My neighbor Stacy gave me a challenge--to make one of her favorite soups healthier. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about the recipe, and perhaps even more skeptical that a vegan version would be good, but I wound up with a recipe that I think will become a regular meal around here. I'll let her post a comment here about whether it was successful for her, as I just dropped off a taster.
The original recipe went like this: 2 cans of butter beans 1 lb. bulk sausage (cooked and drained) 1 can of diced tomatoes with their juice 1 can of cream of celery soup 1/4 cup of milk a couple of handfuls of kale So, two challenges here--the sausage and the cream of celery soup. I believe that pretty much anything savory needs onion and garlic (I could never be a Hare Krishna). So, my solution to the cream of celery was to roast together celery, onions, and garlic and then puree that. The sausage is swapped out with well-seasoned TVP. Here's the redo: Stacy's Veganized Butter Bean Soup Serves 4-6 2 cans of butter beans, drain and rinse 1 can of diced tomatoes and their juice 1 1/2-2 cups of unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used homemade almond) 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped kale, thawed Combine in a baking dish: 1 Tablespoon of olive oil 3 stalks of celery, cut in chunks 1 medium onion, rough chop (you can see the size in the picture above) 3 cloves of garlic, sliced in big chunks Salt and pepper Toss and roast at 425 for 30 minutes or until fairly soft and starting to show some color. Puree in a food processor or blender. In a heat proof bowl stir together the dry ingredients below, then add the hot water. Let sit until the water is absorbed, then fluff with a fork. This and the puree can be made the night before or on a weekend so you can pull them out and throw the soup together quickly. 1 cup of TVP 1 teaspoon of paprika 1/4 t. smoked bittersweet or sweet paprika 1 Tablespoon of no-chicken broth powder 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper 1 teaspoon of ground sage 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed, well crushed black pepper a few dashes of liquid smoke 1 cup of boiling water When you are ready to get cooking, put the TVP "sausage" in a nonstick skillet with a bit of oil, just to keep things moving. Once that's heated up a bit, throw in the celery puree, stirring it to distribute it. Add your beans and kale, the tomatoes, and almond milk. I actually just refilled the tomato can with almond milk (hence my inexact measure above). Heat through. Stacy recommended crusty bread and hot sauce, and I second those recommendations. The fat could be cut more if you dry roast the vegetables (no oil) but I didn't want to completely cut the fat, as I was already making a gamble with the TVP. I have a bag of dried cannellini beans so my next batch will probably swap out three cups of those. I would imagine that Cranberry/Borlotti beans would be awesome in here, too. I hope more folks will ask for recipe renovations! I had great fun with this one, and Dani and I were thanking Stacy for the idea with every bite.
1 Comment
Stacy (the neighbor)
2/23/2014 09:44:30 am
This is spot-on for flavor and texture when compared with the original. My husband's response was not printable, but he is really happy this meal is returning to our table, and so am I. Thank you!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Who's dishing?Angel lives in Camden, Arkansas where she writes stuff and sometimes sends it out to other people to read. She used to grade papers, but not anymore. Check out her main site to see what she's up to lately. Archives
November 2017
Categories
All
|