Lentil and Tomato Soup

This recipe was found out of necessity. I had run out of easy things to make for dinner and with the next trip to the grocery store several days away I turned to the staples of my cupboard, and searched for a recipe that would use only what I had. This one looked edible and though I lacked several of the ingredients I made it with what I had and it turned out pretty good. I'm assuming it would be much better with the things i didn't have. We'll see :)
You will need:

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
• 2 tbs chopped fresh dill divided
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 dried red chile pepper
• 1 (8oz ) can tomato sauce
• 1 tbs balsalmic vinegar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and galic; cook 10 min, or until the vegetables are tender, stirring frequently.
3. Add water, dried lentils, 1 tbs dill, bay leaves, chile, and tomato sauce.
4. Bring to a boil;
5. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.
6. Stir in remaining 1 tbs dill, vinegar, salt and black pepper,;
7. discard bay leaves and chile.
8. Sprinkle with cheese.

Miso Dumpling Soup

Ok, so if you're like I was you're wondering what is miso (Mee-So)? Well apparently according to Wickipedia it's:

Miso (みそ or 味噌?) is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus kōjikin (麹菌?), the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called Misoshiru (味噌汁?), a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still very widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining world-wide interest. Miso is typically salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory, and there is an extremely wide variety of miso available.

or the American Dictionary:
A thick fermented paste made of cooked soybeans, salt, and often rice or barley, and used especially in making soups and sauces.


So, now that you know what it is, it probably doesn't sound all too appetizing. Kinda like Kimshi, although both are pretty good, to me atleast. I stumbled onto Miso soup at our local Wal Mart. And not reading the ingredients carefully, I bought the little package with 4 individual 6oz soup mixes. I went home, and made one up. It was delicious. And Jerrod tasted it and said, are you sure this is vegetarian? I said I thought the fishy taste was the seaweed, Nope Fish. What kind of fish? who knows, all it says was fish. So we dumped it out and threw away the rest. Darn it. But much to my surprise, shopping at the commissary produced a new brand of miso soup with two flavors. Both have no fish, or fishy taste. But both have MSG. So if you're like me and know better but eat it anyway, maybe there's no big deal here. But if you are trying to avoid things that kill your memory cells faster than normal (I hear), you might want to make your own. For this recepi I found some 1 minute Miso soup in a squeeze bottle. But I'm figuring you could go to a health food store and get a good miso. Either way. It's a pretty simple recipe, and pretty tasty. But you have to be creative about making it so you'll like it.


You will need:

• Some type of Miso paste, powder or instant soup
• finely chopped onions (any flavor)
• Water
• Seaweed
• Biscuit mix (I like Bisquick) or make from scratch
• Shredded cheese (optional)
• Salt/pepper

Here's what you do:

1. Mix up about 3 or 4 cups of the Miso soup base (depending on how thick you want the broth. 4 cups makes a creamy broth after the dumplings are added). For mine it called for 1tbs mix per 3/4 cup of water. You may want more or less depending. Mix it up and heat it, then give it a little taste You have pleanty of time to adjust the base before adding the dumplings.
2. When you have your base to your liking, add onions (and any other finely chopped veggies you want to add. Cabbage may even be good). And then seaweed. Bring to a boil.
3. While you are heating the base, mix up a batch of dumplings. For Bisquick, I use the drop biscuit mixing directions. About 1 cup of mix per 1/3 cup of water. Add some finely chopped onions and cheese to the mixture. Set aside.
4. When your soup is boiling, add the dumpling mix by large spoonfuls. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 min.
5. Uncover and simmer for another 10 minutes, you may need to increase the heat to keep it simmering.
6. Remove from heat and serve.

White Bean Chili

I love this Chili. So far I've made it for the last two years for our church's New Years Ever Communion/chili cook off. Unfortunately only the first batch was successful in my eyes. Everyone loved it both times. Sadly the last two times that I made it I didn't check to make sure I had all of the ingredients, and once I chopped up parsley instead of cilantro. Don't ask it was a terrible night! But I give you a warning, it really needs to be made with a special kind of fake chicken to be perfect. I can't guarantee results if you use morning star or smart strips. But that's up to you.

