Vegan MoFo Day 11: Pumpkin Soup

That last recipe was my favorite Mom recipe for Thanksgiving. This recipe is my Mom's favorite Thanksgiving recipe that I make. I scoured my hard drive for a picture of this Pumpkin Soup, but I couldn't find one anywhere. I found something that might have been pumpkin soup, but the quality was terrible, so instead, I leave you with this artist's rendition of Pumpkin Soup.

This soup takes a little while to put together and cook, but the end results are worth it. It's really rich and creamy and delicious. This is a recipe I actually use onions in because they're cooked down pretty well. A little extra Mimicreme to swirl into the soup at the end is a perfect touch to a beautiful orange soup. Prepare this soup a day in advance and then heat on Thanksgiving. Not only does it make it easier day of, the flavors really develop if you let them sit overnight.

Pumpkin Soup
2 lbs pumpkin
1 lbs sweet potato
2 tbsp earth balance
1 onion, sliced
1" piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 liter (4 cups) vegetable stock
1 tsp agave
1/4 tbsp cinnamon

1. Peel the sweet potato and pumpkin and cut them into roughly equally sized cubes. Set aside.

2. In a large soup pot, melt the earth balance over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add the pumpkin, sweet potatoes, ginger, caraway seed and vegetable stock.

4. Cover and simmer until the pumpkin and sweet potatoes are tender. This could take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on how big you left the potatoes and pumpkin.

5. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender, or puree in batches in a regular blender.

6. Return the soup to the pot, add the cinnamon and agave, adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, with a swirl of mimicreme if desired.

Two Tomato Soup

Ah, the first day of summer, that can only mean one thing....

Soup?

Ok, maybe not. This might not be the most seasonally appropriate recipe, but I wanted to make grilled cheese sandwiches with Hickory Cheddar We Can't Say It's Cheese * and I wanted something to dip it in, so I made tomato soup. The other benefit was that it just hung out in the crockpot all day and when I got home from work I just had to puree and enjoy. This is my favorite tomato soup recipe because it gets a bunch of other veggies in there, and sundried tomatoes, which are a nice touch.

And, unrelated vanity, CHECK OUT MY NEW PLATES!! I had a bridal shower, and everyone was very generous, and we got some of the plates we asked for. This is one design, you'll have to stay in suspense for the other one.


Two-Tomato Soup
Adapted from 1001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes by Sue Spitler
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 potato, diced
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (dry, not oil packed)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup plain milk of choice
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large sautee pan/soup pot (depending on whether you're making it on the stove or in the slow cooker), heat the oil and sautee the shallots, garlic, celery and carrots until tender, about 5 minutes.

2a. If you're using a crock pot, put the veggies and everything else except for the milk into it and cook on low for 8 hrs... or until veggies are tender (8 hrs covers the work day for me so in it goes)

2b. Add the tomatoes, potato, stock and basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover; simmer for 15 minutes or until veggies are soft.

3. Puree soup until smooth in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender. Stir in the milk. Adjust seasoning to taste.

* Have you tried this stuff?? Ohhh man it's good. Hickory Smoked is the favorite in this house. We hope it soon is available in industrial sized tubs.

Carrot Ginger Soup

The first time I made carrot ginger soup was a few years back and I had a dreadful head cold, and for whatever reason, C-G soup sounded fantastic. I'd never had it before, but something about a creamy soup with a lot of ginger just seemed the right thing, and it totally was, and was absolutely delicious. Then I moved in with The Boy who was decidedly anti-ginger and I didn't make it again, but the thought was creeping more and more into my head as the weather got cooler here. Last month I was invited to a potluck and I thought that would be the perfect chance to make it again, without subjecting The Boy to the soup. Well turns out he loved it. He tasted it when I was done making it and wanted more. I had some leftover after the potluck and he ate it all. The carrot ginger floodgates are now open and I can make it as often as I please!!

Most recently, I made it for my mom and sister when they came up to visit. This is a soup I didn't have a recipe for that I liked, so I just sort of winged it, and wrote it down as best I could as I went along. Everyone who's eaten it so far has loved it. It's great plain or with a little bit of chopped fresh dill sprinkled on the top. I recommend using organic carrots for this recipe because carrots are really excellent at soaking up toxins in soil. It's one of the few veggies I spend the extra money on and buy organic, though they really still aren't a horrible financial burden. Another new thing for me -- freshly grated nutmeg. For years I went "yea yea sure fine" and used the preground. Recently I bought a few whole nutmegs to try, figuring I had the microplane now, might as well since I like seeing what that'll grate up and WOW what a difference! It's almost like a different spice. Definitely give it a go if you can.

