Quick-Easy Vegetable Soup

This is another 'clean out the 'fridge soup.'

Always fun to make.  And since I love variety, most of my soups are not recipes I repeat, other than a few of my favorites. I knew my zucchini was still good, but getting 'tired.' So I used 2 of those and will use the other in an egg thing that's formulating in my brain.

I sliced the carrots into a 4 quart soup pot with 2T of hot EVOO. To that I added half the onion, half the garlic smashed-chopped, 3/4c brown Basmati rice. Stir and sauté this on medium-high heat for several minutes. Pour a couple cups of water over it all, then add the rest of the vegetables shown, sliced or chopped, and a 28oz. can of tomatoes. Break those up or use petite diced tomatoes.

Add a good amount of fresh ground pepper, a couple tablespoons of chicken or vegetable soup base, more water as needed, and any other fresh or dried herbs or seasonings you'd like.  Cover and simmer on very low heat for an hour. Soup like this is so nice on a really chilly winter day. Make a pot! It'll scent your whole house and add some healthy humidity to the air during this dry season.

Stay healthy everyone! . .Lin

A Complete-Protein Vegetable Soup

Ahhh. . ."Soup, Soup. . .My Kingdom For Some Soup!"

When I get really run down and my body's struggling, due to a lapse in good food choices or a virus trying to take hold,  if I just pay attention, I know what will help.  Today it's This Soup.  People have asked me where I get these recipes - Here, on my blog, they're all my originals, unless otherwise noted.  They also want to know how I decide on the ingredients for a particular recipe I'm creating.  Often times, the nudging, craving, prompting to the kitchen is the first step.  A scan of the 'fridge, pantry and freezer and things start coming together. . .  I did a little research, then ordered some 'ancient grains' a few weeks back.  Interesting stuff!  This started out to be just vegetables and a little seasoning, but then kamut called my name!  I also, just before the whole-pot-simmer, added an equal amount of lentils, which aren't shown.  This time I used the whole, brown, grocery store variety.  The combination of this grain and legume creates a complete protein such as that found in meat and eggs.  This, however, is a whole-food-plant-based, vegan, vegetarian recipe, and a great healthy, cleansing, yet protein-packed, soup.

½c kamut - shake in a strainer and take out any tiny rocks

2T avocado or other oil with a high smoke point

4 lg. cloves garlic - minced

½ lg. purple onion - diced

fresh ground black pepper

Himalayan pink salt

Combine these in a large heavy-bottomed pot.  Everything is now simmering in my 4qt. hmmm - possibly a bit small?!  This will make a LOT of soup!  You can clearly see the ingredients here, so I won't even list them.  Duplicate this - or listen to your resident vegetables as they ask to be part of YOUR lovely soup!

Prep Time!  Cut your vegetables any way you like them, small or chunky.  I find I usually cut each one in a different manner.  This time, the tomatoes and onion were cut in a basic chop.  I diced the celery, diagonally cut the carrots, sliced the peppers and cubed the cabbage.  Somehow this feels to me, like honoring each individual one's contribution to the final product and recognizing their uniqueness within the mix.

After the first group of ingredients sizzled, snapped and popped themselves to a beautiful brownness, I added everything else to the pot along with 5½ cups of water.  I brought it to a quick boil, then reduced the heat to a low simmer, covered and now I'm savoring the scent while listening to it gently bubble its way to doneness.  Simmer, low and slow like that, for an hour or so, until the kamut is done.

Remember that heat destroys water soluble vitamins - the B's and C - so the less cooking time for your vegetables, the better.  Therefore, with this in mind, you might want to simmer the kamut separately until cooked and add it at the end.  When it's ready, check the flavors.  Mmmm, mine is already developing a wonderful, nutty sweetness!  I might just leave it that way.  The sodium content would be negligible.  Alternately, you could add some Better Than Bouillon - Vegetable or Mushroom flavor - to zing it up a bit...

Be Creative! 😋 - 🙃 - 😉 Happy Cooking! . . Lin

Quinoa, Beans and Vegetables

½c quinoa - red, white or multi-colored

½ med.-lg. onion - chopped

3 celery stalks - chopped

2 lg. carrots - julienned then chopped

2T butter

salt and pepper or seasoned salt

Sauté all the above in a medium pan or pot.  When everything's browning a little and becoming translucent, add 1-2c water, white wine, chicken or vegetable broth.  Simmer half an hour or more.  Add 1 can drained and rinsed beans.  Black beans, cannelloni, or garbanzos.  This makes a great high protein accompaniment to a steak, sautéed shrimp, chicken or lamb chop, or as a vegetarian entree.  

