Maggie's Lentil Barley Soup

IT'S SOUP SEASON!!

Soup season is the best season because soups are the best. I don't think anyone who has spoken with me in cooler weather and/or visited this blog is surprised at that statement. 

This particular soup emerged because I'd been digging past all the lentils in our pantry when my hand landed on a jar of pearled barley. Obviously, the first thing I thought of was soup (I mean, I'd just been touching lentils!), but I felt *certain* I had a recipe for barley soup already on my blog. Turns out I do, but it uses quick barley, not pearled, and in looking at the recipe, it just wasn't the flavors I wanted. Plus, it's very clear that I love lentils in soup. After looking at a huge number of possible ideas on the internet, what emerged was a blend of the recipes I'd looked at and the flavors I was dreaming out. Healthy, hearty, and happy-making, this soup is going to be in regular rotation. 

Maggie's Self-Quarantine Lentil Soup

The world is a little anxiety-provoking at the moment, hmmm? A global pandemic, a weak and uncoordinated response from the US government, and unheard of rates of unemployment; any one of these would be enough to produce anxiety, so all three is a doozy.

Shana and I have both been self-quaratined since March 13. She has been sick enough that much of the time, us being at home didn't matter. She was sleeping 17 hours a day and even when awake she found the walls and ceiling entertainment enough. She's on the mend, but just at the time that we're running out of fresh veggies.

Given our general lack of fresh veggies and the need for comfort, dinner last night called for soup. On one hand, it's odd to be a creative cook during a pandemic. On the other hand, necessity is the mother of invention. The soup below is simple, using only ingredients that stay good for long periods. It's also healthy, with veggies and protein. If you have a frozen chunk of bread to thaw & warm, it's a great meal for trying times. Take care of yourselves. <3

Amanda's Taco Soup

When we first moved to Richmond, we kept ending up at different grocery stores in town at the same time as another couple close to our age. In addition to them grocery shopping at the same stores and at the same time as us, we noticed that they never had meat, cheese, or eggs in their cart. At some point, we finally decided to introduce ourselves to them. In doing so, we found out that they are vegan, grew up around here, and are just plain awesome.

Since then, we've had great times with our "grocery store friends" (which is the name of our group text message). We have sporadic dinners, they come to vegan potluck, and Brent & Shana did carpentry school together.

When we eat together, we often ask Amanda to cook taco soup. It's seriously so good, on its own and with add-ins like faux cheese and avocado. I'd tried to replicate it, but mine was never as good. I finally asked for the recipe so that I can make it more often than our busy schedules align (plus, it feels rude to have her always making the four of us dinner!). With the string of cool summer weather we've been having in Indiana, this was a perfect meal for us to eat this week. It tastes like summer, doesn't heat up the kitchen (it's a crock pot recipe), and still warms your insides.

Winter Lentil Soup

It's soup season. I love soup season so much. Soup is versatile, filling, and (usually) healthy. More importantly, soup is warm in my tummy and my soul. Many folks, myself included, need warmth in both of those places right now. Sometimes life is stressful and hard, but good food can nourish in multiple ways.

Enter this lentil soup. This soup has such an amazing taste and blend of textures. It's rich and velvety and round. Plus, it's full of good-for-you lentils and veggies. After a big bowl of this soup (plus some crusty bread), I'm comforted.

Smoky Quinoa and Vegetable Soup

Full of good-for-you and easy-to-find ingredients - such as sweet potato, quinoa, and peas - plus flavors that are out of this world delicious (smoked paprika for the win), this amazing soup has been on regular rotation at our house for a while. Plus, even though the calendar says it's late March, we've been dealing with below-normal temps and even snow days causing cancelled schools! With all of that, it's no wonder this soup has made regular occurrences in our meal plans. But let me explain how we even got to this recipe.

First, Shana figured out about a year ago that she looooooves quinoa. She wants to eat it all the time in any form she can. Second, we had a dinner a while ago with our friends the Thompsons. They cooked a version of this soup from America's Test Kitchen's vegetarian cookbook. You can even see a video of the original recipe here. It was their idea to use smoked paprika. Third, we had family stay with us a while ago on their drive from PA to WI. We figured this would be an easy dinner for everyone (minus the youngest, who doesn't really like dinners and had PB&J). It was at this meal that I subbed in the sweet potato, because when I went to grab the white potatoes I was *sure* we had, I found them curiously absent. But the sweet potatoes were a perfect substitution.

