the broccoli in small florets; the stem in small pieces; peel the ginger and slice thinly.
2. Make the vegetable stock according to the package instructions, add the TVP, let simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. In 2 soup bowls, mix the miso & tahin with a bit of the vegetable stock to a liquid paste.
4. Take out the TVP with a slotted spoon and put aside.
5. Add the ginger and the noodles in the stock and set the timer for them to cook al dente.
6. Stir fry the TVP with some tamari or shoyu sauce and some spices of your choice for a few minutes, until crispy.
7. When there are 3 minutes left on the timer, add the broccoli to the stock.
8. When the timer is ready, take the noodles, ginger & broccoli out of the stock with a slotted spoon & divide over the 2 bowls.
9. Add some of the stock & mix well.
10. Add the fried TVP to the soup.
11. Season with black pepper & some more tamari to your taste.

Option: you can add some (toasted) sesame seeds or gomashio to your soup.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

My favorite recipe of 2016: warming lentil-coconut soup Ⓥ

Cooking, no actually eating is my passion 🙂 Vegan food obviously. I love to discover new recipes, restaurants, chefs, cook books, … Last year I’ve posted quite a few of my own recipes on this blog, however I forgot to mention one of my favorite recipes of 2016: it’s a delicious, warming, spicy soup by the talented chef Angela from Oh She Glows. It’s remarkably easy to make and requires very few ingredients. Basically it’s my go to recipe when I don’t have time to do grocery shopping or cooking, but want to fill my tummy with some healthy and happy food. I guess I make it once a month. All the guests I’ve served the soup to were really enthusiastic as well.

Discover the recipe & mouth watering pictures on Angela’s blog. Bon appétit !

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Miso soup reinvented Ⓥ

Miso soup is very dear dish to my heart. Hereby the recipe of the version I made the other day.

I understand this is not a typical preparation of a traditional miso soup, but it’s my version and I like it. I sometimes add zucchini, but it gets soft very fast. You can add carrots or any other hard vegetable that you like. You can substitute the TVP with tofu as well (I like to season it and stir fry, not just boil). Enjoy !

Ingredients (2P)

• Brown rice noodles (or other vegan noodles of your choice) for 2
• 1 cup of TVP (dry)
• A few Kombu leaves
• Filtered water to fill one medium sized cooking pot
• 1 leek
• 1 broccoli head
• 1 tomato
• 1 cm of fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp brown rice miso (or other miso)
• 1 tbsp tamari sauce
• 1 tsp asafetida
• Black pepper
• Coconut oil

Preparation

1. Clean & wash the vegetables. Cut the broccoli in small florets; the leek in rings; the tomato in small pieces; peel the ginger and slice thinly.
2. Bring the broccoli florets to boil and simmer for 5 minutes until just slightly cooked and still crispy. Take them out of the water with a slotted spoon. Rinse under cold water, set aside in a separate bowl.
3. Add the kombu leaves to the  water and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes.
   Optional: add some vegan stock powder
4. After 5 minutes, add the TVP and let simmer in the stock.
5. Heat up some coconut oil in a skillet, add the tomato and some tamari until a sauce forms, add black pepper.
6. After 10 minutes, take out the hydrated TVP with a slotted spoon.
7. Add the TVP to the skillet and stir fry for about 5-8 minutes.
8. Add the noodles to the stock and cook according to instructions (generally about 6-8 minutes), stir every now and then to avoid the noodles to stick together.
9. In the meantime, season the broccoli with some sesame oil, black pepper & tamari and toss in the separate bowl.
10. Mix the rice miso with some boiling water and tamari and mix well in a separate small bowl.
11. Once the noodles are done, take out the kombu leaves.
12. Prepare 2 soup bowls and put 2 tbsp of the miso mixture, then add half of the miso soup and half of the stir fried TVP.
13. Add the broccoli by dipping it in the soup right before eating it, to avoid the broccoli from becoming too soft.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Miso soup with Soba noodles, vegetables and fried tofu Ⓥ

Nothing like a filling and savoury homemade miso soup when you don’t have much time or ingredients to cook.