You will need:

• 1lb dried navy beans (prepared according to directions to rehydrate them)
• 5 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken stock meat eaters)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped green chilies (fresh or canned)
• 1 lb fake chicken (I prefer Quorn chicken pieces)(or real chicken for the meat version)
• 1 tbs ground cumin
• 1 tbs ground oregano
• 1 to 2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• a pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1. Rinse and drain the beans well after soaking. Place in a large pot with stock and boil.
2. Add garlic, onion and chilies to hot butter and saute in a pan. Add to the beans.
3. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, and all other ingredients to the pot and lower heat to medium.
4. Cook covered 1 1/2 hours stirring occasionally.

Tomato Dumpling Soup

I was watching an Amish cooking show years ago and this was a dish they prepared. I've always loved Chicken and Dumplings so since becoming a vegetarian I missed the dumplings a lot. So I tried to find the recipe she used. I wasn't successful, but I did find many people were looking for the same thing. Then I stumbled on an old Cherokee recipe, and decided to try it. It's pretty tasty. I hope you think the same thing.

You will need:

• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 6 cups fresh chopped tomatoes or equivalent canned
• 2-3 tsp chili powder
• 2tbs flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken if you eat meat)
• biscuit mix (I prefer bisquick)

1. In a large pot combine all the ingredients except the biscuit mix. Bring to a boil and let simmer 20-30 minutes.
2. Let cool enough that you can pour it into a blender and puree until smooth.
3. Place back in the pot and heat up until simmering again.
4. Prepare biscuit mix (milk can be substituted by using unsweetened soymilk or nutmilk)and drop by spoonfuls into simmering soup.
5. Cover and cook about 10 min

Happy Cooking!

Borscht (beet soup)- My version

For all you out there who think you don't like beets... think again. This version of Borscht, and the others I've tried, do not taste like beets at all. Basically it tastes like a yummy vegetable soup with big chunks of potatoes and carrots. The beets really just give it a sweetness you almost miss and a beautiful purple color. Try it and see.


You will need:

• 6 cups of vegetable broth (chicken if you eat meat)
• 3 whole fresh beets peeled and cut into tiny pieces (as tiny as you can cut them by hand)- You'll want to do this first because your hands will turn purple, but after you cut them wash your hands and the cutting board and then cutting the rest of the ingredients will basically clean your hands of the stain.
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 2 stalks of celery chopped
• 3 medium red potatoes cut into large chunks
• 2 carrots peeled and chopped (any size you like)
• 1/2 cup butter/margarine/or vegan substitute
• 1 sweet onion chopped
• 1 small head of cabbage shredded (basically 2-4 cups worth)
• 1 30 ounce can of whole tomatoes squished with your hands (this is very fun and messy and can be substituted with the equal amount of canned diced tomatoes, but the taste will be different)
• 1/4 bunch of fresh dill (dried works OK, but lacks flavor)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Start out by boiling the broth and adding the beets. You can do this before chopping the rest of your ingredients so the beets will get good and soft. While that is heating go ahead and cut and add all ingredients except the butter, onion, tomatoes and cabbage. Add dill to your preference. My mom and I love dill so the more the better. But my husband and sister only like a little. So start out with a small amount, you can always add more later.
2. Once you have done all of this melt the butter in your large frying pan. Then add the chopped onions and cook them until they are soft.
3. Next add the squished tomatoes. Cover and cook on med/low heat for 10 minutes. Make sure you stir once in awhile to keep it from sticking,
4. Then add the chopped cabbage to the tomato and onion mixture. Keep covered stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
5. Finally pour the onions, tomato, and cabbage into the pot with everything else. Boil for another 15+ minutes.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can cook it for a very long time if you start it too early. And you can always refrigerate or freeze it for later and it's just like fresh when you heat it up. Sometimes better. I recommend serving it with sourdough bread on the side. The recipes I see also say to put a dollop of sour cream or yogurt on top... but I'm not too sure.

Happy Cooking!