Sweet Potato Soup

We're in full soup mode here at Evolution Kitchen, as Old Man Winter has wrapped his icy fingers around our home. We like a lot of different kinds of soup, depending on our mood. Sometimes we only want a thin, brothy soup. And sometimes we want a thicker, heartier soup. 

The following soup is more in the hearty category. It is quite creamy and has an excellent flavor.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

2 T oil

1 onion, chopped

2 small celery stalks, chopped

1 medium leek, sliced (white and pale green parts only)

1 large garlic clove, chopped

1 ½ lbs red-skinned sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups)

4 c chicken stock

1 cinnamon stick

¼ t ground nutmeg

1½ c  coconut milk

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, saute about 5 minutes. Add celery and leek, saute about 5 minutes. Add garlic, saute about 2 minutes.

2. Add sweet potatoes, chicken stock, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes).

3. Remove cinnamon stick and discard. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return to pot.

4. Add coconut milk and stir over medium-low heat until heated through. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Zen Stew

When the cold weather comes, the amount of soup that flows through the Evolution Kitchen can be enormous. As the first snow hits us here in the high plains, I wanted a hearty soup that soothes the stomach and the soul. This simple Asian-influenced soup fit the bill.

Zen Stew

Ingredients

2 oz of dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms

1 c water

1 c vegetable broth

½ c red onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced

1 c brown rice, cooked

4 oz tofu, sliced into ½-inch cubes

1 scallion, thinly sliced

3 bunches of spinach, trimmed and coarsely chopped

1/3 c miso paste

½ c warm water

Steps

1. If using dried mushrooms, soak them in boiling water for 30 minutes. For both dried and fresh, remove hard stems and slice the caps in thin strips.

2. In a large saucepan, heat 1 cup of water and broth, and the mushrooms, onion, carrot, cooked rice, and tofu. Bring to a low boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, add the scallion and stir in the spinach. Cover the saucepan for a few minutes until the spinach wilts.

3. Mix the miso with the ½ cup of warm water and stir until all lumps are gone. Stir this into the soup. Serve hot.

Split Pea Soup

You can always tell it's winter when the Evolution Kitchen is constantly churning out soup. Often for dinner all we will have is a bowl of soup and some buttered bread or flat bread with a dip.

I apologize for yet another pressure cooker recipe, but when you have one of those babies, the world is laid out in front of your feet, begging you to cook it. You could cook this in a crock pot or a conventional pot, but it will take a lot longer than what is described here.

This soup is traditionally made with ham; the texture and saltiness of ham is a perfect match for this soup. We first thought about using tofu as a replacement, but felt that it didn't offer anything flavor-wise, it only absorbs flavors. We instead opted for this product we only find at Chinese markets. It has the same texture as ham, tastes like a cross between chicken and ham, and is completely vegetarian. I don't know what's in it; I probably don't want to know what's in it. Good thing I can't read the label. We topped off the soup with some smoked paprika to give it a little smokey hint.

Split Pea Soup

After this dish is done cooking, the peas break down and dissolve into the soup, making a wonderful, wholesome broth.

Ingredients

1 T oil
2 c onion, coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, diced
7 c water
2 1/2 c dried green split peas, rinsed
2 c diced ham or ham substitute
2 bay leaves
1 t salt
1 t dried thyme
1 t smoked paprika (optional)

Steps

1. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker and stir in the onions, celery, water, split peas, ham, salt, and bay leaves.

2. Lock the lid in place and bring to high pressure. Lower heat and maintain high pressure for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally.

3. Remove the bay leaves and add the thyme and paprika (if using). Stir well to make sure the peas are fully dissolved and thyme is incorporated.

"Chicken" and Dumplings

Ah, this is a wonderful wintertime dish. Note the "Chicken" in quotes for the title. That's vegetarian-speak for "fake chicken". If you don't like quotes in your food, then there is no reason why you couldn't use real chicken instead. I could almost put quotes around "Dumplings" too, since these are gluten-free, so they are, uh, fake dumplings.

