Friday, October 3, 2008

VeganMoFo: Soup's on!



This is a great week to begin VeganMoFo. Why, you ask? Well, because this week, fall officially hit Ohio. On Monday, the temperature was in the mid 70's, but now we are in the 50's and 60's, and it feels good!

There are many reasons that Fall is my favorite season, not least of which are all of the amazing foods that I associate with this time of years. All things apple and pumpkin. Warm beverages like tea, cocoa and cider. And of course, after a season long hiatus, I am ready again to start making soup.

I could sing the praises of soup all day long. It's warm, it's filling, it's a classic comfort food item, it's a great way to get a hearty dose of veggies, and it is easily made healthy. Not to mention that one pot meals are a snap to clean up! Most soups also freeze well. Frozen soup can be awfully handy to have around when you are sick and craving the comfort of soup, but unable to gather the energy to chop veggies and stir the pot.

Despite all the wondrous virtues of soup, my husband still gets a disappointed look on his face when I say we are having soup for dinner. I don't fully understand how he could be disappointed, but I will chalk it up to a lifetime of canned soups. I also know that the soups that he does like are the creamy ones. I prefer a broth based soup. In an effort to make a soup lover out of dear Bill, I am going to try veganizing a couple of his favorite kinds of soup over the next few weeks. It will be an interesting task, because I have always hated all things creamy (i attribute that of the few signature dishes my mother makes, most have a base of canned condensed cream of something soups). We will see if a little creative veganizing can bring Bill and I to a soup happy medium.

For now, I leave you with a photo of the delicious Chipotle, Corn and Black Bean Stew from Vegan With a Vengeance. This was delightful and spicy. It was my first time cooking with chipotle peppers. Chopping hot peppers always makes me a little nervous, but I'm beginning to get over that. The chipotles here lend a nice, subtle smoky flavor to the soup.

This weekend, I am going to try my hand at potato soup and homemade bread. Should be fun!






5 comments:

donesmoking said...

i made a huge pot of soup last night...so perfect for fall!

Bex said...

Soup is just the best this time of year, any way you can get it.

Tami said...

Yay, fall is in Ohio! There's nothing like soup.

Good luck turning Bill around. You can do it!

half pint pixie said...

That looks so good! I am a huge soup fan, anytime of the year but especially when it's cold and wet, like now!

Bethany said...

I'm happy that soup season has started. I didn't make much this summer.

I like thick soups too. Do you think your husband would like it if you put in some canned pumpkin to help thicken up the soups (assuming that pumpkin goes w/ the soup)? Anohter way to thicken is to take some of the soup and puree it.