For The Love Of Kimchi!!! - A Scandinavian Woman's Kimchi Adventure!!!

3# mixed cabbage - Purple, Napa and Green

¾c sea salt or Kosher salt

Cut the cabbage into quarters then slice.  Sprinkle with salt and work it in with your hands in a LARGE plastic or glass bowl.  Let this stand an hour or two before adding water.  Cover with 8-12c of water for 12-24 hours, weighing down the vegetables - to keep them submerged - with a heavy plate.

2 lg. carrots - julienne sliced

8oz. daicon radish - julienne sliced

1 bunch green onions - diagonally sliced

1 lg. leak cut into cross-sections and rings

½ Anaheim pepper - sliced

¼-½c finely chopped fresh ginger
½c finely minced fresh garlic
¼c fish sauce
2T finely crushed red pepper
2t granulated sugar

You can do this second batch of vegetables the same day, or wait till the next day.  I opted for the same day and to let them all 'marinate' together in a plastic bag in the 'fridge.  😊  Be forewarned however, the Anaheim peppers can be quite hot on your hands!  I've had problems with this in the past with some really aggressive Banana Peppers I grew years ago.  The pain of the heat lasted for days!  I didn't think Anaheim's were strong enough to cause discomfort, but I was wrong. . . 😡  When you chop peppers, it's always best to put liquid soap on your hands afterward.  Don't dilute it at all, just rub it in.  It has an emulsifying effect on the pepper oils that doesn't happen when you add water.  Work it in well, then rinse with warm water.  That should take care of the problem.  (do as I say, not as I do 😊 - profit from my bad experiences 😉) 

After 24 hours, rinse and drain the cabbage mixture very well.  Repeating several times.  Combine both bowls of vegetables and fill your jars.  This only made 3 quarts of Kimchi.  It needs to be tamped - packed down very well into the jars.  I bought special lids that let the gasses out as the Kimchi is fermenting.  There are ways around this, but I didn't want to hear glass jars breaking at 2 in the morning, so I went the easy route.

Leave the jars sealed for 24 hours in a cool dry place.  Then open to be sure the gas is escaping, recap and refrigerate for at least 48 hours.  The Kimchi will be more flavorful if it's allowed to ferment in the refrigerator a week or so.  Have fun with this!!!  This recipe is so inclusive of all the things I like in Kimchi, that I'm pretty sure it won't change much.  Possibly the amounts of garlic, ginger and red pepper will be adjusted a little, but that's about it.  I love the mix of vegetables I used for this. . .Lin 

Greens And Seeds

2c chopped asparagus

1-2c chopped frozen broccoli

½c sunflower seeds

a little water

1T± butter

salt and pepper

a little grated cheese

Steam the vegetables, covered, for a few minutes.  Uncover and continue to cook until water evaporates.  Top with a little cheese (and seasoned breadcrumbs if you want).  Often, this is exactly what I crave!  It was such a good dinner . . .😋. . . Lin

6 Grain Rice Tabouli

Kagayaki = Black, Red & Brown Rice - Purple
Barley, Hulless Barley & Rye Berries

1c Kagayaki 6 Grain Rice

1 lg. lemon - zest and juice

⅓-½c Tuscan flavored olive oil

1t fresh ground garlic salt

½t finely ground red and black pepper

½ bunch finely chopped Italian parsley

½ bunch finely chopped cilantro

4-6oz. quartered Kalamata olives

⅓ lg. orange sweet pepper - chopped

¼ sm. head of purple cabbage - chopped

2 pickling cucumbers - julienne sliced

3 lg. green onions - diagonally sliced

1-3 cloves of garlic - finely minced

12oz. grape tomatoes - cross-sectioned

1½c small red beans 

1½c moth bean sprouts

Cook the rice according to package directions and chill.  In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients to create the dressing.  Add all the chopped vegetables, gently mixing well.  

Add the beans, sprouts and rice blend, again gently mix, cover and chill an hour or so before serving.  Gently toss to re-coat all the vegetables and grains, with the dressing, just before serving. . .Lin

A Big Salad Mix

"Hard Ingredients" - - Ready to be made into A Salad!

