Our sweet neighbor, Kay, brought over a stack of food containers the other night while heathen son and I were home alone. She had a container of Kung Pao tofu that heathen son scarfed right up. There was some other container of something she declared way too spicy for her and Bill - also scarfed up immediately. And then, there was the most delectable, wonderful soup which I got to scarf up!
It was light-colored, creamy soup with all kinds of veggies and spices floating around. It was amazing. I hounded her for the recipe, which she gladly shared. Then I asked her if she'd actually FOLLOWED the recipe (because Lord knows I never do!) and found that she had made a few tweaks, which I then incorporated into my version of the recipe. Then, of course, I made a few more alterations. LOL.
You start by toasting a cup of millet in a large soup pan sprayed with non-stick spray. I had personally never cooked with or even eaten millet but it was easy to find at Whole Foods. Millet is a kind of seed grass that's popular in Asia and Africa - probably because it grows well in hot, dry climates. It's kind of similar to quinoa.
Toast the millet, stirring occasionally, until it turns golden and starts to pop. Then add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. The millet will absorb most of the water.
While the millet is simmering, put a couple tablespoons veggie broth in a large skillet and add one medium diced onion, one medium diced bell pepper (the recipe called for green but I had red and yellow so I used half of each to give more color), 3 sliced stalks of celery, 1 medium grated carrot and two minced cloves of garlic. Saute these until the onions are translucent. Add more veggie broth if they start to stick. It was so pretty - before I stirred them together and afterward! Turn off the heat when done and add 1/2 teaspoon each of basil, thyme and celery seed.
While the veggies are sauteing, steam one medium head of cauliflower. I did this in the microwave but do it however you prefer. You want the cauliflower to be pretty soft for the soup.
Next, you'll need your blender to make the creamy base. Add 2 tablespoons white miso (if you use brown your soup will be tan instead of cream colored), 3/4 cup of raw cashews (don't use roasted), 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast and one cup of water. Blend all of this together until smooth. Hooray for the Vitamix but I think it would work in any blender.
Once the 20 minutes is up for the millet, you should have everything else ready to go. Pour the sauteed veggies into the soup pot with the millet, add 6 cups of veggie broth and the cashew sauce. Stir together well and simmer for 10-20 minutes to blend all the flavors.
I'm serving this tonight with some good, crusty wheat bread. Can't wait! :)
Here's it is in recipe form:
Millet Cauliflower Soup
1 cup millet
1 ½ cups water
3 stalks celery
1 green pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups vegetable broth
1 medium head cauliflower, very coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon each basil, thyme, celery seed
2 tablespoons white miso
¾ cup raw cashews
1 cup water
½ cup nutritional yeast
Salt to taste (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead of salt)
Toast millet in soup pot that’s been lightly sprayed with non-stick spray until golden brown and beginning to pop. Remove from heat. Add ½ cups water, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
In a medium skillet, sauté celery, green pepper, onion, garlic and carrot until onion is translucent.
To millet pot add 6 cups of water (for thick soup), cauliflower, bay leaf, sautéed mixture, soup base, herbs and celery seed, stirring occasionally so millet doesn’t stick. Simmer for 20 minutes.
In a blender, process miso, cashews, 1 cup water and yeast. Add to soup and simmer for 10-20 minutes. Taste for salt and add water to adjust consistency to your liking.
- Posted by Jennifer
Location:Home, sweet home
No comments:
Post a Comment