Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (35 page)

6.
A Meal in a Soup Pot

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Golden Gate Minestrone

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Cream of Anything Soup

Carrot and Onion Soup

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Tom’s True Grits Chili

Lentils, Monastery Style

Hearty Tomato Soup

Turkish Barley-Buttermilk Soup

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Millet-Cauliflower Soup

Old-fashioned Potato Soup

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Mulligatawny

Cold Zucchini and Buttermilk Soup

Cold Curried Apple and Buttermilk Soup

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New recipe
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O
UT OF THE
world of delicious meatless soups, I have included those that
I
find myself making most often—because they are prepared with ingredients that I almost invariably have on hand: carrots, potatoes, canned tomatoes, and onions. You will see that I rely on low-fat milk, buttermilk, nonfat dry milk, and cheese to complement the grain or legume (bean, lentil) protein in most of these soups. Among your favorite soups are probably many from the legume family—black bean soup, navy bean soup, pea and carrot soup, for example. If you want to complement the protein when making these from your favorite recipes, just add a little milk protein in some form—a cheese sandwich served with the soup, or cheese stirred in or sprinkled on top.

If, while the soup is on the stove, you put some homemade muffins or bread in the oven, your Meal in a Soup Pot can become a genuine feast.

Golden Gate Minestrone

8 generous servings

A great soup to come home to after a long winter’s day of birdwatching. Claire Greensfelder (see Betty the Peacenik Gingerbread) served 15 gallons of it to the Golden Gate Audubon Society Christmas Bird Counters! The flavor gets better and better with reheating.

1/3 cup olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

½ green pepper, chopped

2 medium carrots, sliced in rounds

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

One 28-ounce can tomatoes

One 46-ounce can tomato juice

4 vegetable cubes (or 2 tablespoons vegetable seasoning)

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon each rosemary and parsley

1½ cups cooked kidney beans (or one 15½-OZ. can)

1½ cups cooked garbanzos (or one 15½-oz. can)

2 small Zucchinis, sliced in rounds

2 small yellow squash, sliced in rounds

2 cups uncooked shells or other pasta

Garnish: Parmesan cheese or yogurt

Heat oil in a large pot and sauté onions, green pepper, carrots, celery, and garlic until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes, tomato juice, vegetable cubes, and herbs and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add beans, zucchinis, squash, and pasta and cook over low heat for at least
½
hour. Taste for seasoning and add more herbs, if needed.

For a delicious spaghetti sauce, process in a blender 2 cups of leftover soup with 1 small can tomato paste, ⅛ to
¼
cup oil, and Italian herbs to taste. Toss in ½ cup cottage cheese, too, for exact smoothness and flavor. Ladle into bowls, garnish, and serve.

Complementary protein: beans + wheat

Cream of Anything Soup

6 servings

This recipe and the variation are favorites of Kevin Onderdonk of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, who wrote his own cookbook,
Spaceship Earth Cookery
, for the students in a nutrition course he taught.

4 cups of vegetables (your choice), chopped

½ cup margarine

2 to 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon arrowroot powder (optional)

½ gallon low-fat milk

2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon basil

1 cup cooked rice (optional)

Steam vegetables in a steamer or simmer in a pot until tender. In a blender, purée a third to half the vegetables with the steaming water. Melt margarine in a large pot. Add flour and arrowroot (optional), stirring until flour bebins to brown. Slowly add milk. Add both puréed vegetables and steamed vegetables, soy sauce, basil, and rice. Simmer for 20 minutes. Do not boil.

   
Variation:
For Dairyless Cream of Anything Soup, soak 1 part cashews overnight in 4 parts water. Process for a few seconds in a blender. Now you have cashew milk to replace the low-fat milk.

Complementary protein: milk product + rice

Carrot and Onion Soup

4 servings

This soup is simple yet has a unique quality that makes it a favorite with my family and with guests. I like it especially because I almost always have the ingredients on hand. Any homemade bread would make this soup into a special supper. I cut the carrots and onions into big chunks and reduce them to tiny slivers in the blender.

3 tablespoons margarine

4 to 5 medium carrots, grated

1 medium onion, minced

1 teaspoon salt

Pinch tarragon

½ cup rice

4 cups Seasoned Stock

1 to 1¼ cups hot milk

Croutons (optional)

Heat margarine in a heavy pot or pressure cooker and gently sauté carrots, onion, salt, and tarragon for about 5 minutes. Add rice and stir into mixture. Add stock and cook until rice is very well done, about 45 minutes (only 25 with a pressure cooker). You may want to sieve the soup or purée it in a blender; I purée only half, so that some chewiness is left. Return it to the pot and add milk to your preferred consistency; do not let it boil. Add a pat of margarine and serve with croutons.

