Basque Soup
This soup has hearty and rich flavored. I used oil and almond milk, so the soup was vegan. You could use milk and butter, if you prefer. It tastes great, either way. It also comes together quickly, with ingredients you can keep on hand, so it is a great homemade soup when you don’t have a lot of time. The combination of milk, tomatoes and corn also makes it a pretty dish to serve. I used a jar of my home canned tomatoes and corn I had frozen last summer.
While the soup calls for canned butter beans, you can also cook up dry beans and add them to the soup after cooking them.
Basque Soup
1 c. chopped onions
1 1/2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. oil or butter
1/4 c. flour
3 c. milk*
1 (16 oz.) jar stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can whole kernel corn, undrained- I used frozen corn
3-4 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 cups water and 1T. paste-type vegetable soup base
or 3-4 cups vegetable broth
pepper to taste
hot pepper sauce to taste
shredded mild cheese, optional
Sauté onions and celery in oil until tender. Stir in flour until smooth and add milk, stirring to keep lumps from forming. Stir over medium heat until milk has thickened and begins to boil. Stir constantly as mixture simmers for an additional minute or two. Add remaining ingredients, except cheese and bring up to a simmer. Adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, if desired. Serves 8-10.
Note: You can use almond, rice, oat, coconut or soy milk in place of the dairy milk, if you like.
Spiced Applesauce Cake
This is a favorite recipe of mine. The cake is moist, lightly spiced and very easy to make. I shared it with a friend and he really enjoyed it. The applesauce adds moisture and flavor.
I used olive oil in the recipe, which makes this cake vegan. You can make this recipe with butter instead. The spices work so well together. Sometimes simple is the best. Before someone asks, it is not a misprint, there are no eggs in the recipe. The cake rises just fine without them.
I wish I remembered where this recipe came from. I have a piece of flowered stationery, a little crinkled around the edges, creased from being folded many times, with the recipe written on it. It is not my handwriting. I would love to credit the source of this wonderful recipe.
Spiced Applesauce Cake
2 c. unsweetened applesauce
½ c. butter, coconut oil, olive oil or avocado oil
2 c. sugar
3 c. flour
1 T. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 t. each cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger
¼ t. cloves
1 c. raisins or chopped nuts, I used walnuts
Heat together applesauce and butter until butter melts. Cool down a bit. If using coconut oil, also heat up the applesauce. For other oils, just use room temperature applesauce and mix with the oil. Preheat oven 375 and grease 9×13-inch pan. Stir all ingredients together bake 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan.
Cabbage with Apples
Cabbage with Apples
I think cabbage is underrated. It is such a versatile vegetable. Cabbage is good in both hot and cold dishes, it isn’t expensive, and cabbage is good for you. Big heads of cabbage are at all the local farm stands this time of year.
So are apples.
I was looking for a side dish for a chicken dinner the other night and I decided to start with cabbage. Since I had a pretty good sized head of green cabbage, and just a small piece of red cabbage, I mixed the two together. I added cider vinegar, sugar and seasonings. Then I added apples to round out the dish. It had a sweet and sour flavor that went well with the meal. In many ways, cabbage, with its earthy “greenness”, pairs perfectly with sweet/tart apples.
I would also serve this as a side dish with duck, beef, pork or even a lamb roast. It would go well with any of them. You could use any color cabbage for this dish- or combine colors, as I did. Perfect for a Fall dinner.
Cabbage with Apples
2-3 T. oil
2-3 onions, sliced thin
8 c. chopped cabbage, any color
1 c. stock- chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. celery seeds
3 apples, peeled , cored and diced
salt and hot pepper sauce to taste
Heat oil in skillet and cook onion until tender and a little wilted. Add cabbage, stock, vinegar, sugar and celery seeds and cook until cabbage is tender. Most of the liquid will evaporate. Add the apples and cook until apples are just heated through. Season with salt and hot sauce and serve. Serves 5-6.
Vegetable and Pasta Skillet Dinner
Vegetable and Pasta Skillet Dinner
If you are trying to get your family to eat more vegetables this is a great way to do it. Lots of veggies with pasta, this is a simple dish that can be a side dish or a vegetarian main dish.
Vegetable and Pasta Skillet Dinner
1 (16 ounce) package whole wheat rotini pasta, cooked
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
3 T. oil
3 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms, use whatever mushrooms you can find
1 cup shelled edamame (green soybeans) I use organic
3/4 cup cashews
In a small bowl, mix the 2 tablespoons sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. Heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the broccoli, carrots, pepper, mushrooms, shelled edamame, and cashews. Sauté 5 minutes. Mix in the sesame oil sauce. Cover skillet, and cook 5 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender but crisp. Serve over the cooked pasta or toss the pasta right in the skillet and heat through. Serves 4-6.
Pantry Vegetable Soup
Pantry Vegetable Soup
I’ve been using stuff up and not going to the grocery store for almost 3 months now. Sometimes it takes some creative thinking to put an interesting meal together. When in doubt I can always make a good pot of soup. Soup comes easy to me. I grew up with a Mom who really knew how to make great soup. Can’t make a pot of soup without remembering her. I wanted to make a vegetable soup today so I looked around to see what I had on hand and ended up with this. Started with the basics, onion, celery, carrots. Then I added home canned tomatoes and pinto beans. Threw in some dried zucchini and dried mushrooms, too. I had a little broccoli in the freezer so I tossed that in as well. Some basil from the freezer, dried herbs and some other seasonings and it was good to go. Here is the recipe but this is the sort of soup that can be adjusted according to what you have around.
Pantry Vegetable Soup
2 T. oil
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 c. chopped cabbage
3 cloves minced garlic
1 pint jar canned tomatoes- or a 14.5 oz. can
6 c. water
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained- I used a p[int jar of home canned beans
1/2 c. dried mushrooms
1/2 c. sliced dried zucchini
2 T. vegetable soup base – I use home made-
1 c. chopped broccoli
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste
dried and frozen herbs to taste- I used Tuscan seasoning and a frozen cube of basil with olive oil.
Heat oil in soup pot and add the onion, cooking until golden. Add remaining ingredients, except the herbs, and cook, covered, until veggies are tender and dried veggies are re-hydrated. This will take about 30 minutes. Add herbs and let simmer 10 minutes longer. Adjust seasonings and serve. Serves 4-6.
Peanut Soup
Peanut Soup
I taught a vegetarian cooking class yesterday at the Nature Center for the University of Mount Union. One of the dishes we had was a peanut soup. Rich and flavorful it was a big hit with the students. I think you will like it, too. A different way to eat peanut butter for a lot of us. You could use almond butter or cashew butter instead of the peanut butter, if you like.
Peanut Soup
2 c. chopped onions
1 T. oil
cayenne pepper to taste
1 t. grated fresh ginger
1 c. chopped carrots
1 c. chopped sweet potatoes
1 c. chopped white potatoes
5 c. vegetable stock or water
1 c. tomato sauce
1 c. smooth peanut butter
1 c. chopped green onions
Sauté onions in oil until tender. Add seasonings and carrots and sauté 3 minutes more. Add potatoes and stock and simmer until vegetables are tender. Puree soup in blender in batches until smooth. Return to pot and add tomato sauce and peanut butter. Warm gently and serve with green onions on top. Serves 6-8.