I've been calling these 'Lettuce Mixes' for years now, but that goes back to a time where I was using a couple types of lettuce and maybe one other ingredient like cabbage or spinach.  Today, there's no way I can just call this a lettuce mix.  A Salad Mix is best when made with only 'hard' ingredients, such as what are listed below.  When done right, these will keep for up to 5 days after washing well then spinning dry in a good salad spinner.  I've mentioned mine several times.  They don't have to be expensive.  

Mine is a Progressive Salad Spinner, available at Bed Bath and Beyond * and Walmart for under $10.00!  (They're also available at Amazon, however, Amazon charges twice as much.)  I've had a couple different ones over this years and this is by far my favorite.

Today's mix, shown in the photo above, consists of: romaine, cabbage, onion, radish and carrot as 'Hard Ingredients.'  Don't add wet or mushy ingredients like hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, etc., until just before you're serving a salad.  To this basic mix, for an early dinner tonight, I added: cucumber, and for protein: lentil sprouts, small red beans, cashews, and cubed parmesan cheese.  I splashed on a little Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette dressing that really woke up the flavors.  It was delicious! 😋 . . .Lin

Another Clean-Out-The-'Fridge Soup

6-8 lg. cloves of garlic - minced

4T butter

1 med.. onion, minced / chopped

1 lg. purple shallot - sliced

¾c dry white wine

hard vegetables - sliced or chopped

1-2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes

green leafy vegetables

*cooked quinoa, rice, barley or orzo

For this soup, I simmered the corn then strained the water to use later.  Sauté' the garlic in butter over med.-high heat.  Stir and stay close.  It will go from perfect to burnt, in no time.  Once nicely browned, add a little of the wine.  Add the remaining 'aromatic' vegetables; chopped celery, carrot, peppers and onion.  Continue to stir and cook, using the remainder of the wine to deglaze the pan after each browning.  Add the remaining hard vegetables; rough-chopped cabbage and quartered Brussels sprouts. Stir these around, and use some of the corn water to keep everything from sticking.

After about 10 minutes, add the tomatoes, remaining corn water, spinach, corn and chop-sliced greens and stems from the bok choy.  Let this all simmer, covered for about an hour.  Check flavors and enhance with a little salt, black and red pepper.  If deeper flavor is needed, try a couple tablespoons of Orrington Farms Chicken or Vegan Broth Base*  Add the starch* if you want, or just keep this as a simple, clear broth, vegetable soup.  A couple cans of drained-rinsed black beans would also be an excellent addition.

This is another great make-ahead soup.  The flavors develop best after the original cooking, by chilling several hours, then reheating.  It's a perfect and quick one to make on the weekend, in preparation for a busy workweek . .Lin

Sprouting Mung (Moong) Beans

Red and Green Organic Mung Beans

Day One - Thursday Morning

½ c organic green mung beans

½ c organic red moong beans

a large glass sprouting jar

fresh, cold, filtered water

time 

When Sprouting - Size Matters!

Think Uniformity. . .  You wouldn't want to sprout garbanzos with alfalfa seeds!  Smaller seeds such as alfalfa, broccoli and radish go well together.  Whole brown or green lentils are wonderfully rich and peppery all by themselves, but also combine well with very tiny mung beans.  The larger ones such as black beans and red aduki beans are good together.  That's usually as big as I go, but any dried bean, potentially, can be sprouted.  The small seeds sprout VERY quickly, usually in a couple days.  The larger the seed or bean, the longer it will take.  So match you seeds according to flavor and size.

Friday Morning

Baby Sprouts!!  Sunday Morning

Put the beans in a strainer and sort through them, making sure there are no small stones or bad beans.  Rinse them and put them in the sprouting jar.  Fill the jar ½ full with water.  Let stand on the countertop 24 hours.

Drain (Mix this water with your dog's food, use it to water your plants, or add it to your 'soup stock' bucket in the freezer - It's FILLED with wonderful nutrients!)

Now the waiting begins. . .After the 24 hour soak, rinse the seeds and turn the jar strainer-side-down, for an hour or so, to drain any excess water.  Roll the seeds around the jar a bit, so they're not all on top of each other, then lay the jar on its side, on the counter.  Rinse and repeat this process every day until the seeds are fully sprouted.  At that time, rinse, dry and bag the sprouts.  They'll keep a few days in the fridge.  Once you start using them, it's hard to stop!  Their unique, peppery-freshness and crunch wins you over!! 😉

Day 6 - Ready To Use - Tuesday Morning

Put them on salads, add them to tuna or egg salad, put them in chili, add them at the end of cooking time to a recipe of Rice Pilaf, chop them up and mix them with spices, egg, onion, garlic, rice or quinoa and form them into some yummy Sprout Burgers.  Fry fast in olive oil or butter and serve.  See how many other ways you can think to use them.  On a commercial level, there are companies that grind sprouted grains to make wonderful gluten-free 'flours.'  Think outside your comfort zone!