Ingredients

• Kombu seaweed (about 5-6 big pieces)
• half a package of Soba noodles
• 3 carrots
• half a zucchini
• half a fennel
• 2 cm of fresh ginger
• 1 cm fresh turmeric
• 2 tsp black miso paste
• boiling water

Optional: fried tofu cubes

• 250g of firm tofu
• 1 tbsp of sesame oil
• 2 tbs of Tamari or Shoyu sauce
• Black pepper
• Some coconut oil

Preparation

1. Heat  about 1,5 liter of water
2. Put the Kombu in the boiling water and leave to simmer.
3. In the meantime, drain the water from the tofu (using either your hands to squeeze the tofu (fast version) or placing the tofu between two plates and putting a heavy object on the top plate and wait 30 minutes to free the excess water).
4. Cut the tofu into cubes (approximately 1-2 cm).
5. Mix the other ingredients for the tofu cubes in a deep dish.
6. Add the tofu cubes to the mixture; making sure all sides are well coated.
7. Wash, then slice the vegetables in julienne.
8. Peel the ginger and slice.
9. Peel the turmeric.
10. After the Kombu has simmered for about 10 minutes, add the ginger, carrot, fennel and turmeric, leave to simmer.
11. In the meantime, fry the tofu with coconut oil in a frying pan or wok until it’s nice and crispy.
12. After 5 minutes of simmering the Kombu and the vegetables, add the zucchini.
13. After 5 more minutes add the noodles (mine needed to simmer 5-6 minutes in boiling water).
14. In the meantime, prepare 1 tsp of miso with some hot water in two separate bowls.
15. Once your noodles are perfectly cooked (al dente), turn of the heat source, take a  skimmer (‘serving spoon with holes’) to take out the noodles and vegetables and divide them over the 2 bows with miso. Mix well. Add some of the stock. Finish with the fried tofu and some black pepper.

You can keep the stock for soup or sauce, in your freezer or fridge (couple of days). You can use any vegetable you like, I used what I had in my fridge. Also, if you don’t want to fry the tofu, you can simply cook it along with the vegetables for about 10 minutes.

Important: don’t leave any noodles in the stock to heat up at some later stage: as they will become all mushy. So if you cook for more than one meal, simply boil your noodles in a separate pot and drain them, rinse with cold water and use the desired quantity. I did an easy version in order to save time and water.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Vegan recipe: mixed vegetable soup

There’s enormous comfort in eating a delicious homemade soup with the vegetables that you have in your fridge. Improvise each time with what you have have, if you don’t know what to make, or when you don’t have much time and still want a healthy & filling meal. This particular time I made a soup with 5 different vegetables, some spices and voilà !

Ingredients

• 4 green celery stalks
• 2 carrots
• 1 fennel
• 1 onion
• 1 potato
• 1 cm of fresh ginger
• 2 tsp of turmeric
• 1 tsp of smoked paprika powder
• Enough (filtered) water to cover the vegetables
• Vegetable oil (preferably olive or coconut)
• Salt & peper to taste

Preparation

1. Wash and cut the vegetables in equal-sized parts, peel and cut the ginger in small pieces.
2. Stir fry the ginger in some vegetable oil.
3. Add the vegetables and stir fry for some minutes, add the turmeric and paprika powder and stir until all the vegetables are nicely covered with the spices.
4. Fill the casserole with enough water to cover all the vegetables, bring to a boil and let it simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes (or until the vegetables are soft enough to blend. (TIP: you can also boil the water separately and add boiling water to the vegetables).
5. Blend the soup with a hand blender to a smooth soup.
6. Enjoy with or without some boiled quinoa or toast or just like that.

Yogi recipe: brown lentil soup with ginger, purslane and roasted vegetables Ⓥ

Vegan spicy winter soup

It’s still pumpkin season for a little longer & I absolutely love this soup which is very filling and spicy so just perfect to warm you up on a cold day as today. You can eat it with the noodles, with quinoa or even with some (home-made) corn or sourdough bread. This recipe serves 3 to 4 portions. 