My wife also has a thing about eggs in food. She will eat eggs as just eggs, but she doesn't like the smell or taste of egg in other things like cookies, bread, and in this case, dumplings. I have to admit I don't like it anymore now that she has drawn my attention to it. A typical vegan trick is to use flax seed "eggs". This is simply ground-up flax seed mixed with warm water. When you let this sit a few minutes it will become slightly gelatinous and egg-like. We have found this is a near perfect substitute and provides loads of omega-3s. Here is the "recipe" for flax "eggs":

1 egg = 1 T flax seed meal + 3 T warm water
1 egg white = 1 T flax seed meal + 2 T warm water

Once you grind flax seeds, you need to use it immediately else it will spoil. We grind up a large batch and store it in the freezer.

But again, you can use a "real" egg in this recipe. Are "you" sick of "all" these "quotes" yet?

For the fake chicken, we use a package of Chicken Style Smart Strips. These are little soy-based strips with chicken-like taste and texture. They are really amazing, and there is a beef flavor as well.

I left salt out of the ingredients because the broth we use has plenty of salt. But if you use a low-salt or no-salt broth, you may want to add some.

Here are the dumplings after they have cooked. They expand a bit and will likely cover the entire top:

"Chicken" and Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 pkg Chicken Style Smart Strips
3 T oil
4 leeks (white and pale green parts only), sliced thin crosswise
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 celery rib with leaves, sliced
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
1 small bay leaf
1 t dried thyme, crumbled
2 t dried French tarragon
¼ t black pepper
5 c chicken broth
½ c apple cider

Dumplings:

1 c brown rice flour
1/3 c potato starch
1/6 c tapioca flour
¼ c sorghum flour
¼ c yellow cornmeal
2 t baking powder
¼ t salt
¾-1 c milk of choice
1 egg

Steps:

1. In a large pan or dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over a moderately high heat. Brown the "chicken", about 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and set aside.

2. Add the remaining oil to the same pan, add the leeks and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, tarragon, salt and pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes.

3. Pour in the broth and cider. Return browned chicken to the pan. Bring liquids to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Make the dumplings while chicken and vegetables are cooking. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. With a fork, stir in the milk and egg to form a soft dough (a little wetter than biscuit dough).

5. Scoop out golf-ball sized dumplings and place them in the chicken mixture. Simmer covered for 12 minutes. Dumplings are done when a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Discard bay leaf before serving.

Sweet Potatoes That Aren't

Most people eat sweet potatoes about once a year, usually at Thanksgiving. And it probably has marshmallows melted all over it, or glazed with maple syrup. In other words, the "sweet" in the sweet potato is what is emphasized.

But in other cultures, the sweet potato serves as more than just a dessert. They are a staple of the Maori in New Zealand, and sweet potatoes are enjoyed throughout the Caribbean, Asia, and parts of Africa. It's a shame these root vegetables are not more popular in the U.S. because they are delicious and more nutritious than white potatoes.

For us, the subtle sweetness of the sweet potato couples well with coconut, curry, and hot spices. You'll see lots of sweet potato recipes on this blog, but for now we'll start with a sumptuous soup.

This recipe assumes you're using a pressure cooker, which will cook up this dish under 15 minutes, but you can use a conventional pot; it will just take longer to get the potatoes tender.

Curried Coconut Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

4 c chicken or vegetable broth

1 13-oz can coconut milk

2 T curry powder (adjust for your desired amount of "heat")

1 1/2 lbs sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

2 scallions, thinly sliced (keeping white and green parts separate)

1/2 c frozen peas

Steps:

1. In a pressure cooker, blend the coconut milk, broth, and curry. Add the sweet potatoes and white parts of the scallions.

2. Lock the lid and bring pressure to high. Lower temperature and maintain high pressure for 8 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure reduce naturally for 5 minutes. Release the rest of the pressure using quick release.

3. Remove the lid and crush the potatoes slightly and stir into the broth. Add the peas and green parts of the scallions and place back on the heat. Cook for another minute until peas are tender.

4. Salt to taste.