Be Bold - Be Creative, but most of all Have Fun In Your Kitchen 😀. . . Lin

Post #1,000!!! Cilantro-Chili Hummus

6oz. roasted red peppers

¼c good quality plain or flavored olive oil

½ bunch of cilantro - leaves and stems

1 lg. clove of elephant (or regular) garlic

¼t Himalayan pink salt

½t chili lime seasoning

1-2t drizzle of honey

2t white balsamic vinegar

1 can garbanzo beans - - (drain

1 can red kidney beans - and rinse)

This Is A Milestone Recipe For Me!!!

I began this Fantastic Food Blog Adventure about six years ago, with the intent to create, photograph and blog a recipe a day for a year.  At the end of that time, I was going to pick my 100 favorites and make a cookbook.  Well. . .THIS RECIPE IS MY 1,000th POST!!! 😀 Still no cookbook, but it doesn't seem the right time in my life for that just yet.

Originally all I wanted to do was create food that was healthy, and I now, realize I had a broad definition of that, which has narrowed over time.  More recently I've created a sub category here of recipes I classify as Whole Plant-Based Foods.  This could be why the cookbook hasn't happened yet.  While I eat, and love cooking with humanely, pasture-raised meat, my emphasis has shifted.  It now occupies a smaller role in each recipe, occupying more of a side-dish, or after-thought place on my plates.  There seems to be a natural shift for me, to more vegetarian and vegan cooking.  So, somewhere down the road, that might be my first cookbook.  So, stay tuned, and thanks for being with me here, on My Amazing Food Journey!

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients in batches, if, like me you only have a Mini-Prep size processor, or altogether if you have a "real" food processor.  Process until blended.  Serve with fresh, raw (or lightly steamed) vegetables or some healthy chips.  This could also be used as a sandwich spread in place of mayonnaise / mustard.  I'm even thinking with the addition of a little tomato sauce, how about using it as the sauce for a Vegetarian Pizza!!  Be Bold, Be Creative - Happy Cooking!  😊 . . . Lin

Rice With Beans And Vegetables

¾c mixed rice wild, brown and red

2T flavored olive oil (cilantro and roasted onion today)

12 Brussels sprouts halved then sliced thin

2 mini peppers chopped-sliced

1 (large) clove of elephant garlic - sliced thin

1 med. onion - chopped

2c water

½-1t fresh ground garlic sea salt

2T Swad coriander (cilantro) chutney 

2 med.-lg. carrots - scrubbed and shredded

1-2 15oz. cans pinto beans* - drained and rinsed

a few stems of cilantro - finely chopped stems and leaves 

Put the first 6 ingredients in a heavy 3qt. pot over medium-high heat.  Sauté carefully, stirring often so as not to burn anything, keeping an eye on it, while it cooks for 8 minutes or so.  Add a little splash of WHITE balsamic vinegar, not dark, and ¼c of water, stir then cover, again checking often so the water doesn't run out.  Let this simmer on a little lower heat for about 5 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients.  (*I used one can, next time I'll use two.  Probably a mix of pintos, black or small red beans.)

Stir and simmer on a low bubble until your rice is cooked.  Remove from heat and let stand another 5 minutes or so.  Serve as is as a vegan, complete protein, main dish, or as a side to fish, chicken or red meat. . .Lin

Another. . .Almonds, Beans and Brown Rice

1/2c brown rice

1/2c slivered almonds

2T butter

1/2 med. purple onion - chopped

1/2c brown lentils

1½c water

1/2t crushed rosemary

1½t seasoned salt

fresh ground garlic pepper

2 chopped carrots
1 lg. tomato - diced

1/4 head of green cabbage - chopped

1 can mixed beans - drain and rinse

In a 3qt. heavy-bottomed pot, dry sauté the rice and almonds until the rice snaps and everything is lightly browned.  Remove from the heat for a minute or two before adding the butter and onion.  Stir this all together then add the lentils, water and seasonings.  Stir again, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the carrots and cabbage stirring them in, then cover everything with the beans.  Cover the pot and simmer on low another 15-20 minutes adding a little more water if needed.  Now, check to be sure the lentils and rice are done enough.  If not, add a little more water and cook over low heat another 15 minutes.  Serve as is, topped with sharp grated cheese, or as a side dish to some meat. . .Lin

