Thursday, February 24, 2011

Favorite Tomato Soup

I have a confession to make.... I've always hated tomato soup. So when I heard about this recipe from a couple of friends who loved it, I said,"that's nice" and never thought about it again. Until I was at my friends house for dinner and tomato soup was what she made. Well. I took a small bowl and tasted it. Boy, was I surprised. Next I was begging her for the recipe. Of course she didn't have the book anymore, her friend had it. So she gave me the general idea, and I went home and made it again that week... Later I found the actual recipe, but it turns out that my kids like my version better(of course!) The best thing about this soup- besides being super healthy, and kid friendly- is that it takes like 5 minutes or less to make! We just had it tonight and the kids all had seconds or thirds! What good little 'mostly-vegans'. I served it with salad and rosemary garlic whole wheat rolls. Once I even made this with fresh tomatoes, skins and all! Fat free(except for whatever is in garbanzo beans) and salt free (especially if you soak your own garbanzo beans and get salt free tomatoes)

My Favorite Tomato Soup- this recipe is easily doubled or tripled

2 cups chickpea(seriously, these are so much cheaper if you buy them dry, soak them overnight and cook in a pressure cooker, or on the stove top)
2 garlic cloves
1 16 ounce jar tomatoes(I use my home canned tomatoes, so just find something equivalent)
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbl lemon juice
1 cup soy milk
1 cup vegetable broth(I make my own-super easy to do)
Or 1 cup water.

Blend it all in a blender till smooth, then heat through! I think ts better when made the day before. Stores well for about three days.


Blend all except cilantro
Heat on stove
Yummmmmy!

Monday, February 21, 2011

beans, beans, beans

So, I've finally broken down and tried out the frightening pressure cooker.  Just the whole idea of cooking something under pressure just seems frightening to me. But I found a great pressure cooker that is so easy to use and sits on an induction cooker, also so easy to use, that I have gotten over my fears of explosions in the kitchen.....its a Duramatic pressure cooker used on a Mr Induction induction cooktop.  Anyway, I have found that the great thing about cooking beans in the pressure cooker is this: they absorb the flavor of other things that you cook them with.  In my quest for healthy vegan eating I have stopped adding salt to our food (ala Dr. Fuhrman's Eat For Health) and found out immediately that beans sans salt are BLAH! So I've been experimenting with ways to add some flavor and interest to my daily bean intake.  Here is the so simple solution:
Add a jalepeno to the water you are cooking your beans in. 
Simply just put the soaked beans in the pressure cooker,
Cover with water according to directions,
Take a jalepeno and put some slits in the sides,
and chuck it in with the beans!
tada!
great tasting beans!

Soul food

My super good friend and I love to check out vegan recipe books from the library. When I go to her house and I see a new recipe book sitting on the couch, I'm like, soooo, is it any good???? Well, one night we decided that there is a theme so far to the books that we love and put on our 'need-to-get-this-one' list. And the theme is this: women authors (sorry dudes). There is just something about the recipes of women authors that is just different. The descriptions and lists of ingredients have soul. There is something about a great recipe that just pulls you in and starts to make you salivate. You just can't wait to start making it! I would love it if you would join me on my soul searching journey.