Vegan Wednesday: A Tale of Two Soups

Hey there folks!  A very happy Wednesday to you all!  Last week for @heart-to-heart's #veganwednesday initiative I posted a few different salads that I made for part of my weekly meal prep.  This week I figured I'd do a similar post but with soup!

I kind of think of soup as a salad, just in a different form.  Even if you tend to eat a lot of the same fruits and veggies in a given week, there are so many different ways of preparing them.  Eating healthy and plant-based really does not have to be boring if you whip out a little bit of creativity in the kitchen!

Though neither of these soups can be called boring, they were both really easy to put together.  The first one I made for the week was a strawberry gazpacho.  I really tried to utilize my berry-picking haul in a number of different ways.  I have done watermelon gazpacho in the past, so I figured strawberries would also make a great addition to the perfect warm weather soup.

 Strawberry Gazpacho

• 2 cups fresh strawberry halves, washed & hulled
• 2 pounds fresh tomatoes, cored & cut into chunks
• 1 lime, juice & zest
• 1/2 small red onion, peeled & chopped
• 2 tablespoons key lime white balsamic vinegar (can sub any other slightly sweet white vinegar or add more lime juice)
• 3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 8 mini bell peppers or 1 small regular bell pepper, seeded & roughly chopped
• fresh mint
• extra strawberries for garnish

Place the strawberries, half of the tomatoes, onion, lime and vinegar in a high-powered blender.  Mix until smooth.  Pour out all but 1 1/2 cups of the resulting mixture into a large bowl.

Add the celery, bell peppers, and the rest of the tomatoes to the liquid in the blender.  Pulse until the mixture is chopped up, but still slightly chunky.  *I prefer a little bit of texture to my gazpacho, but you could also blend until totally smooth if you like it that way!  

Combine the chunky mixture with the mixture in the bowl.  Taste and add a bit of sea salt or other flavoring if you wish.  Top with fresh mint and some extra sliced strawberries to serve.  Enjoy!

The other soup I made this week was just about the only meal that didn't feature strawberries, but I did utilize some of my finds from the farmers market.  I am definitely getting back in the habit of hitting up the weekly Saturday morning local market to procure some beautiful fresh spring produce.  I was excited to see kohlrabi again.  I had only tried it for the first time last year, but it is definitely a veggie I'll grab any time I see it now.

I also got a few nice heads of fresh broccoli from the same farm stand, so I thought it might be nice to put those together for a pureed soup.  Though this one may take a little bit longer than the gazpacho with the whole step of cooking, it is mostly hands off and thus pretty easy to whip together.  You can eat it warm or cold on a hot day.  I like that even though it is packed with nutrition and a healthy dose of fiber and protein from the lentils, it is still a nice light meal.  You could easily add some roasted chickpeas or a crusty piece of fresh-baked bread if you want a fuller meal.

 Broccoli, Kohlrabi & Red Lentil Soup

Makes 8 servings

• 1 red onion, peeled & chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 head kohlrabi, peeled & chopped*
• 2 small head broccoli, cut into florets & stems chopped
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed & drained
• 8 cups water or vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 1 lemon, zest & juice
• handful of fresh chopped herbs--I used oregano from the garden, but basil or thyme would also be delicious!

Heat up a large stockpot over medium heat.  Cook your onion and garlic for 5-7 minutes, or until starting to soften.  Then add your seasoning, kohlrabi, broccoli, lentils and water or broth.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked through and the vegetables are soft.  Remove from heat and add in your nutritional yeast, miso, lemon and herbs.  Use a stick blender to puree or blend in batches, being careful of the hot liquid.

Taste and adjust flavors to your liking.  Serve warm or let cool before eating.  Enjoy!

*One of my bulbs still had the tops, so I chopped the greens and added in with the herbs for an extra punch of leafy green nutrition!

I hope you get a chance to make one of these yummy soups!  They were both fantastic in a slightly different way.  Cooking with fresh, local produce is always a great way to #makeithealthy.  Check out more of @woman-onthe-wing's latest curation trail here:  https://steemit.com/health/@woman-onthe-wing/make-it-healthy-trail-inspiring-health-healing-and-happiness-with-help-from-the-steemit-community