All of this adds up to a hearty and healthy deep red soup - due to the smoked paprika and tomato paste - filled with vibrant colors and textures. We've fed this soup to so many folks and everyone has loved it! In addition to everyone above, it's been a hit at our monthly vegan potluck and wowed our friend Max's parents when they were in town. It's a bowl of warming winter magic for your tired taste buds.

The red color is from both the smoked paprika and the tomato paste.

Creamy Black Lentil Soup

Sometimes I go to grocery stores and buy something I've never cooked with before because it looks interesting. I did that a while ago with some black lentils. Then, of course, they sat in my pantry for a long time because I didn't have a recipe that called for them.

Finally, I decided they had existed, unused, in my pantry long enough, so I started in on some creative googling. I don't remember exactly what search term or random list I found this recipe, but I flagged it as a good option. I loved the idea of a creamy soup with the toothsome chew of lentils. I loved the idea of a subtle influence of Indian flavors. I was intrigued at the addition of tahini.

More importantly, this soup had an ingredient that would make Shana want it, too. See, this beautiful creamy soup calls for eggplant.Shana loooooves eggplant. Me? I feel strongly middling about eggplant. It's fine. I never crave it and will always pick another option over it, but I don't hate it, either. But here, in this recipe, it looked like we would both have something to love. I was right.

KMW's Vegan Honduran Black Bean Soup

It was this time two years ago that we were moving into our new house. We are so happy here and a lot of that has to with our neighbors. We have AWESOME neighbors.

One set of our across the street neighbors, Katie and Marc, work at one of the other colleges in town. Both of them are biological anthropologists. They do field work where they dig for bones or artifacts in carefully arranged grids. (And habits die hard; you should have seen them digging a very precise 3'x3' hole for a new tree they planted!) Although they do field work in a variety of places, one of their primary locations is Honduras.

A while back, they invited us over for dinner. They were a little worried about what vegan thing to cook, but then realized that a traditional meal they ate while doing field work in Honduras could easily be made vegan. Katie Neighbor* told me that two women, Rosa Hernandez and Elvia Martinez, in Copan, Honduras taught her the recipe. I'll never meet these women, but I am SO glad they shared with her. This black bean soup was so. freaking. good. Seriously good. The underlying flavor is layered and complex and round. Plus, each of us gets to personalize our own bowl with the via all sorts of add-ins. Finally, while I hate to tell anyone how to eat, whichever add-ins you choose, you simply must add the radishes! Yes, radishes.

Alphabentil Soup (veggie soup with pasta & lentils)

I'm not sure it's ever been two months in between blog posts. That's so sad for me (and for you, if you've been looking for new recipes).

A lot has happened since my last blog post. The end of last semester has come and gone, the holidays have passed, a new year has dawned, a new semester started, a new president has been inaugurated - after which protests against his actions have occurred, "alternative facts" became a thing (?), and I've presented research with one of my undergrads at a conference. Oh, and I submitted my tenure portfolio. (EEEK!!) On top of all of that, it's still January, so the weather is chilly.

Given all of that craziness, I've been seeking out comfort. Comfort from my wife, from friends and family, from rogue twitter accounts and Swear Trek (so good! but includes copious amounts of swearing). I've also been seeking out comfort in the food I've been making and eating, like this soup.

At it's heart, this is nothing more than an unremarkable vegetable soup. But that's part of what makes it so comforting. With the addition of green lentils, with their warm savoriness and toothsome chew, and whimsical alphabet-shaped pasta, this simple soup becomes both comforting and craving-worthy.

You can just see a little pasta "V" below the broccoli in the center. 

Maggie's Vegan Cream of Chard Soup

Oh readers, I struggle. It's been over a month since last I posted! I'd like to be able to say that I've been doing amazing things that have kept me away, but the reality is that I've just been living life and cooking the same recipes we already know and love. Even with the CSA, I just  haven't been that creative with foods - with one major exception. This soup.

