Easy Egg Drop Soup

Prep Time: 15 min!
Servings: 4-6

* 2 cans (about 30 oz) broth (chicken broth is traditionally used, but I substituted vegetable broth)
* 3 eggs
* 1/2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (regular soy sauce is too salty for this recipe!)
* 1/2 cup chopped green onion

1. Bring broth to a boil. Meanwhile, whip the eggs.

2. Once the broth is boiling, take the pot off the heat & add the soy sauce.

3. Stir in the eggs. As you stir, the eggs will separate into stringy pieces.

4. Add the green onion & stir.

5. Serve hot.

Cous Cous Soup

~special thanks to Candi for this recipe!~

Prep time: 15 min!
Servings: 8

* 8 cups broth (the orignal recipe calls for chicken broth, I used vegetable broth)
* 1 cup cous cous
* 1 1/2 cups diced fresh tomato
* 1-2 thinly sliced, seeded jalapeno peppers
* 1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Bring broth to a boil.

2. Stir in cous cous & cook for 5 minutes. (Meanwhile, dice the tomato & jalapeno.)

3. Add the tomato & jalapeno. Cook for about 8 more minutes.

4. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, & serve.

Note: if the soup becomes too thick, add water.

Note: add Tabasco sauce for a Mexican flavor or fresh basil for an Italian flavor!

Vegan Cornbread

Prep Time: less than 30 minutes
Servings: 6

* 1 cup cornmeal
* 1 cup whole wheat flour (I use all-purpose flour & it works out just fine)
* 1 tbsp baking powder
* 1/4 cup oil
* 1 cup soy milk
* 1/3 cup molasses or maple syrup (I use maple syrup)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Pour batter into a lightly oiled 8-inch round pan.

4. Bake for 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato Soup

~ suggested by my friend Taryn! ~

Prep Time: about 45 minutes, once the sweet potatoes are baked

Note: Taryn says, "You can use sweet potato or canned pumpkin."

* 2 onions
* 4 baked sweeet potatoes or 1 can of pumpkin
* vegetable stock
* nutmeg
* salt
* pepper
*smoked sweet paprika or fake bacon (note from Mary: MorningStar Farms makes good fake bacon, available in the frozen section of grocery stores)

1. Fry the onions until translucent. Add the sweet potato mush & spices. Then add stock. If you like thinner soup, add a lot of stock or if you like thicker soup add less stock.

2. Cook for about 1/2 hour.

3. Top with smoked sweet paprika or crumbled fake bacon.


Taryn says: I love this with pumpernickel bread.

Garbanzo Bean Stew

~ suggested by my friend Taryn! ~

Prep Time: depends... at least 1 hour

Note: Taryn says, "I use dried beans because I think that they taste better, but canned is fine."

* 1/2 cup dried garbanzo beans (if using a can, just use the whole can)
* 2 onions, chopped
* 1 head garlic, smashed & chopped
* 1/8 cup olive oil
* water
* 1 potato, chopped
* 1 can of whole tomatoes (Taryn says: We used canned roasted tomatoes. You may need more spices with plain ones.)
* salt & pepper

1. Soak the beans for 24 hours.

2. Fry onion & garlic in oil until translucent.

3. Add beans & enough water to cover. (Taryn says: The less water you cook beans in, the quicker they cook.)

4. Turn the heat down & cover. Check the beans after an hour, but expect them to take up to 4 hours to cook.

5. Add the potato & tomatoes, including juice.

6. When the potato is done, add salt & pepper to taste.

Cream of Asparagus

~ suggested by my friend Amber! ~

Servings: 12

* 1 1/4 sticks butter plus 1 1/2 tbsp butter
* 1/2 cup flour
* 12 1/2 cups stock (Amber says: I use chicken, but you can use vegetable stock or any stock that is light colored & clear)
* 1 cup asparagus
* 3/4 cup onion, diced
* 3 cups hot milk
* salt to taste
* white pepper to taste
* heavy cream to garnish (optional)
* asparagus tips to garnish (optional)

1. Heat 1 1/4 sticks of butter on low until thoroughly melted. Stir in flour. You will see a light golden color. Now you have a blonde roux.

2. Allow to cool slightly.

3. Whisk the mixture into warmed stock.

4. Sweat onion & asparagus in 1 1/2 tbsp of butter, then add to stock. Simmer until soft & tender.

5. Puree vegetables & pass through a cheesecloth or foodmill & add back to stock. (Amber says: This is the annoying part of the recipe. You get all of the flavor but lose the stringy quality of the asparagus. If you own a foodmill, that may be easier than using cheesecloth.)

6. Add hot milk until you reach the desired consistency. Temperature of the milk is important because cold milk does not reach very well when suddenly added to a warm mixture, so mix similar-temperature liquids together. Heat soup again, but do not let it boil after adding milk.

7. Season to taste & serve.

Tortilla Soup

~ suggested by my friend Jen! ~

Prep Time: about 45 min
Servings: about 8

* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 cup corn kernels (frozen/canned), rinsed
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 cup white hominy, rinsed
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 4 oz can chopped green chile peppers
* 2 tsp chili powder
* 1 can black beans, rinsed, drained
* 1 tsp dried cumin
* ½ cup chopped cilantro
* 2 cans veggie broth
* 28 oz crushed/diced tomatoes

Optional ingredients (Jen says: I use about 2 tsp lime, a lot of cayenne):
* Lime juice
* Cayenne pepper or tobasco to heat it up
* Sugar- if it gets too sour from all the acid

Garnish options:
* Tortilla chips
* Sliced avocado (Jen says: my favorite)
* Monterey Jack cheese
* Chopped green onions

1. In a medium to large pot, heat olive oil over medium. Saute onion & garlic. Stir in chili powder, cumin, tomatoes, broth. Bring to boil & simmer 10 minutes.

2. Stir in corn, hominy, green chiles, black beans, cilantro. Simmer 10 minutes.

3. Serve with any of the garnishes above.