Vegan Hot and Sour Soup

I've had a thing for P.F. Chang's for some time now. When I was in college it would sometimes be the highlight of a trip into Boston. Are there better places to eat in Beantown? Hell yes, but I needed my fix. So sue me. In case you're wondering what fuels my devotion, it's those lettuce wraps with special sauce; I worship at their altar. I also have an ongoing love affair with their spicy eggplant. Those two dishes are exactly what I ordered last Friday for my birthday lunch.

While I happily ate my first meal as a 25 year-old, I watched my parents eat hot and sour soup. It's a menu item I've wanted to try for a while but haven't because it's usually made with chicken stock, not only at P.F.'s but elsewhere. It also sometimes has egg, which I'm not a fan of. I really wanted to figure out what was in this soup so I practically stuck my nose in my mother's bowl as she poked around with a spoon, both of us trying to figure out its exact composition. Since we couldn't identify all of the ingredients (we were missing the lily buds and the bamboo shoots) I consulted the Google Oracle.

The recipe I thought would best serve as a base for what I wanted was Food & Wine's, which was simultaneously listed as vegetarian and containing chicken stock. Really, Food & Wine? I obviously corrected this and made a few other modifications. The soup was exactly what I needed to put in a nail in my nasty virus' coffin. I rounded out the meal with some veggie dumplings, another first. If you want to check out that recipe you'll just have to stop by tomorrow.

Vegan Hot and Sour Soup
Adapted from Food & Wine 
Makes about 5 servings

Some of the ingredients in this recipe may be new to you (raise your hand if you've ever cooked a lily bud before!) and you may think they're hard to find. Asian market to the rescue! If you can't find the lily buds, omit them. The rest of the ingredients you should be able to find at a well stocked grocery store (or two).

• 1 cup loosely packed dried lily buds 
• 1 1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon canola oil or other vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons ginger, grated or minced
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup drained canned bamboo shoots, rinsed and julienned
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce or to taste
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 4 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or to taste
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 8-10 oz firm tofu, pressed and cut into 1/3 inch / 1 cm dice
• 2 tablespoons scallions, thinly sliced

1.  Place the lily buds and dried shiitake mushrooms in two separate bowls and cover them with hot water until tender. The shiitakes I used were already sliced they only sat in the water for about 2 minutes. If you're using whole mushrooms you might have to soak them for longer. The lily buds were tender after about 30 minutes. Drain both the lily buds and the mushrooms. If you used whole shiitakes with stems, remove them before giving them a rough chop.
2.  In a large pot, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and the ginger and saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the vegetable tock, lily buds, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and salt. Cover the pot and bring the soup to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in the vinegar and the garlic chili sauce and simmer for another 3 minutes.
3.  In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 4 tablespoons of water. Stir cornstarch mixture, soy sauce, sesame oil and tofu into the soup and cook for about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the balance of vinegar, garlic chili and soy sauce to your liking. Serve immediately, garnished with scallions.

Tortilla Soup

Every summer my parents and I would fly from Madrid to Boston, where my uncle would pick us up and drive us to our family's lake house in Philipston, MA. My grandmother would be anxiously waiting with lots of hugs, kisses and what I can only describe as a buffet. As ridiculous as the spread was, it was our idea of heaven after a long plane ride and several crappy meals. That's why I decided it would be only fair for me to have a comforting meal waiting for my parents when they arrived from Madrid last night.

Now I'm not, nor do I think I'll ever be, the queen hostess that my grandma Ollie was. My style is a bit more understated (read: I'm not that intense) so I didn't provide my parents with a smorgasbord of goodies. Instead, I decided to make something that's good for the soul,  and therefore perfect after a long trip -- tortilla soup. This soup comes together in under 25 minutes, which makes it a perfect not just for starving parents but also for anyone who needs a little TLC and doesn't want to work hard for it.

 

Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction
Makes 4-5 servings

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 2 jalapeños, seeded if you don't like heat, and minced
• 1 orange or other bell pepper, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 28 oz / 794 g can whole tomatoes, broken up into chunks with your fingers (it's fun!)
• 28 oz (or one tomato can full) vegetable broth
• 2 cups crushed baked tortilla chips plus extra for garnish (I made my own by crumbling 8 tostadas like the ones used in this recipe)
• 1 15 oz / 425 g kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime or 1/2 large lemon
• Optional: 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper or red pepper flakes (if you want extra heat) and diced avocado for garnish

1.  In a large pot with a lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Toss in the jalapeños, bell pepper, and garlic, cooking them for another 3 minutes or so. Sprinkle in the cumin and chipotle or red pepper (if using), toasting the spices for about another minute.
2.  Deglaze the pan by adding the tomatoes, broth, and tortilla chips. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, add the beans and the corn and cook for about 5 minutes.
3.  Take the pot off the heat, stir in the lime juice and the cilantro and let the soup sit covered for about 5 minutes to let the flavors marry. Enjoy garnished with some extra chips, cilantro and some avocado.