We got chard in our CSA shares for a couple of weeks and I remembered a soup we'd had years ago. I tried to recreate it after asking about ingredients, but then decided I didn't like the smell of one of the ingredients. Instead, I switched things up a bit and ended up with something delicious. Seriously, this soup is amazing. The richness of it makes it ideal for any season, but using fresh spring/summer chard is a great idea.

Lazy Dinner Fancy Ramen

I am just finishing up what has been one of the most overwhelming semesters I've ever had. Answering a friend the other day who inquired about how I was feeling, I responded with "ultrawhelmed." (And to be honest, I'm not really done, but next week is finals week and prepping for other things, so I have new/different tasks in which to engage.) This semester is the main reason for my major absence from this blog. To be honest, we've not even been sticking to out meal plan as much as we would normally, as there have been a number of nights where I've just been too busy or tired or both to cook (and Shana gets home too late usually).

In addition to this semester, Shana and I drove home from Chicago today after a 40-hour visit (I was there for a conference) and we had to clean up our house because tomorrow night is the semi-annual Minion Dinner. We've got 7 students coming over tomorrow night for a dinner of soups, salads, and breads (and cookies!!). So, when we got home, we had to clean and go grocery shopping to prepare for tomorrow, which didn't leave a lot of time for dinner. 

Because of all of that, tonight's dinner was another perfect lazy dinner: fancy ramen. The only reason we call this "fancy" ramen is because we put something other than just the ramen noodles in the pot. Because it's ramen, this dinner is SUPER fast and easy, plus it's pretty cheap even with the added ingredients. As I've talked about before (see the Helpful Hints), there is only one easily obtainable brand and flavor of ramen that has a vegan flavor packet.

Vegan Crockpot Tortilla Soup

This semester is insane. Aside from my mom dying, I've been feeling all semester that I may have finally bitten off more than I can chew (food joke partially intentional). I'm finally feeling slightly less like that today, which could be due to the fact that spring break is next week, or that I got a massage last week, or maybe I've just finally habituated to being as far behind as I am currently. Who knows. Regardless, the feeling of partial relief and a recipe success means I'm finally posting something new here! I'm also hoping to cook a few more things during spring break.

Remember the friends who cooked for us before we went to Minnesota? They rock. Mike, the one who went to culinary school, also stocked our freezer with two meals while we were gone (two other friends did the same). One of the dishes he put in our freezer was a tortilla soup to cook in the crockpot. I cooked it last week while Shana was gone and thought it was delicious. However, I knew she wouldn't eat it because it had too many "chunks" (read: pieces of tomato). Despite the chunks, I thought she would really like soup, so I decided to make it again this week with a few tweaks to make it Shana-friendly. It worked - a super delicious Shana-friendly new meal! It's SO easy and relies on convenience ingredients, which makes it a snap to put together in the morning. Plus, dinner's ready when you get home and you can throw any leftovers in the freezer (we didn't have any to freeze, though). This soup is a winner any way you look at it!

Crockpot Corn Chowder

As I mentioned a week ago, I'm using Tuesdays this semester to attempt new crockpot meals. This week got a little turned around with a dinner for a potential new faculty member on Tuesday night, but Wednesday night was parent-teacher conferences, so Shana stayed and I attempted a new crockpot dinner. I was trying to decide between two different meals in my crockpot book, and although I'm not sure what made me choose this dish, I am very glad that I did!

Perhaps I was predisposed to like this meal because of the ease of crockpot cooking. Perhaps it was just that I was really hungry when I first tried the chowder. But I don't think that I've ever had non-vegan corn chowder, so I might not be a fair judge (though I did share bites of it with two omnivores at school today and they both liked it). In reality, I think the recipe is just a delicious one! Plus, you can make this using fresh from the farm corn in the summer or frozen kernels in the winter. To be honest, I used frozen kernels even though it is summer because it's just easier.

Overall, this soup is full of corn flavor and fresh whole foods. By pureeing some of the cooked veggies and then adding the puree back into the soup, there's a slight bit of weight to each spoonful without an overpowering heaviness. The corn makes it a bit on the "sweet" side (think sweet corn, not cake), but maybe that's normal for corn chowder? Regardless, there is certainly a balance of other savory flavors. If nothing else, the chowder is a lovely shade of yellow!

