Broccoli and Cheeze Soup.

Well played OhSheGlows. Well played.

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chopped celery

4-4.5 cups chopped broccoli florets (2 heads, stems removed)

1.5 cups peeled & chopped potatoes (about 3)

3 cups vegetable broth

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or crushed red pepper flakes)

Low-fat vegan cheeze sauce, divided (see below for recipe)

1/2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

herbamare & onion powder, to taste

Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup fresh minced parsley, plus more to garnish

Daiya cheese, to garnish

Smoked Paprika, to garnish (optional)

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil, onion, and garlic over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Cook for about 5-6 mins.

2. Add in the celery, broccoli, and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Now, add the broth, nutritional yeast, and cayenne pepper and simmer for another 15 mins or so until the potatoes are just fork tender.

3. Meanwhile, prepare your cheeze sauce (see below) while the soup simmers.

4. Carefully transfer the soup (in two batches) into a blender. Blend until almost smooth (I left it a bit chunky, but you can blend as much as you wish) and place back into the pot. Stir in the cheeze sauce, reserving 1/3 cup for later.

5. Stir in optional lemon juice, salt, pepper, and optional herbamare all to taste. Finally, stir in the minced parsley and spoon into bowls.

6. Top the soup with croutons, Daiya cheese, remaining cheeze sauce, and smoked paprika.

Low-Fat Vegan Cheeze Sauce (double batch)

Adapted from here. I basically just doubled my old recipe and added a couple extra spices.
Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup unsweetened, unflavoured almond milk
• 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy buttery spread
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1. In a skillet or pot, melt the Earth Balance over medium heat.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup milk until all clumps are gone.

3. Whisk in the remaining milk (1.25 cups) as well as the milk and flour mixture into the pot. Now whisk in the nutritional yeast. Reduce heat to low-medium.

4. Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently over low heat until the sauce thickens up, for 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Remove from heat once thick.

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli.

This month my parents went to Dr. McDougall's advanced study weekend seminar (so jealous!) and they took a class from this amazing vegan, unprocessed, salt-free, sugar-free chef, Chef AJ. My mom loved her class, loved her personality and loved her food. She was sold. Bought her book. Bought me her book. And now we're both sold.

I skipped the reading and went straight to the recipes. She doesn't use any processed foods. No salt and she only uses dates to sweeten things. Her stuff is awesome. Here's the first thing I tried from Chef AJ. Sold and love how it comes together so quickley!

1 pound brown rice noodles (spaghetti or linguine)

1 pound broccoli florets

3/4 cup peanut butter, unsweetened and unsalted

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons low sodium tamari

2 tablespoons date syrup

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1/4 - 1/2 ounce piece of fresh ginger, pressed

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

8 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

sesame seeds or chopped unsalted peanuts for garnish (optional)

Cook pasta according to directions on package. {Run under cold water when done. She serves it cold, I've never tried it that way... so if you want it warm, don't rinse. If you want it cold, rinse and tell me how it was.} Drain and place in a large bowl.

Blanch broccoli {and run under cold water when done}. Dran and add to pasta bowl along with the scallions.

To make the sauce, combine peanut butter, water, rice vinegar, tamari, date syrup, garlic, ginger and red pepper in a suacepan over medium-high heat. Whisk until smooth and cook for about 10 minutes until thickened. Pour dressing over noodles and broccoli and thoroughly combine. {Chill until it becomes cold.}

Chef AJ

Unprocessed

Broccoli-Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs.

We call this Shrek Soup... what else would something green be called in this house?! When I first read the recipe I thought simple enough, should be good. But as I was making it, I was worried it wouldn't have enough flavor. Especially since I knew I'd be omitting the mint. I don't eat toothpaste in my soup. But it surprised me, the tarragon and dill really pulled through and everyone liked it. Success!

1 medium-size onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups vegetable stock
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 cups broccoli (including the stalks: chop them into thin slices, and the tops into small florets)
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Steam-fry the onion in water for 5 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, tarragon, black pepper, and salt, and cook for 1 more minute. Pour in the vegetable stock and add the potatoes. Cover and bring to a boil. Once the soup is boiling, lower the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook for 15 more minutes.

Use and immersion blender to blend about one-third of the soup; we like to keep it chunky with lots of whole potato chunks. Puree and then add it back to the rest of the soup.

Add the fresh dill and mint, then let the soup sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors melt and to cool down. Serve!



page 138-9



 

Pasta Della California.

The kids loved this... they love broccoli. Too bad for Shayne who just thought it was just "eh." Because if the kids like it, like devour it like it... it's gonna be made again!

1/2 pound thin spaghetti
3 cups sliced broccoli (tops cup into small florets, stalks sliced thinly)
8 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white grape juice
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup loosely packed arugula leaves
2 avocados; peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1-inch chunks

Bring a large pot of water to boil and prep all your ingredients while the water boils, because this dish comes together in no time. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, usually about 10 minutes. In the last minute of cooking you will be adding the broccoli, so keep that in mind.

Meanwhile, preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of of water, garlic, lime zest, and red pepper flakes, and gently heat, stirring often, for about 2 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Pour in the white grape juice and raise the heat to bring to a boil, to reduce the white grape juice, about 2 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, lime juice, salt, and pepper, and bring again to a boil. Once the sauce is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer. Add the arugula.

By this point the pasta should be almost done, so add the broccoli to the boiling pasta and cook for 1 more minute. Drain all into a colander.

When the arugula is wilted, add the broccoli and pasta to the pan and use a pasta spoon to toss it around, making sure to get everything coated in garlic. Cook for about 3 more minutes. Add the avocado and turn off the heat. Gently toss the pasta for another minute to incorporate the avocado without smushing it, just until it is warmed through.

Serve with generous grinds of black pepper. There is usually a lot of garlic left in the pan, so be sure to spoon that over your bowls of pasta.

adapted from Veganomicon

by: Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

page 192-193

My changes: omited 2 tablespoons olive oil, subbed grape juice for white wine, and I only used a cup of spicy arugula instead of the 4 cups they had (way too spicy for us)