Delicious homemade soup - allergen free!

I found this recipe in a magazine from the health food store.  The total time to make this soup is nearly an hour... but it's worth it.  A very healthy and delicious soup the entire family can enjoy.  

Jasmine Rice Soup with Cannellini and Rosemary
http://deliciousliving.com/recipes/jasmine-rice-soup-cannellini-and-rosemary

A few notes on this recipe.  I omit the olive oil and cook the onions in a thin layer of water (a fat free cooking tip!)   The half teaspoon of red pepper flakes called for gives the soup a bit of heat.  If your little ones are sensitive to this, you might want to omit or just use a quarter teaspoon.

Great Northern Beans make an excellent substitution for the Cannellini beans if you find those in your pantry instead.

I like to make a loaf of homemade bread while the soup is cooking and serve it with the soup for dinner.

Frugal and tasty vegan slow cooker soup

Our lives are very hectic so I'm always happy when I find a slow cooker recipe that the entire family enjoys. I love being able to make dinner when I have time early in the day, stick it in the slow cooker, and come home at dinnertime to a hot, homemade dinner!

Lentil & Black Bean Soup
http://penniesandpancakes.blogspot.com/2013/03/slow-cooker-lentil-black-bean-soup-023.html
I love that this recipe uses ingredients I almost always have on hand at home, the prep is simple & straightforward, and the cost per serving is approx. 25 cents!

You can see from the Nutrition Facts here that is a very low calorie &  high protein meal.

I adapted the original recipe just a bit...


INGREDIENTS
8oz (1/2 of a 1 lb. bag) dry lentils
1 can black beans
1 medium onions (finely diced)
2 large carrots (finely chopped)
1 (15 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. cumin
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
5 cups HOT water

3/4 Tbsp salt (to taste)*
1/2 tsp. black pepper (to taste)*

*Added at the end of cooking

DIRECTIONS
Rinse lentils and black beans. Discard any small pebbles or bad beans. Put them in the slow cooker. Add the diced onions, chopped carrots, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, chili powder, parsley, and HOT water to the slow cooker.

Cover, and cook on HIGH for 4 hours. No peeking, no stirring.

Remove the lid, and add the salt and pepper to taste. Scoop out  3-4 cups of the soup into a blender and puree and then pour it back into the slow cooker and stir.  This soup is very thick ... almost like chili, and tastes great by itself, over rice, served with tortilla chips, or with cornbread.

Store in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer for 4 months.

Is it soup or stew?

This recipe is called soup, but my boys argued it should be called stew because it's so thick.    Either way, the entire family enjoyed this one and it's pretty easy to make from the pantry.    I would suggest going really easy on the Chipotle chili powder and skipping the hot sauce when making it for the 1st time for the family... or until you figure out how much heat they can handle.

Smoky Refried Bean Soup
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/03/smoky-refried-bean-soup.html
I make a few substitutions - I use a drained can of corn instead of the frozen corn and whatever pepper I have on hand (yesterday it was red pepper).
We enjoy ours with tortilla chips crumbled on top.

Black Bean Soup

I have found a couple of great tasting black bean soup recipes from the forksoverknives.com site. 

Mexican Black Bean and Corn Soup
I've used regular tomatoes and salt and bottled lime juice and it turns out great.
http://www.forksoverknives.com/mexican-black-bean-corn-soup/

Black Bean and Salsa Soup
This recipe is so quick, simple, & delicious!
Be sure to use a good quality salsa.   I omit the extra hot sauce as the salsa I use is spicy enough.  I have been using canned no salt added corn (drained) for convenience.
http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/salsa-soup/

Mexican Chowder
Finally, this one isn't a traditional black bean soup... but rather a Mexican chowder, but also really tasty.   Again, for convenience, I use bottled lime juice. 
http://www.forksoverknives.com/mexican-chowder/

Vegan style comfort food

Chickpea Noodle Soup
http://www.forksoverknives.com/chickpea-noodle-soup/

This soup is pretty easy to make once you have the ingredients on hand.  I had the hardest time finding the miso (check the ethnic foods or Japanese section of your grocery store).   I also don't have tamari on hand, but after a little research discovered that it's close to soy sauce, so I use that instead.  The soup is yummy and one everyone enjoys.

Everyone loves chili mac!

Hearty Chili Mac
https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/plant-based-diets/recipes/hearty-chili-mac
This recipe is super simple to make and I usually have all the ingredients already on hand.
I've served it with success to guests as well.
To make life simple, sometimes I cook the onion & garlic on the stove top and then dump everything in the crock-pot, mix, and then cook on low for a few hours.  

Delicious and simple soup

Provencal Red Lentil Soup
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/pressure/provencal.htm

I had a bunch of leeks and a lot of carrots from our CSA sitting in my vegetable drawer.  I'm so glad I found this recipe.  It was easy to make and tasted delicious (even my pickiest eater loved it!) 

Right before finishing, I scooped out a few cups of the soup (tried not to get too many carrots in there) and pureed it in the blender and then added it back into the pot.  I recommend this step!