Maggie's Vegan Matzo Ball Soup

If it's not clear already, we love soup. Over 10% of the recipes in this blog are soup. Since we knew the weather was going to be fall-like today, we planned for soup. This soup, though, isn't just any soup. This soup is an homage to my wife's Jewish heritage and allows her to tell me that I'd make a wonderful Jewish grandmother (because apparently to be one I'd need a recipe for matzo ball soup and a penchant for feeding people - and technically, I'd need to be Jewish, too).

To be honest, I don't remember why I started making matzo ball soup. Perhaps it was a Seder we shared with friends while I was in grad school, as we shared many. Maybe it was me trying to figure out foods we'd both love. Maybe I was just feeling adventurous. In all likelihood, I probably saw some ingredients at the store (Manischewitz Matzo Ball mix) and decided I should buy some. Whatever the reason, this a soup recipe that makes both of us incredibly happy.

Although I've tweaked the recipe a bit over time, this is a fairly straightforward recipe for matzo ball soup. It uses some convenience ingredients and things you can easily find at a grocery store. FYI, my matzo balls are a bit on the dense side of the spectrum, as is my preference. If you feel like being a master chef, you can always try the recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance, as this recipe makes matzo balls that are supposed to be fluffier.

Hot or Cold Carrot Soup

As I mentioned in my last post, Shana is down a wisdom tooth. While she is slowly working back into foods she can chew, I took the opportunity to try out a new recipe for a blended soup. Working through this recipe was fun because I got to use an ingredient I rarely use (leeks) and it made me think about throwing a dinner party in the future where everyone gets tiny little bowls of a rainbow of blended soups. I realize that I already have one orange-colored blended soup, so I'd have to choose which one to put in my rainbow. I guess I could decide based on the time of year and I need a red soup...but I digress.

I posted on Facebook last night that I was trying this new recipe but was waiting to see if it was good cold before I posted it here. I tried it a few minutes ago after it had been siting in the fridge overnight and it was DELICIOUS! It could be better cold than hot, even, as the flavors have had a chance to really meld. Regardless of how you eat it, this soup is a winner!

Maggie's Tropical Cold Soup

We're finally back from our whirlwind of visiting friends and family and this morning Shana had a wisdom tooth extraction. With her current food-texture requirements and the 100+ degree heat index we're expected to have over the next week, I've been hunting down all sorts of soft and cold things for us to eat. We'll see if any of the recipes I found go over well, but in the meantime, I've got one that I know Shana likes: tropical cold soup.

A few summers ago some friends of ours got married in PA. Afterward, we went to a restaurant for the reception and Shana had a bite of a non-vegan coconut/lime/mango soup as an appetizer. She thought it was amazing, so I decided I would try to make a vegan version (having never tried the non-vegan version). I'm not sure how close my recipe is to the one Shana tried, but it is delicious in its own right.

Crockpot White Bean & Kale Soup

Last night's dinner was one of those meals that just feels good in your tummy and soul. It's simple and uses wholesome ingredients, and just a few ingredients at that. I feel silly even calling this a "recipe." However, it's so good that I can't help but to share it. In addition, since most of it is crock-pot based, Shana and I eat this nearly year-round. Warm soup in the winter, doesn't heat up the kitchen in the summer.  Last night was cool enough that we turned on the oven for a bit to have some crusty bread, too. 

I'm lying a little bit when I say this is a crockpot recipe. Although you could do almost all of it in the crockpot, I do not, for various reasons. I saute the onions & garlic before they go in the crockpot, as doing so increases the flavor and makes sure the onions are nice and soft. In addition, while you can add the pasta to the soup in the last hour of cooking, I don't like the texture of it quite as much. Finally, the kale must be cooked separately, because as it cooks it imparts a bitter flavor to the soup. Thus, I end up with a crockpot full of only a few things cooking away all day. Having tried this soup without the crockpot, however, it's just not quite the same (still good, but not as good).

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Spring has finally sprung over much of the continent (looking at you, Minnesotans!), which means it's asparagus season! Have you read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver? It's a story about a family who lives on a local (and homegrown) diet as much as possible for a year. In one section of the book, Kingsolver discusses asparagus at length; it's quite interesting. One of the things she mentions about asparagus is the relatively short time during which asparagus is in season. That time is now, folks. Grab your asparagus and get cooking (seriously, we're having it three times this week).