Ingredients

• 40 g ginger root
• 1 chili pepper or hot pepper
• 500 gr pumpkin
• 1 leek
• 2 carrots
• 200 g white cabbage
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 800 ml filtered water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 200 g chickpeas (precooked)
• 50 g wok noodles
• 2 tsp curry powder or garam masala
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro
• Coconut oil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• (1 onion)

 

Preparation

• Peel the onion and the ginger.
• Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds.
• Put the ingredients into a food processor; add 4 tbsp of olive oil and a little salt, mix until obtaining a creamy mixture.
• Prepare the vegetables: peel the pumpkin and cut into pieces, cut the leek into rings and carrots into small pieces. Chop the cabbage & wash the vegetables.
• Heat the coconut oil in a wok and add the garlic/ onion/ pepper mixture. Let it simmer for 2 minutes.
• Add the pumpkin, carrots, cabbage and leek to the mixture.
• Let it all simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the curry/ garam masala.
• Pour the coconut milk, a little lemon juice and 800 ml water to the wok. Bring the soup to a boil.
• Add the chickpeas, noodles and possibly a little bit more water. Cook the vegetables until well done.
• Add seasoning to taste & add the cilantro just before serving.

Source: © Cookbook Donderdag Veggiedag by Miki Duerinck et Kristin Leybaert – 2012, page 106

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Yogi recipe: vegan yellow lentil & pumpkin soup with quinoa

This is an ideal meal when you are pressed for time and still want to eat a healthy and filling meal: right after your yoga practice or at lunch for example. The soup can be eaten as a full meal on its own or served with a cooked grain (quinoa, millet, …), potatoes from the oven, some bread or chapatis, … You can also choose to eat it with seasoned and stir fried or oven-baked tofu or tempeh. Use your imagination to adapt it to your favorite tastes with some chili, some other herbs or spices of your liking.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of chopped up pumpkin
• 1 cup of yellow (brown, orange, …) lentils
• 0.5 cup of other seasonal veggies
• 3 cups of filtered water
• 1 or 2 cm of ginger root
• 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
• 0.5 tbsp of coriander seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of garam masala (or curry) powder
• Salt & pepper
• (Coconut) oil
• Fresh parsley

Preparation

• Wash the vegetables & cut in ~2cm cubes.
• Peel the ginger root & grate it or cut it in small bits.
• Thoroughly rinse the lentils until the water runs clear.
• Heat some (preferably coconut) oil in a frying pan (wok).
• Add the mustard & coriander seeds; wait until they ‘pop’. 
• Add the ginger root; stir for 2 minutes.
• Add the garam masala & turmeric powder; stir for another minute. 
• Add the pumpkin and other seasonal vegetables of your liking (I added some celeriac); stir fry for a couple of minutes. 
• Add the lentils; stir fry for another 2 minutes.
• Add the filtered water & the bay leaves; leave it to boil.
• When it boils, lower the heat & let it simmer for approximately 25 minutes or until the vegetables and the lentils are tender. 
• You may have to add some water depending whether you want a soup or more thick sauce type of dish. 
• Add salt ONLY at the end (as it’ll prolong cooking time) & season with pepper. Take out the bay leaves before serving & serve with the fresh parsley on top.

Serving suggestion
Serve with quinoa, millet or some other whole grain you like.

Yogi recipe: vegan pumpkin carrot soup

I love making soup, it’s very easy & satisfying as you can make lots with little effort. You can combine it with quinoa, rice, bread, …  to have a very filling main meal. Every season has its distinct vegetables to enjoy different types of soup all year round. I often just use one or two different veggies in a recipe and don’t even bother to use broth. I prefer to use spices, such as turmeric, cumin, paprika and Herbamare salt & black pepper as well as fresh herbs to bring out the taste of the veggies.

If like me, you always make way too much soup, then surely don’t hesitate to freeze the left-overs in portion sizes to have some nice food readily available to take to your work or for some other good reason.

This recipe is for approximately 10 servings & ready in ~35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 kg chopped pumpkin
• 1 kg carrots
• 1 piece of fresh ginger
• 250ml Provamel Bio Soya Cuisine cream or coconut milk
• 3 l (filtered) water
• 70 g vegetable stock powder (to taste/ optional)
• Fresh coriander
• Black pepper & Herbamare/ Sea or Himalaya salt

Preparation
Cut the pumpkin and carrots into cubes. Peel the ginger and cut it into pieces or grate it.
Place all vegetables in a large pot. Add the water and bring to the boil.
Add the stock powder. Let it simmer on low heat until the vegetables are tender.
Remove the pan from the heat source and mix the soup with a blender.
Season with pepper & salt. Add the Soya Cuisine cream or coconut milk and stir well & let it simmer a little longer. Finish with a few coriander leaves.

TIP
If you buy organic produce, you can leave the skin of the pumpkin & carrots on (less work!), just make sure to wash them well (optional: use a vegetable brush).