Brussels Sprouts Beans and Potato Casserole

12oz. frozen baby Brussels sprouts

  6oz. frozen skinny green beans

- C - 1/2 red pepper

- H - 1 med. onion 

- O - 2 med. sweet potatoes

- P  - 1 lg. Idaho potato

Fresh ground salt and pepper

3-4T butter - cut into little squares

I had a big bowl of Beef Barley Soup for lunch and then, as dinner time rolled around, all I could think of was I wanted to make a BIG vegetable casserole!  Fortunately, I always have lots to pick from.  This went together in about 10 minutes using both frozen and fresh.  In a large baking dish, combine all the whole (and chopped) ingredients.  Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes.  Keep an eye on it though, mine went from almost perfect to a little overdone in no time.

This can be served as a side or main dish.  If you want to add some Chili-Lime Cashews or Smoked Almonds, you'd have a great Vegan Main Dish.  Tonight I added some feta cheese crumbles and some chili sunflower seeds. . .Lin

Zucchini-Yam Noodles with Vegetable Curry Sauce

2 med.-lg. zucchini

1 lg. yam or sweet potato

2 lg. carrots

1 med. onion
2 stalks celery

2 very lg. purple shallots

3 sm. Yukon gold potatoes

2T organic solid coconut oil
16oz. Taste Of India ~ Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce
(not the curry shown in the first photo)

Spiralize the scrubbed zucchini and yam then put into a medium size casserole or roasting pan.  Chop-dice the next 5 vegetables.  Combine in a heavy pot with the coconut oil.  Simmer and stir a while to coat and begin to cook the vegetables, for about 5 minutes.

Add the simmer sauce and 1/2 a jar of water.  Stir and simmer for about 15 minutes to soften the vegetables just a little.  Pour over the 'noodles' and combine just a little.  Cover and bake at 325° for 20-30 minutes, just until the vegetables are still a little crisp-tender.  You don't want this overcooked.  It turns to vegetable mush quick if you forget it.  This turned out so well, I think I could make a big pot of it every week! . . . Lin

Roasted Root Vegetables

3 sm.-med. red beets

2 med.-lg. sweet potatoes

2 med. red potatoes

1 med. Vidalia onion

5 lg. cloves garlic

fresh ground garlic salt

fresh ground pepper

*3-4T butter

Scrub vegetables and remove any odd spots.  Slice the red potatoes and sweet potatoes a little bigger than the beets, since they'll cook faster.  Combine with chopped onion, crushed-sliced garlic, seasonings and *butter in a large casserole dish.  Cover and bake at 400° for 15 minutes.  Take out of the oven, turn vegetables over with a large wooden spoon to coat with the melted butter and seasonings.


You could add 3/4c cashews, sunflower seeds, slivered or smoked almonds now for extra protein if you'd like this to be a vegetarian main dish.  *Swap out the butter for extra-virgin olive oil, to make it vegan.  Return to the oven, uncovered, for another 10 minutes or so, until everything is cooked the way you like it.  This is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner, by itself, or as a side dish to meatloaf, grilled chicken, fish or steaks.  .  .Lin 

Zucchini And Friends

3 lg. cloves of garlic

1 big chunk of ginger*

1/2 lg. onion

3 mini peppers

3 med. zucchini

1 lg. ripe tomato

1-2t granulated roasted garlic

1t± Garam Masala
1c sunflower kernels

Using a chopper, or a very sharp knife, patience and a big cutting board, finely mince the garlic and ginger.  Chop the onion, slice the peppers and combine in a large non-stick pan with some flavored-seasoned extra virgin olive oil.  Saute' and cover on low heat for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, using a spiral slicer, prepare the zucchini and chop the tomato.  Add these to the pan, with the seasonings, and simmer another 10 minutes covered.  OR  If the ginger and garlic are done the way you like, just stir in the zucchini, tomato, sunflower kernels and serve without cooking any longer.  Top with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

*The ginger produced a fresher-brighter flavor-pop than I was going for.  I was thinking warm and slow, and this didn't work that way.  Next time I'll substitute ground cumin and a little curry powder for the ginger and I think that'll do it.  However, if you're looking for spicy, fresh and bright, the ginger will work. . .Lin