Writing this post made me think of the movie Tortilla Soup. It's an entertaining chick flick available for instant streaming on Netflix (so yes, you can watch it now!). The movie has a lot of food AND Hector Elizondo in it. What's there not to love?

Caramelized Onion Tofu Frittata with Gazpacho

During the summer, it seems like my mother always has a large jug of gazpacho in the fridge. Having a cold soup on hand at all times seems reasonable, seeing as is usually upwards of 90 F / 32 C most summer days in Madrid. My mother is not the only person I know with a deep, undying love for gazpacho though. My friend Julian started suffering gazpacho withdrawals a few months into his stay in the US. With a crazy look in his eyes, he would say to me "Mi reino por un gazpacho" ("I'd give my kingdom for some gazpacho"). During his time of need, we went to a Latin American festival in Worcester where we met a fellow Spaniard. Not knowing of Julian's craving, the guy said to him "Have you seen the stand over there where they're selling gazpacho?". When the guy confessed he was kidding, Julian looked like a kid who'd just been told Santa doesn't exist. Fortunately for him, my parents visited town a couple weeks later and my mother made Julian some of her delicious gazpacho, and let him keep his kingdom.

As delicious as gazpacho is, it's usually not filling enough to be a meal unto itself.  In order to add some heft and protein to our dinner, I decided to pair it with a veggie-loaded frittata. Traditional frittata is a thick egg omelette, made with cheese, veggies and, in some cases, meat. In this version, the egg is replaced with tofu, the nutritional yeast provides a cheesy undertone, and the caramelized onions, sun dried tomatoes and arugula provide sweetness, tang and peppery flavor. The result is lighter and much healthier than the egg-centric version. So go ahead and make your own frittata, and serve it with some gazpacho to bring a taste of summer to your March.

Gazpacho
Makes about 5 1/2 cups (about 3 servings in our house)

• 2 lb 4 oz / 1 kg / about 8 medium ripe red tomatoes
• 5 1/2 oz / 150 g / about 1/2 medium cucumber peeled 
• 1/2 large green bell pepper
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 generous tablespoons olive oil
• 2 liberal tablespoons vinegar

Chop the tomatoes, cuke, bell pepper and garlic roughly and toss them in the blender along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. If you'd like to get rid of the tomato seeds and other small bits of veggies you can pass the soup through a food mill. I skipped this step since I like my gazpacho on the rustic side. Lastly, garnish with chopped tomatoes, cukes and pepper if you'd like.

Caramelized Onion Tofu Frittata
Makes about 6 servings

• 1 lb extra firm tofu, broken into pieces
• 3 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup packed arugula, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (I used the kind packed in oil, but you could use rehydrated dried ones instead)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2-3 tablespoons water

1.  In a medium to large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, stir them to make sure they're coated in olive oil, and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook the onions until they're a beautiful caramel color, which should take 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you don't leave the onions alone to do their thing for at least 5-10 minutes at a time they won't caramelize. You've been warned. This does seem like a lot of work to go through for just some onions but your frittata won't be the same without their sweetness. Use the down time to make some gazpacho or another side dish.
2.  Preheat your oven to 350 F / 175 C. In a food processor, combine the tofu, cornstarch, salt, spices and nutritional yeast. Whiz it until it forms a uniform paste. With the processor running, add the water a little at a time through the feeding tube until the mixture is smooth and has a consistency similar to store-bought hummus (the version I make at home is a bit thicker). Transfer the mixture into a bowl and fold in the onions, arugula, and the sun dried tomatoes. Pour the contents of the bowl into an oiled 9-inch pie dish, evening out the top, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top has browned and the frittata is firm to the touch. Let it set out of the oven for a few minutes before cutting it. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

Artichoke and Chickpea Soup

This is kind of embarrassing to admit: the only soup I ate willingly before college was my mother's vegetable soup.  It's possible this was because the only other soups I was exposed to were the tasteless, greasy and nasty ones I had as a kid at school (which, in retrospect, were orders of magnitude better than most US school lunches but that's a topic for another post). When I got to college I was faced with limited vegetarian options and forced to expand my horizons. That's when I discovered the existence of all different kinds of soups that were -- gasp! -- as good as my mother's.

