High-Protein Hemp-Sunflower Seed Cream of Broccoli Soup

I used to make a creamy broccoli soup using soy creamer and Tofutti cream cheese before our soy allergy came into the picture.  I am glad that I was forced to switch up the ingredients so that I could come up with this version that is made creamy with more whole foods ingredients--which have the added advantage of giving the soup healthy fats and protein.  This is a really easy, tasty meal to whip up; tonight we are eating it as a side with our calzones, but it can also make a great main dish when paired with some hearty bread.  

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
5 cups broccoli florets
3 cups non-dairy milk (I like homemade oat milk.)
2-3 cups water (enough so that all the broccoli is covered)
1 can chickpeas (a little more than a cup)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup raw, shelled hemp seeds
1 cup cooked quinoa or 1/2 cup dry
2 Tbsp. sunflower seed butter
1 Tbsp. chickpea miso mixed with 2 Tbsp. water (or mellow soy-based miso if no soy allergy)

1.  In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion and saute for 5-7 minutes, until golden and translucent. Stir in the broccoli florets, and saute for a few minutes. Then add the non-dairy milk, water to cover, chickpeas, pepper, thyme, salt, and hemp seeds.  If you do not have any leftover quinoa in the fridge, add the 1/2 cup dry quinoa at this point along with an additional cup of water.
2. Bring the soup to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer for about 20 minutes, until the broccoli is very tender.  Turn off the heat and let the soup cool for a few minutes. Then add the sunflower seed butter and chickpea miso mixture, and puree the soup in batches in the blender.  Return the soup to the pot and taste for salt and pepper and add additional, if desired, before serving.

This recipe is also posted on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Wellness Weekend, and Sunday Night Soup Night Check out all these great recipe collections!


Abiline gets her picture on this one because she loves soup. Especially broccoli soup.  But not as much as she loves her cousin's "MI-neeeee" and "D'abby" dolls. She just couldn't stop taking them for walks while we were visiting with Anthony's family.  Now that we are home from our weekend in Arizona, she still calls out for her "babies" at random moments throughout the day. An Abby Cadabby and min-stroller purchase may not be too far in our future...

Cream of Tomato Soup

I remember as a little girl seeing for the first time my dad heating up a can of Campbell's tomato soup for his lunch.  As he swirled in some milk, I approached him and wondered out loud, "WHAT are you doing, Dad?" flabbergasted by the sight of my father "cooking."  As I recall, he got a bit defensive as he responded that he was making himself some lunch.  I remember marveling to myself, "I didn't know Dad could do that!"  I was totally impressed.  As I got older, my Dad's greatness did not diminish in my eyes, but the reputation of Campbell's soup sure took a blow as I discovered that canned soup, in all its varieties, is just completely nasty.  (I remember one of my Italian instructors in college describing her first taste of American canned soup as, "Mmm, mmmmm, Blech!")  Luckily, I learned that homemade soup is simple enough for even the busiest moms and dads.  I whipped up this creamy tomato soup the other night when we needed a side dish for our Swiss chard pie.  It was pretty popular: I caught Sawyer taking a few spoonfuls without any parental coaxing.

1/2 medium sweet onion, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. soy-free Earth Balance (or another Tbsp. olive oil)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes 
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt, to taste
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1-2 tsp. agave nectar, to taste
1 1/2 cups plain hemp milk*
1 cup water
1 scant Tbsp. chickpea miso
1 generous Tbsp. tahini

Heat the olive oil and Earth Balance in a large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until browned. Add the tomatoes, salt (starting with 1/4 tsp.), basil, thyme, and agave (starting with 1 tsp.) and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Add the hemp milk and water and simmer to heat through. Transfer the soup to a blender, add the miso and tahini, and puree until smooth. Taste and add additional salt or agave to taste.   

*I have started making my own hemp milk since I got a huge 5lb tub of hemp seeds for super-cheap off Amazon.com. All you do is take 1 cup of hemp seeds and blend them for about a minute with 4 cups of water until the seeds are totally ground up. Then add a pinch of salt and 1 Tbsp. of sweetener.  You don't even have to strain the milk, so you get all the nutrition of the hemp seeds.  (If you have concerns about hemp seeds somehow getting you high, please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_milk. The drug that is in marijuana is not in hemp seeds.) This milk is great for recipes, but a bit strong for my taste for drinking.

Sawyer is being a much more adventurous eater nowadays.  His tastes are changing as he's growing up...but his love of cars is still unwavering. 

Curry Chickpea Soup

We had soup three times in the past week, since it is cold--at least at night--as far as Southern California standards go. Plus it is a good way to get a balanced meal into the kids in one shot: you can get your veggies, beans, and grains, all in one blended bowl.  I made this particular soup to accompany a samosa recipe from the new Big Vegan cookbook (which is overall outstanding, but the crust on the samosas was too dry), and they paired well together. Usually I shy away from recipes that call for curry powder because the spices you buy under that label taste nothing like the Indian food you eat in the restaurant, so I am almost always disappointed with what I make.  However, Abiline loves foods with lots of spices, and has shown a preference for curry-flavored foods, so I thought I would experiment. This soup was a pretty big hit; the apple chutney that I adapted from Big Vegan really finished it off well, so I will include that recipe here, too.