Carrot Ginger Soup
2 ribs of celery, roughly chopped
2 small shallots, roughly chopped
2 tbsp vegan margarine
2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into coins (or! Shortcut! 2 lbs of baby cut carrots)
5 cups vegetable broth (or, 4 cups + 1 cup of water if you buy it by the quart)
3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup mimicreme (vegan nut-based heavy cream - though an unsweetened plain soy, rice, almond, whatevermilk would also work fine)

1. Melt the margarine in a large soup pot and sautee the shallots and celery until it begins to get tender.

2. Add the carrots, broth, ginger, and spices and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes or until the carrots are super soft (this will depend on how small you cut them).

3. Take the soup off the heat and either puree it in the pot with an immersion blender (easier choice) or puree it in batches in a blender (making sure to allow for steam to escape or your blender top with blow off) until it's perfectly smooth.

4. Return the soup to the pot if you took it out, and add the maple syrup and milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with fresh dill, if desired.

Shown with a sprinkling of Dill

Gnocchi and Greens Soup

Tonight's dinner was mostly brought to you by "things I had in my fridge/freezer." Sometimes if I'm going for cheap eats, I brainstorm with what I've got around the house and what sort of a meal it would make. When it gets cold out, I usually plan a soup or stew for dinner at least once a week. I keep quarts of homemade vegetable broth in the freezer and thaw them out as needed. I also had sweet potato gnocchi in the freezer that I made over the summer. So I thought "Hmmm Gnocchi soup." I already had the carrots and celery, and thought peas and greens might be nice. Peas I had in the freezer, greens I had to buy (and to that guy in the supermarket who bought ALL the Kale while I stood there with an open plastic bag waiting to get some kale, you suck. You could have left me one. Ornamental Kale is not the same). All this ended up costing me out of pocket was about $1.50 for the collards that I used in the soup. Good deal since it made a TON and it was VERY filling! (I should have known it would be considering how dense gnocchi is.) This recipe is just really the stuff I threw together in a pot. It was super easy to make. I'd suggest making half as much, however, if you don't care to eat it for a week.


Gnocchi and Greens Soup
1 rib of celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 quarts of vegetable broth (I used 1 quart homemade + 1 quart water + bouillon)
1 bunch collards, torn off the stalks and cut into thin ribbons
1 cup frozen green peas
1 lbs gnocchi of your choice (isn't the sweet potato pretty though?!)

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat and sautee the celery and carrot until it begins to soften some, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Add the broth and bring to a boil.

3. Add the collards, and turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the peas and gnocchi and simmer for another 15 minutes until everything is heated through and the greens are as soft as you like 'em.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

As soon as the air got crisp and autumnal I began craving winter squash. I usually have to be pretty stealth in my efforts to incorporate winter squash into our diet since the boy doesn't care for it too much. On this occasion, however, I was desperately wanting a nice creamy butternut squash soup and I decided boy-be-damned I'm making it and if he doesn't like it... there's peanut butter in the pantry! He loved it though, and ate three bowls, remarking the whole time about how surprised he was that he loved it. The homemade croutons probably didn't hurt anything either... he's a sucker for that sort of thing.

The creaminess in this soup comes from two elements - white beans and almond milk. The beans are a nice extra stealth way to sneak in more protein as well, so they serve a dual purpose. I served this with some wild rice on the side and the aforementioned croutons as optional add ins. It looked extra halloweenie with the black wild rice flecks in the bright orange soup, though having eaten it both ways, I think just enjoying the simple creamy slightly sweet soup on it's own is yummy enough! This is another one I just made up based on what I thought would be good. An immersion blender is a wonderful tool for pureeing this soup, but if you don't have one, you can puree it in batches in the blender. I recommend taking the little cap off the top of the blender (not the lid, just the little cap thing made so you can pour additional stuff in while you blend) and instead placing a folded kitchen towel over the hole. This makes it so some steam can escape and the top won't explode off, while still protecting you from splatters!


Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
2 ribs of celery, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 quart (4 cups) vegetable broth
1 medium butternut squash, roasted* (Mine weighed 2.5 lbs at time of purchase)
1.5 cups cooked white beans, or one 15 oz can of white beans
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
Pinch nutmeg
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 cup almond milk (or unflavored whatever milk you keep around)

* To roast the butternut squash, cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and guts, lightly brush/spray with a neutral flavored cooking oil (i.e. canola, grapeseed) and bake, sliced side down, on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for about an hour -- though the time will vary considerably depending on the size of your squash. Just poke it with a sharp knife or fork every now and then and see if it's tender yet.

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat and toss in the celery, carrots, and onion. Sautee until they are beginning to get tender.

2. Add the broth, beans, butternut, and spices. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, then lower and simmer for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are all very tender.

3. Puree the soup together until smooth with an immersion blender, or transfer into a blender and puree in there.

4. Stir in the milk and agave, taste, adjust seasonings, and serve.

Manhattan Vegetable Chowder

This recipe comes from 1000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles, a weird cookbook that, while claiming to be vegetarian, also calls for fish stock in some soups. I'm not entirely sure where she learned about vegetarianism, since it's obvious to most vegetarians that fish are animals, and vegetarians don't eat animals, ergo, vegetarians don't eat fish, but it seems she missed that day in veg training school. It's easy enough to say "Oh well vegetarians just would use vegetable broth" but people who are not veg, and get the book out of the library, say, to choose something nice to make for there vegetarian dinner guest might not know any better and suddenly you're eating fish. Gross. Enough with that rant, this soup is damn good. It is shown with whole wheat rosemary foccacia bread sticks sprinkled with coarse sea salt.




Manhattan Vegetable Chowder

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups shredded cabbage
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
6 oz tomato paste
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup frozen lima beans
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 tsp dry thyme
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and cook the cabbage until it's softened, about 4 minutes.

2. Add everything else, stir well to dissolve the tomato paste, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to maintain a simmer and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes.

Porcini-Wild Rice Soup

I have been wanting to make this soup since I bought Veganomicon. Of course with the boy's aversion to mushrooms, it's not exactly something I could slip into the weekly rotation. I was going to make it when I was visiting my parents once (my mushroom sanctuary) but dried porcinis and wild rice blends were both absurdly expensive. I got my chance though when I made plans with my friend to come over for dinner one night, and it was absolutely delicious!! I ended up using a dried wild mushroom mix in lieu of the dry porcinis because that's what I had, and I never grated the carrot in in the end as per recipe instructions (we were so excited to eat it we forgot), and I used a leek instead of an onion because of my onion thing.... and I added about 2 cups extra broth because the rice kept sucking it up. But hey, other than that, totally followed the recipe ;) I think next time I go to visit my parents I WILL make this, but I'll "import" the mushrooms and rice from home.

Wild Mushroom-Wild Rice Soup

1/2 ounce dried wild mushrooms
2 cups boiling water
1 leek, tough green part removed, well de-gritted, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
pepper, to taste
8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups wild rice blend
6 cups vegetable stock

1. Pour the boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a bowl, cover, and let sit until you finish doing all this other stuff...

2. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the leeks, and saute for a few minutes until they start getting soft. Add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

3. Add the mushrooms and saute for a few minutes until they start to shrink down.

4. Carefully remove the dried mushrooms from the liquid (hot, remember?) and slice them. Add them, and the liquid, to the pot.

5. Add the rice and the broth and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Veggie Noodle Soup

I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately and soup sounded good for dinner tonight. This is a pretty basic vegetable soup with noodles and seitan. It's warm and yummy and comforting though and definitely hit the spot!

Veggie Noodle Soup
2 tbsp olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 small potato, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of seitan, finely chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
1/4 lbs noodles (I used up the remains of a box of spaghetti and a box of fettucini, broken into smaller noodles. Soup is great for throwing in bits of things)
1 cup frozen spinach
1 cup frozen peas
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

1. In a large pot, heat the 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery, potato, and garlic and sautee for about 7-10 minutes until the veggies begin to soften.

2. Meanwhile... begin cooking the noodles according to package directions, only don't cook them as long as the package says. You want them to still be pretty firm when you add them to the soup or they'll turn to mush.

3. Add the broth and seitan to the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Add the peas, spinach, and noodles to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes or until frozen veggies are heated through. Stir in the handful of fresh parsley just before serving.

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Green Pea Garnish

The boy and I have both decided we really like split pea soups. They're so hearty and creamy and warm and comforting. My only complaint that it was so delicious I tried to eat it when it was still too hot and completely burned my pallet. Ow. This recipe came from Vegan Planet with Robin Robertson. Of course I made a few changes to better accommodate our tastes (and my belly) and the end result was a delicious way to end a damp and chilly Thursday.