Complementary protein: rice + milk

Tom’s True Grits Chili

7 to 8 servings

A favorite of Tom Greensfelder of Chicago. Like his sister Claire (see Betty the Peacenik Gingerbread), Tom has a flair for cooking. Due to popular vegetarian demand, he changed his hamburger-based chili into what you see here. Meat eaters love it too.

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup soy grits

1½ medium onions, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

Two 15-ounce cans tomato sauce

3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped

Two 15½-ounce cans kidney beans

3 canned green chilies

1 tablespoon each cumin and chili powder

Oregano to taste

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté grits until golden. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent. Stirring, add tomato sauce, tomatoes, beans, chilies, cumin and chili powder, and oregano. If not spicy enough, add more chili powder or cayenne pepper. If it’s too thick, add water. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve in bowls and pass the cheddar.

Complementary protein: beans + milk product

Lentils, Monastery Style

4 to 6 servings

This soup is especially delicious when served with corn muffins.

¼ cup olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

½ teaspoon each thyme and marjoram

3 cups Seasoned Stock

1 cup lentils, rinsed

Salt to taste

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

One 1-pound can tomatoes

¼ cup dry sherry

2/3 cup grated Swiss cheese

Heat oil in a large pot and sauté onions and carrot for 3 to 5 minutes. Add herbs and sauté 1 minute. Add stock, lentils, salt, parsley, and tomatoes and cook, covered, until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. Add sherry. To serve, put 2 tablespoons cheese in each bowl and fill with soup.

Complementary protein: lentils + milk product

Hearty Tomato Soup

(Like Campbell’s Never Dreamed of)

6 servings

The great virtue of this recipe is that something very special is created from foods that you probably have on hand most of the time. Serve with oatmeal bread and enjoy the hurrahs. The variations are from Myra Levy and Charlie Varon of San Francisco.

2 tablespoons oil for sautéing

1 clove garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped (optional)

1 carrot, chopped

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1½ cups cooked rice (¾ cup uncooked)

One 28-ounce can tomatoes, chopped and mashed with a spoon

Salt to taste

4 white peppercorns, or lots of freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon each oregano and basil

3 cups hot milk

1 tablespoon margarine

Heat oil in a heavy pot and sauté garlic, onion, celery, and carrot until onion is translucent. Add flour, stirring until toasty. If using uncooked rice, add it with the flour and sauté, stirring, until it’s a little toasty. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, herbs, and cooked rice (if you are using it) and cook at least 15 minutes (about 45 minutes with raw rice; cook until rice is done). Remove from heat. For an elegant soup, purée in the blender or put through a sieve. Add milk and margarine and more salt and pepper if needed. Heat through but do not let boil.

   
Variations:
Substitute 1½ cups uncooked rice-soy shells or other noodles for flour and rice. Add 1 small eggplant, cut into ½-inch cubes.

Add chopped broccoli and zucchini.

Complementary protein: rice + milk

Turkish Barley-Buttermilk Soup

4 servings

Don’t let the simplicity of this soup fool you. Once I made it for a demonstration of nonmeat cooking, and the moderator could not stop eating it for the entire program.

2 tablespoons oil for sauteing

2 large onions, chopped

1 cup barley

5 cups Seasoned Stock

2 cups buttermilk or yogurt

1 teaspoon dillweed

1 pat or more margarine

Heat oil in a heavy pot and sauté onions until translucent. Add barley and sauté, stirring lightly, until translucent and slightly toasty-smelling. When onion is well browned, add stock and cook until barley is well done, 45 minutes to 1 hour (25 minutes in a pressure cooker). Remove from heat, let cool a bit, and slowly add buttermilk, and more stock to thin it if necessary. Sprinkle in dill and add margarine.

Complementary protein: barley + milk

Millet-Cauliflower Soup

2 quarts

Here’s our variation of a favorite of Robin Bryce Lasobeck of Gainesville, Florida. She says everyone enjoys its home-style flavor. She teaches a course called “Journey into Natural Foods.”

2 tablespoons oil plus oil for sautéing

½ cup millet