For the soup:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder (I used Trader Joe's brand)
1 tsp salt, or more to taste
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 small sweet potato, diced
1 medium apple, chopped
3 cups fresh spinach
1/3 cup raisins
heaping 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (could use 1/4 cup dry and then up the water by 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
About 3 cups water (enough to cover the veggies when simmering), plus more to thin out
3 Tbsp. minced cilantro

For the chutney:
1 medium apple, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp. agave nectar or sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1.  Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas, sweet potato, curry powder, salt, and ginger, stir to coat the chickpeas and sweet potato with the spices and saute for 5 mins. Add the apple, spinach, raisins, coconut milk, and water (also add the dry quinoa, if using). Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for about 15 mins, until the sweet potato is tender (and the quinoa is cooked).
2.  While the soup cooks, prepare the apple chutney and refrigerate.
3. Let the soup cool for a few minutes before transferring to a blender. Add the cooked quinoa (if you didn't cook it in the soup) and the cilantro and puree. Taste for spices and salt and add more if desired. Thin with additional water as needed. Serve with about 2 Tbsp. chutney on top of each portion.  

Creamy Sweet Potato-Carrot Miso Soup

This soup that pairs root vegetables, tahini, and miso was inspired by a recipe that  I copied from a Moosewood cookbook a few years ago, which called for more than a cup of tahini and peanut butter. How could it be bad, eh, with that much nut butter in it?  I simplified the flavors and reduced the fat significantly in this recipe, but the soup is still plenty creamy.  This is a great fall soup; you could sub whatever root vegetables you have on hand, and I even think it would be tasty with some greens added in--I just didn't happen to have any on hand the day I made it.  Abiline LOVED this and ate it with gusto for quite a few days. Sawyer would never freely admit that any soup is good, but he did eat it with less drama than usual. We served the soup to some friends who brought vegan sushi over for dinner, and it went quite well with the rest of the meal.  I made rice balls rolled in gomasio (crushed sesame seeds mixed with salt), and put one ball in the middle of the soup bowl and ladled the soup around it.  The leftovers were also good with just some brown rice mixed in.

 2 large sweet potatoes, cut into roughly 1/2 in. dice
4 medium carrots, cut into roughly 1/2 in. dice
1 small yellow or sweet onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4-5 cups water
1/4 c. tahini
1/4 c. chickpea miso (or other light miso if no soy allergy)
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. liquid coconut aminos (or tamari/soy sauce, if no soy allergy)
1 cup cooked brown rice  (optional)

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent and starting to brown. Mix in the sweet potatoes and carrots and saute in the oil for about 5 more minutes. Add the water (enough to cover the vegetables) and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat a bit and simmer for about 20 mins., until the vegetables are very tender but not totally falling apart.  Puree all but about 1 cup of the vegetables in a blender along with the tahini, miso, vinegar, and liquid coconut aminos. Stir the pureed soup back into the pot and add the rice if desired.  

In other Fall treats, we actually did venture out shopping on the day after Thanksgiving to get this chalkboard easel that was on sale at Ikea. We use it to write our words of the day, which Sawyer then promptly erases. Apparently erasing is more fun than drawing.

Carrot Cake Soup

I've already posted recipes for low-sugar carrot cake, carrot cake pancakes, and now carrot cake soup.  What can I say--carrots and pineapple are in abundance in our house? This recipe may sound improbable, but it truly is tasty, and it was a blessedly simple meal solution for lunch today. Sauces and soups are the best way to get Sawyer to eat his veggies, but a new soup usually still meets with some suspicion. I admit, I can see how a pureed mush of vegetables would look unappealing to a toddler.  I certainly remember as a young girl wanting to put my head down in despair when vegetable soup night rolled around. However, my kids are already much more easily persuaded than I was as a child when it comes to food, as they usually bravely eat their soup with minimal dramatics once I get them to try a bite. This soup was actually deemed "yummy" by Sawyer, which is high praise indeed.  I certainly enjoyed it; I know I've made something good when I finish my meal, and I'm already looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow.  This is a small recipe, as I was unsure how it would turn out--it makes two large or three smaller servings.



3 large carrots, scrubbed and chopped into large chunks
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 c. oat milk, or other non-dairy milk
1/2 c. light coconut milk (You would only need 1/4 c. if using regular, full-fat milk.)
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 c. canned pineapple chunks
2 Tbsp. pumpkin seed butter or tahini
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. allspice
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp. maple syrup

Combine all of the ingredients in large pot and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the carrots are super-tender and melty. Let the mixture cool a bit, and then transfer to a blender and puree. Taste if additional salt is necessary, and then enjoy with some crusty bread and a green salad.

This is a good meal for when you know you are going to need lunch in a hurry. Just prep it before you leave the house, then let it warm in the crock-pot until you get home for lunch. As you can see, the kids are sure cute before they go to church, but by the time we get home, they are "hangry" and want lunch pronto, so I have to plan ahead.