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Green Pea Garnish
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 rib of celery, finely diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 medium yukon gold potato, diced
6 cups of water or vegetable broth
1 3/4 cups dried yellow split peas, rinsed and checked for stones and bits
1/2 tsp dried summer savory leaves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
Veggie bacon bits to sprinkle on top, optional

1. In a big soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the veggies. Put a lid on it and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft.

2. Add the broth, herbs, salt, and split peas and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the peas are soft and broken down. If it gets too thick, just add a bit of water to thin it out.

3. Add 1 tsp of liquid smoke, or to taste. (I'd taste the soup, add 1/2 tsp, taste again, and then add the last 1/2 tsp -- we like things smokey. Not everyone does!)

4. Put your soup into a bowl, and sprinkle with green peas and fake-bacon bits, if desired. (Stirred in, they soften up pretty quick)

Roasted Corn Chowder

I was thumbing through my cookbooks this weekend trying to come up with meal ideas for the week. I came across a recipe for Roasted Corn Chowder in Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson that I thought sounded good with all the nice fresh local corn we've been getting lately. I've had Vegan Planet for a while now, and I don't recall ever making anything from it. I'm surprised by that too because I have a few other of Robertson's cookbooks that I use all the time. I think when it came down to it I realized that the typeface in Vegan Planet bugged me and I don't find it very readable. I'm glad I suffered through it though because the chowder was delicious! I felt a little silly cooking soup on a late July night, but when else are you going to have beautiful fresh corn? I topped the soup with homemade croûtons and some basil chiffonade (as the recipe recommended) and it was just perfect. Not too heavy for a summer night with the sweet corn flavor dominating. The only major change I made was that I used a shallot instead of a small onion because I had a shallot and they don't bother my belly as much as onions do!

Roasted Corn Chowder

4 ears of corn
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
3 small yukon gold potatoes, diced
4 cups (1 quart) vegetable broth
1 cup plain rice milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
Basil chiffonade for garnish (just those little basil strips as seen in the picture)

1. Peel back the corn husks and remove the silks, then close up the corn again. Place the cleaned ears corn on a baking sheet and bake in a 450 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Once they're done and cooled, cut the corn off the cob with a sharp knife. The "bowl in bowl" technique is good for this to keep the corn stable and to keep the kernels from going all over the place. Basically, you take a small bowl with a rim and put it upside down in a larger bowl. Use the small bowl to stabilize the corn and carefully cut the kernels off the cob. I thought an illustration might help:



2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and add the shallot and celery rib. Keep the heat medium low, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until tender.

3. Add the potatoes and vegetable broth and cook for 25 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

4. Add the corn to the soup and simmer, uncovered, for another 15 minutes.

5. Put 2 cups of soup in the blender and blend until smooth. ** Hot soup in a blender will build up steam quickly and the top will explode off ** To avoid this, open the part of the blender lid that opens or comes off so you can pour in ingredients and replace it with a folded dish towel. This will allow steam to escape and not soup. **

6. Pour the blended soup back into the rest of the soup along with 1 cup of rice milk. Stir. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

7. Serve with croûtons and top with fresh basil as desired.

Basic Guidelines for Croûtons

1. Cube however much bread you want for croûtons. I did 2 slices of multigrain, one slice of whole wheat, and a homemade pumpernickel roll. Crusty stale bread is best.

2. Spray down a baking sheet with olive oil. Put the bread cubes on the baking sheet, then spray them with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and any other seasoning you like (tonight was basil), toss, and then spray again with olive oil.

3. Bake in a 400 degree oven until sufficiently toasty and crunchy -- about 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Finally...
How to Keep Your Cat from Getting Underfoot While You Cook


I can't explain it. My cat Atticus loves to lick corn cobs. He doesn't eat any kernels he pulls off, but he likes to bite and lick at the cob. PLEASE do not leave your cat unattended with a corn cob because my cat is a goofball. And DOUBLE PLEASE don't ever give your dog corn on the cob because it can cause an obstruction and make your dog very very sick. Public service announcement over. You can now continue enjoying the picture of Atticus enjoying a corn cob.