Generally, I opt to oven roast or grill asparagus, but I was paging through my cookbooks and found a recipe I wanted to try. Shana seemed to be on board for trying new recipes this week (three!), as well. Tonight, accompanied by my very favorite wild rice, we tried this soup. It was quite good, with a velvety mouth feel and great balance of flavors, while still tasting of asparagus.

EDIT: As of May 2019, I've updated this recipe! It's still velvety, spring-inspired, and asparagus-tasting, but I've updated it to make it even better for you by adding more protein! For those who loved the original version, I've kept it in the Helpful Hints below. 

In addition, I would just like to say thank you to those of you who are reading my blog. As of this morning, my blog has gotten over 5000 hits in less than one year. I'm amazed and feel quite honored. 

Maggie's Lentil Soup

Like most of the Midwest, it was really cold here today. It didn't get quite as cold as it did in my home state of Minnesota, but it was still cold enough that many school districts delayed school by two hours. It was also cold enough that my walking buddy and I opted not to walk and carpooled instead (we walk to campus Tuesday and Thursday).

Anyway, since we knew it was going to be cold, that meant we planned for soup when doing our meal planning this week. We always go with wild rice soup in the winter, but I really pushed for lentil soup. Shana wasn't certain, but then remembered that I changed the recipe that last time I made it and that she liked this version better. That's the great thing about lentil soup though, it can be filled with nearly anything, take on multiple different flavor profiles, and will still be good for you! Every vegan cook should have a lentil soup they love. Lentils are a legume, which means they are a high-protein food, and they pair well with just about every soup veggie I can imagine. Plus, dried lentils are available at nearly any grocery store and do not require the soaking and long cooking times that many other legumes require. Just give them a quick once-over and rinse and they are ready to cook!

Potato Soup

There was frost on my car when I went outside this morning. I suspected as much since I could see frost on the neighbor's roof. We're due for another night of freezing temps tonight, too. In all honestly, the cold doesn't bother me too much. It means sweaters and cold noses, crisp-smelling air, beautiful fall colors (hopefully they stay for our drive to State College), and as many soups and stews as I can eat in a week! I wasn't kidding when I said we eat soups and stews frequently in the fall and winter.

Tonight Shana and I had two friends over for dinner. One is a friend from my job and the other is her foster daughter (a first-year student at the University of Evansville who was back on her fall break). When our friends arrived tonight, we got right down to making dinner. This soup doesn't take an incredibly long time, but we were all hungry. For all its simple ingredients, this soup is a winner in my book (it's the one we call "fatty fatty potato soup"). It's a great cold-night, warm-tummy soup, and Shana and I think it tastes a little bit like the breading on Kentucky Fried Chicken due to the dark roux and pepper. Neither one of us is huge pepper fans, but in this soup it's worth it! We also made roasted broccoli, but I think a post on oven-roasted veggies is in order some time soon. Anyway, on to the recipe!

You can see I used white potatoes here.

Maggie's "Quick" Barley Soup

I noticed tonight while I was looking at past blog posts that we eat a lot of soup. This is my 16th post and the 4th about soup. To be perfectly honest, that's an almost accurate representation of our autumn/winter eating. It's incredibly common for us to eat two soups per week during the colder months. Part of that has to come from my deep love for all things soup. When Shana and I were first dating, we somehow got to talking with friends about what we would eat if we could only eat one thing for the rest of our lives (aka our favorite foods). I replied "soup" and Shana called me a cheater. Maybe it is cheating a little bit, but soups are awesome! You can throw stuff in a pot and out comes (9.8 times out of 10) something delicious! I know I'll be posting more soups here, including one we affectionately call "fatty fatty potato soup" (which is a bit fattier than other soups we make, but isn't too bad...).

Okay, enough babble and on to the recipe. On our meal plan for the week, we'd planned for a barley soup last night. I wasn't feeling a regular "veggie" soup with the simple inclusion of barley, so I got creative. Luckily, what I came up with was good! Plus, this soup is full of umami flavors, which is one of the major complaints people have about vegan food (even though they often don't phrase it quite like that). Although I've labeled this recipe "quick" barley soup, it's not a super fast soup because barley takes a bit of time to cook. This one saves time by using "quick" barley (think "quick" oats), but still has about 20 minutes of simmering time before the barley is ready. It's worth it though!