Sweet Potato, Brown Rice, and Shiitake Soup

Sweet Potato, Brown Rice, and Shiitake Soup

Serves 3 – 4

Takes about 45 minutes

I thought up the idea for this soup and was craving it before I had even actually made it. It turned out to be just as good as I had hoped. I eat rice with soup but I don’t often cook the rice into my soup. It adds a nice chewiness.

Ingredients:

¾ cup brown basmati rice

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

5 cups vegetable broth (a boullion cube works fine)

1 ½ tbsp tomato paste

3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

7 oz shitake mushrooms, diced

6 – 8 green onions, finely sliced

1 tsp thyme

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

½ tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste (depends on saltiness of your vegetable broth)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. When hot, add in the garlic and ginger.  Saute until the garlic starts to lightly brown, about a minute or two. Add rice, vegetable broth, and tomato paste to the pot. Stir so that there are no lumps of tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot, and simmer for 25 minutes.

2. Add in the sweet potatoes and raise heat so that soup starts to bubble again. Cook on medium heat for 8 minutes.

3. Add shitake mushrooms. When soup starts to bubble again, cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the green onions, thyme, nutritional yeast, and turmeric. Cook briefly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot.

---

Creamy Fennel and Mushroom Risotto

Creamy Fennel and Mushroom Risotto

Takes about 1 hour

Serves 4 – 5

With the addition of vegan sour cream, this is a truly decadent dish, very meat-eater friendly.  I’m not huge on using vegan commercial dairy-substitute products although I did use commercial sour cream for this recipe because I happened to have some around.  If you don’t buy into that, make your own sour cream using silken tofu.  I use two types of mushrooms; dried shitakes largely for flavor and baby portabellas for chewiness.  The whole thing about having to constantly stir risotto: you need to stir quite often but you don’t have to be literally glued to the stove.  I have cooked this recipe while working on another dish, stirring every couple minutes or so.  It is very unlikely that you will need all 9 cups of water but I add extra for evaporation from boiling and in case more is needed (always a possibility).

Ingredients:

9 cups of water

½ oz dried shitake mushrooms

1 fennel bulb, diced into squares

1 ½ cups sliced baby portabellas (or button mushrooms)

4 cloves garlic, chopped finely

3 tbsp margarine

1 1/3 cup arborio rice

1 ½ tsp nutritional yeast

2 tsp salt

2 tsp dried dill

½ tsp marjoram

½ cup vegan sour cream

1. In a pot, boil the water.  Once boiling, add the shitakes.  Boil about about 15 minutes or until shitakes are rehydrated.  Remove shitakes from the water and set aside.  Cover the pot that contains the water and keep it on low heat.

2. In a separate pot, melt the margarine over medium high heat.  Add the diced fennel and sauté for about 2 minutes.  Add the portabellas and garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the rice and stir for a minute or two.  Then add 1 cup of the water from the pot.  Cook, stirring often, until much of the water is absorbed.  Then add the next cup of water.  Keep adding water (usually about 5 cups total) until rice is fully cooked.  Stir in the nutritional yeast, salt, dried dill, and marjoram during this process.  Stir in the shitakes as soon as they are cool enough to dice (dice them into squares).  Word of advice: Add the next cup of water before the previous one is fully absorbed.  If you can keep the rice mostly covered in liquid the whole time, it will cook faster.

4. Once the rice is fully cooked (it will be al dente but not at all hard), stir in the vegan sour cream.  Serve hot.

Creamy Fennel and Mushroom Risotto and Curried Cauliflower

Vegetable Paella Recipe

Hello Everyone.  I am making my recipe debut to prepare for writing my own vegan cookbook.  Well, I'll jump right into it.  This make a beautiful vegan paella.

I have been to Spain and I have to say that the food is not often very vegan friendly.  Luckily, I was saved a few times when I was able to find vegetable paella.  Paella is versatile and pretty much any vegetable you have can be substituted in for the ones listed.  Peas and tomatoes tend to be fairly standard but almost anything will work.  If you want to make this with the traditional Valencia rice, more power to you.  I have found that cheap medium grain rice works great and doesn’t break the bank (especially after buying saffron).  You are also more likely to have it sitting around your house.  Vegan sausages are by no means required for making paella but they do add a little something extra.

Vegetable Paella

Takes about 50 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 carrot, peeled and diced

5 mini sweet peppers or 1 large bell pepper, diced

5 – 6 oz (approximately) fresh or frozen green peas

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups vegetable broth (boullion cubes or soup base is fine)

2 vegan sausages, diced (optional)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 ¼ cup medium grain white rice

1 scant tsp paprika

1 pinch saffron

¼ tsp annatto powder (optional)

1 tomato, sliced into wedges

½ tsp salt

1 lemon, sliced into wedges for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Heat olive oil in a paella pan or a 10-inch/12-inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Add carrot and green peas.  Saute for about 3 minutes.  Add the peppers and garlic and continue to sauté for about 3 minutes or so.

3. Add in the rice and dry roast for the vegetables and oil for about 2 minutes.  Add in vegetable broth, paprika, saffron, annatto powder (if using), and salt.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered.

4. Meanwhile, if you are using the vegan sausage, pan fry it in a different small skillet with a small amount of oil until it is lightly browned.  Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Arrange the tomatoes in a wheel around the top of the paella and intersperse with vegan sausage (if using).  Cover the skillet with tin foil and place in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes or until all the water is used up.

6. Remove from the oven.  Allow to cool briefly before serving.  Serve with slices of lemon.  Squeeze lemon over the rice before eating.