Years after this revelation, I've become a soup fiend. While I'm an unconditional fan of all types of soups --(non-dairy) creamy, earthy, brothy, hearty-- I especially adore those that are a meal unto themselves. The soup I made tonight, a version of the Marjoram-Scented Artichoke and Chickpea Stew in Robin Robertson's "Vegan Planet", definitely fits that bill. The potatoes and chickpeas give it some heft, the wine and marjoram make its broth incredibly flavorful and the tender artichokes give it some tang. I decided to add a lonely sweet potato I had in my cupboard and its sweetness gave the soup another layer of flavor. I present to you a delicious meal that sticks to your ribs, warms you up from the inside and can be made in a single pot. 

Artichoke and Chickpea Soup
Adapted from Robin Robertson's "Vegan Planet"
Makes about 4-5 whole meal servings

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large orange or red bell pepper (although the world will not end if you use a green one), chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery rib, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 3/4 lb / 340 g / 2 medium red or white potatoes, diced into bite size pieces
• 1/4 lb / 110 g / 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 14 oz / 400 g can of artichokes, drained (which should yield about 8.5 oz / 240 g) and quartered
• 1 15 oz / 425 g can chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Optional: 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 

1.  In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Toss in the onion and saute for 3 minutes, until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, celery and bell pepper and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender, about another 5-7 minutes.
2. Stir in the marjoram or oregano, bay leaf, wine and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the red or white potatoes. After 5 minutes, add the sweet potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Mix in the artichokes and the chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve hot, maybe with a nice glass of white wine and a hearty piece of toasted bread.

Noodle, Shiitake and Miso Soup

The first time I made miso soup it was a disaster of epic proportions. My first mistake was adding too much wakame, the seaweed traditionally used in the soup. It doesn't look like much of anything when it's dry but after a good soak it increases it's volume at least six fold. In moderation it's slightly sweet and tasty but when eaten by the mouthful it tastes just like seaweed on the beach smells. I also dissolved the miso into the soup itself, or at least I thought I did. I kept tasting the soup, thinking it was bland and mixing in more miso without realizing that I was just adding to the miso deposits at the bottom of my pot. Eating miso by the spoonful is not my idea of delicious. My last blunder was using extra-firm, instead of silken, tofu. As anybody who's eaten practically raw firm tofu knows, it's not a pleasant experience. Unless you're my father, who likes to eat toast topped with raw tofu drizzled in olive oil (it makes me shudder too). Thankfully, I've learned from my mistakes and the soup I bring you tonight hasn't suffered any of these wrongdoings.

This soup makes a pretty nutritionally complete light dinner or lunch. The tofu provides protein, the 'shrooms and the onions help you get your veg on, the wakame brings calcium and iodine to the table and the miso delivers some healthy bacteria. All of these ingredient can be found for very reasonable prices at your local Asian market. There are two within driving distance of my apartment and only relatively recently did I get up the nerve to go. Like some other people I know, I was overwhelmed by all the exotic offerings at first but, with a little guidance from some friends (thanks Alicia and Rayn!), I got over my paralyzing fear. I now strut into markets of any ethnicity with my head held high, and leave with a fuller wallet than if I'd bought the same ingredients at Whole Foods.

Noodle, Shiitake and Miso Soup 
Inspired by Udon with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kale in Miso Broth from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terri Hope Romero
Makes about 6 servings

• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 3 cups dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 1/4 cup dried wakame
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 4 oz / 115 g rice noodles
• 8 oz / 115 g silken tofu (I used lite)
• 3 1/3 tablespoons red miso (any other miso will do just fine)
• 5 cups vegetable broth or soaking liquid from mushrooms and/or wakame
• 2 teaspoons of soy sauce or more to taste.
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1.  While you prep your ingredients, cook the rice noodles in a large of boiling water for about 3 minutes less than the package suggests. They will cook more once in the soup.
2.  While the noodles are cooking, cover your mushrooms (if using dry ones) in water and soak them until they're soft. Since my dried shiitakes were already sliced I only soaked them for about 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, soak the wakame in at least 4 cups of water until it's soft, about 4 minutes. Drain both the mushrooms and the wakame, reserving the soaking liquid for the if you're not using veggie broth. Set the wakame aside. If you're mushrooms aren't already sliced, slice them and set them aside.
3.  Once the noodles are cooked, drain them and rinse them in cold water.
4.  Wipe the pot you used to cook the noodles dry. Heat the oils in it over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they start to soften, around 3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Squeeze some of the liquid out of the mushrooms and add them to the pot. Cook them until they're warmed through and slightly soft, about 3-5 minutes.
5.  Add the broth or the reserved soaking liquid, bring the soup to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Put about 1 cup of the hot broth in a bowl or cup and dissolve the miso in it. Pour the liquid back into the pot with the soy sauce.
6.  Add the tofu, wakame, and noodles. Stir to distribute all the ingredients evenly and simmer for another 2 minutes. Taste, adjust seasonings and serve.