Vegan Soups and Breads

I feel like some weeks I have so much to post about and yet so little time to sit down and do it! This week we had a gloomy, rainy day which prompted my craving for soup. The boys love to make their own soup so all three of us headed to the kitchen for a school lunch break and came up with three delicious and nutritious soups. One of my favorite things about soups is that you can add so many veggies and end up with a bowlful of complete nutritional goodness without the need for a side dish - and after eating it you feel warmed and satisfied that you just filled your body with nutritionally dense food. In this case we did make a side dish - an oil-free cornbread that was surprisingly delicious. We had our leftover soup the following day and made oil-free biscuits that I made up which were very yummy too...with an added punch of healthfullness included (see recipe below!). Enjoy!

 Corn Bread (adapted from Happy Herbivore)

1 c cornmeal

1 c whole wheat pastry flour

1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 cup non-dairy milk (such as fat-free soymilk)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (I used honey because I am out of maple syrup...and honey isn't vegan but it's an ingredient I choose not to abstain from!)
2 tbsp raw sugar (optional) - I didn't use this

Preheat oven to 400F. Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Add non-dairy milk, applesauce, maple syrup and sugar, if using, on top. Using a spatula, stir until just combined. Pour batter into a nonstick shallow 9" pie dish, or other oven-safe dish. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Keith's Soup (since we didn't measure, here is the list of what he added)
Whole wheat rotini
Carrots
Potatoes
Pinto beans
Asparagus
Cauliflower
Homemade veggie broth
Salt, Pepper
Oregano
Garlic



Braedon's Soup  (since we didn't measure, here is the list of what he added)
Whole wheat rotini
Carrots
Potatoes
Pinto beans
Asparagus
Cauliflower
Red and yellow peppers
Homemade veggie broth
Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Garlic, Basil

The Soup I made was Minestrone out of the Forks Over Knives Cookbook. It was not a powerfully taste-filled soup but it had a simple tomato-rich flavor that was full of veggies and I loved it! It had celery, carrots, fire-roasted tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, green beans, potatoes, fresh herbs, broth and no added fat to.

These biscuits were a last minute thought and they actually turned out really yummy. They are not the flaky, buttery biscuits that we usually think of - rather, they are chewier in consistency and remind me more of drop biscuits.

Chewy No-oil Added Biscuits

2 cups fllour (preferably whole wheat pastry but I was out so I had to use white)

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 cup pureed cauliflower

1/2 cup almond or soy milk

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir to combine. 

 You want your dough to stick together but not be too wet. Add a little extra flour or a little extra milk to achieve this consistency. Turn onto a floured cutting board and form into a circle about 1-1/2 inches thick. Cut biscuits out with a biscuit cutter or a glass. Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Birthday boys!

Celebrating my boys with vegan chocolate cupcakes and cream cheese frosting!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).
3. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting (from Betty Goes Vegan)

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package Vegan Cream Cheese (plain)
1/4 cup Vegan Margarine
2 teaspoons Soy Milk (vanilla)
1 teaspoon Vanilla
4 cups Powdered Sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat Cream Cheese, Margarine, Soy Milk and Vanilla with an electric mixer on low until smooth.

Gradually mix in the Powdered Sugar, 1 cup at a time on a low speed to prevent one of those messy blow backs. Mix till smooth.

If you don’t have a frosting gun, you can use a knife to frost these, because the frosting is soft.R refrigerate to keep the frosting from melting.