Italian Wedding Soup

I have to admit, I've never eaten "real" Italian Wedding Soup. In fact, I'd never even heard of it until Campbells came out with a canned version. This happened years after I became a vegetarian, and of course the soup is in chicken broth with mini-meatballs. Still, I've gazed at it almost lovingly thinking "... if only it was veg." The introduction of Veganomicon's Chickpea Cutlets made that dream a reality. That said, the meatball part of this recipe is a slightly adapted version of Chickpea Cutlets. The rest of the recipe I made up this recipe based on what the can of soup appears to contain. Maybe not the most scientific method, but it has yielded a pretty close product -- at least in terms of appearance. It also happens to be delicious.


Italian Wedding Soup

For the "meatballs":

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup italian style breadcrumbs
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp sage
2 tbsp fresh flatleaf (Italian) parsley, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with some olive oil.

2. Mash the chickpeas with the olive oil. Add everything else. Knead until it starts to get stringy. Some chickpea bits may fall out. Don't worry about them. It wasn't meant to be.

3. Tear off tablespoons of dough (?) and squeeze/roll them into mini meatballs. You do actually have to squeeze the dough in your hand, then roll a little, then squeeze, then roll, to get them to be meatballs.

4. Lay all your meatballs on the baking sheet. Spray with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes, turn over, then bake for another 10-15 minutes or until they're firm.

Baked "Meat"ball army!

For the Soup:

2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
6 cups of vegetable broth
1/2 cup Israeli couscous *
1 1/2 cups frozen spinach **

1. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the carrots and celery and sautee, stirring occasionally until they start to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the vegetable broth and bring the soup to a boil.

3. Add the couscous and reduce the heat to simmer. Simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the couscous is soft.

4. Stir in the spinach and let it heat through.

5. Stir in the cooked meatballs right before serving.

Big Pot of Italian Wedding Soup

* Unlike regular couscous, Israeli couscous is much larger. It cooks up to the size of little pearls. Pastini isn't bad here as an alternative, but I like the little couscous best.

** If you buy the BIG BAG of frozen spinach as opposed to the small box, it isn't frozen into a block and you can actually pour out what you need and then put it back in the freezer.

"Chick'n" & Dumplings

Every Sunday I plan meals for the next week to formulate a shopping list and mentally prepare for the week ahead. Every Sunday I ask the boy "What should we have for dinner this week?" Every week he answers "Chicken and Dumplings?" I'm fairly certain he would eat it every week if I'd make it every week, but I demand more variety. This week, being his Birthday week, I've planned a few of his favorite meals, including the infamous "Chik'n & Dumplings." This meal, of course, contains no chicken, but it does contain dumplings, and anything + dumplings = yum. Very basic math.
"Chick'n" & Dumplings
As with most recipes, the amount of veggies you use can vary depending on size and personal taste. This is also a great recipe for using up veggie scraps you've got in your fridge. Tonight's soup contained 1/2 a red bell pepper and 1/2 a yellow summer squash. This is just the "base" recipe -- do what you like from here

6 cups unchicken broth
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 -2 stalks of celery, diced
1-2 carrots, peeled & diced
1 cup frozen peas
8 oz (by weight) "chick'n"* - chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Handful chopped fresh parsley

Dumplings
1 cup flour **
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup soy/rice milk - unflavored
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. Start with the dumplings. Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl, then add the wet, stir the mess together until a sticky dough is formed. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to use it.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large soup pot. Brown the "chick'n," then remove and set aside.

3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same pot (again). Add the garlic, carrots, and celery and sautee until they look brighter in color -- about 5 minutes.

4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. [This is also the time you'd add any other veggies you want in the soup, unless they are especially hard veggies (i.e. potato, parsnip) which you'd add in with the carrots and celery. If you've added other veggies, reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to simmer until the veggies are fork tender, then proceed to step 5)

5. Reduce the heat to simmer and add the peas, "chick'n," and parsley

6. Retrieve your dumpling dough and drop it by spoonful into the hot soup (the bigger the spoon, the bigger the dumplings). They will puff up a LOT! Simmer the dumplings in the soup uncovered for 10 minutes, then covered for 10 minutes. To test if they're done, spoon off a piece of one. If the inside looks dry and bubbley, it's ready to go!

Soup pot full of soup with puffed up dumplings covering the top

* Options for "chick'n" include -- Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips, White Wave Chicken Style Seitan, Homemade Seitan, or any other protein bit you enjoy. Tonight I used homemade chicken style seitan.

** This is one recipe I actually use 100% white all purpose flour. For reasons beyond my understanding, whole wheat dumplings disintegrate into the broth.