North African Chickpea Soup

In vegan cooking, especially low acid cooking, it’s important to have a special ingredient to make something a little nicer.  Don’t get me wrong—I love beans and rice; but on a low-acid diet you can’t just throw in some onions and peppers to jazz it up.  You have to get a little more creative.

Saffron is an ingredient that can do this.  It’s expensive, but well worth the initial investment.  I made this chickpea soup or something like it for some time without putting any in, until I finally got up the courage to add it to the grocery list.  Now that I have it, this soup is one of my favorites, and I’m never going back.  Sure, it’s good without the saffron—but those beautiful little red threads meld perfectly with the allspice, cumin, and chickpeas and make this soup like nothing else I’ve cooked.

My boyfriend thought it tasted like chicken, and I can see where he’s coming from, but with all due respect to our feathered friends it’s much more complex than that!

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
4 slices of peeled, minced ginger
2 carrots, sliced into rounds
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp allspice
generous pinch of saffron, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup quinoa
1 large bunch kale, ribs removed and chopped
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Add ginger and carrot and cook for a few minutes, up to 5.
3. Add garlic, cumin, paprika, allspice, saffron, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick and cook for about 30 seconds,  until aromatic.
4. Add chickpeas and stir to coat them with the spices.
5. Pour in stock and quinoa, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add chopped kale in handfuls and gradually stir in.  Cover and cook for another 10 minutes, until kale is tender
7. Add salt to taste.

Mushroom Hot Pot

Now that Fall is upon us in the northern hemisphere it’s time to make some soups and stews that we banish during the hot, summer months.  One of my favorite mixes of flavors is coconut-lemongrass-lime, so I love this low-acid version of a mushroom hot pot that eschews the onion, peppers, and tomato found in the traditional Vietnamese version.  The star anise is the surprising star of the show here, so don’t neglect to add it if you can find some!  It livens up the taste with a hint of tart licorice that won’t upset a delicate stomach.

I like to serve this with a variety of steamed vegetables and toasted nuts, either on the side or thrown right in.  Fresh basil and bean sprouts are a great addition if you want a more “authentic” version.

Ingredients:

4 cups veg broth
1 T cornstarch
1 T toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
2 T minced lemongrass
1 T minced ginger root
2 star anise
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 lb mixed mushrooms (white button, shitake, portabello)
2 T low sodium tamari
pinch of ground black pepper
15 oz can lite coconut milk
juice of 1/4 lime
Salt to taste

cooked brown rice
toasted cashews
steamed kale or other greens
sliced, steamed carrots
diced celery

Directions:

1. Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat.
2. Pour broth in large bowl, setting aside 1 cup.  Whisk cornstarch with 1 cup broth until dissolved and then pour mixture into larger bowl of broth, stirring well.  Set aside.
3. In large, preheated pot, saute ginger and lemongrass in toasted sesame oil for 1 minute, until fragrant.
4. Pour in broth mixture and add mushrooms, granulated garlic, star anise, cinnamon, tamari, and black pepper.  Stir until it’s thickened a little, about 10 minutes.
5. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer and cook covered for 1/2 hour.  (Meanwhile, cook rice, prepare veggies, toast cashews, or whatever floats your boat.)
6. Add coconut milk (don’t forget to shake it before opening the can!), lime, and taste for salt.  Serve with rice and top with other accoutrements.

Walnut Miso Noodles

This is a great fallback recipe because it’s a relatively quick fix and uses ingredients I usually have on hand.  That being said, it’s also beautiful, delicious, and will make you look like a pro at the same time.  Win-win!  It was inspired by a noodle recipe of Heidi Swanson’s over at 101cookbooks.com, where there’s a lot of inspiration to be had, if only for the food porn.  In my version of this recipe, I left out some ingredients and substituted others to make it vegan and low acid.  I also changed some of the vegetables to keep it seasonal.

I’ve been experimenting lately with granulated garlic, using very small amounts because it has a powerful taste.  Because it has no juice it won’t set your stomach on fire like the fresh stuff, which you have to use a lot of to get the same amount of flavor.  And I’m all about flavor.  It came out tasting so good I can’t wait to make it again!

Ingredients:

4 oz soba noodles

1 head broccoli florets

Walnut Miso Dressing:
   
    1/2 cup toasted walnuts

    1/4 cup olive oil

    1/4 tsp granulated garlic
   
    2 T white miso paste
   
    2 T dry white wine (I use sauvignon blanc)

    1 T honey
   
    1/4 cup room temperature veggie broth (or less)

1/2 bunch of kale, torn into pieces and steamed

1 carrot, sliced in rounds and steamed

extra toasted walnuts


Directions:

1. Toast walnuts over medium high heat in a heavy skillet or pan for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown and toasty looking.  Set aside to cool.
2. In a food processor, mix toasted walnuts, oil, granulated garlic, miso paste, wine, and honey.  Add broth slowly and mix on high until the dressing is smooth and creamy.
3. In a large pot, cook soba noodles 7-8 minutes in boiling salted water.  At the last minute (60 sec) toss in broccoli florets.  Drain and toss with 3/4 of the dressing in a large bowl, saving some for dolloping on top.
4. Toss dressing with noodles and serve in bowls topped with steamed carrots, kale, more toasted walnuts (always toast extra ‘cause they’re so good), extra dressing or any other vegetables or fresh herbs you have on hand.