I was in mood for a mushroom soup with no grains, and so I came up with this recipe. To photograph it for a post, I put in a red china bowl. This prompted my daughter to eat it; she insisted on eating it in the red china bowl. You see, presentation does count!

Ingredients

• 8 oz. shiitake mushrooms
• 8 oz. baby bell mushrooms
• 1 leek
• 1 zucchini (or substitute other greens, such as bits of kale or collards)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. mirin (rice wine – or substitute 1 tsp. dry wine)
• 1 tsp. miso
• chopped scallions
• 1 tsp. sea salt

How to Make the Soup

Saute the chopped onion in a bit of olive oil. Slit the leek in half; wash out any particles inside the leek. Cut in half and put in with the onion. Chop the zucchini and put it in with the onion. Add chopped mushrooms. Cover with water and add at least 1 cup more water. Cook until all is tender. Add sea salt and wine. Add miso at the end. Sprinkle with scallions and serve.

Proof My Daughter Liked the Soup:

  

For more photos with red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

• More soup recipes

On My Blog

 
 

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Long ago, Jacob prepared some lentils for his brother Esau. “And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils” – Genesis 25:34. So here are some lentil recipes:

• Ilana-Davita: Lentil Stew
• Leora: Lentil Soup and Lentil Salad
• Mimi: Majadra: Lentils and Rice
• Cooking Manager: Lentils with Onions and Garlic
• Meg: Spiced Lentils with Squash and Raisins
• Christina: Stuffed Lentils

Soups on My Blog (pareve, vegan)

• Mushroom Barley Soup
• Shiitake Mushroom Soup
• Turmeric Soup
• Farmer’s Market Soup
• Lentil Soup
• Minestrone Soup

Soups from Some of My Favorite Bloggers

• Ilana-Davita: Hearty Soup
• Ilana-Davita: Hokkaido Pumpkin Soup
• Imabima: Squash Mushroom Soup (I suggest using olive oil instead of margarine, for health reasons)
• Mimi: Vegetable Stock (pareve) and Potato Leek (dairy)
• Mrs. S.: Potato Soup
• Shimshonit: Split Pea Soup
• Batya: Easy, One-Pot Vegetable Soup
• Abbi: Cauliflower and Mushroom Bisque
• Rivster: Pea, Leek and Broccoli Soup

Macrobiotic Soups

• Meg: Simple Cannellini Bean Soup
• Meg: Miso Soup
• Carol: Creamy Beet Soup
• Carol: Minestrone Soup

Fish and Poultry Soups

In this fish and chicken soup category are my children’s favorite, my chicken soup, and my own favorite, Mimi’s Fish Soup:

• Mimi: Fish Soup for Winter Dinners
• Mimi: Turkey Stock
• Leora: Chicken Soup

I believe soup is one of the healthiest foods one can eat. And it is yummy, too!

As Lewis Carroll wrote:

Beautiful Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

Beau–ootiful Soo-oop! Beau–ootiful Soo-oop! Soo–oop of the e–e–evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!

Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?

Beau–ootiful Soo-oop! Beau–ootiful Soo-oop! Soo–oop of the e–e–evening,
Beautiful, beauti–FUL SOUP!

– Lewis Carroll

According to this article, that poem was a parody of a poem called “Star of the Evening.” More of Lewis Carroll’s funny poetry on this page.

Ah, autumn. A wonderful time to review one’s soup recipes.

I originally learned how to make mushroom barley soup from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook. Here is my current one-pot recipe, which I prepare now by heart without consulting Mollie:

Ingredients

• Mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 1/2 cup barley
• Flavoring: I use a tsp. of miso. You can also use soy sauce and/or 1 tsp. of red wine.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Water
• Olive oil to cover bottom of pan

Many optional ingredients:

• Root vegetables: chopped carrots, parsnip, and/or turnip
• Garlic clove
• Chopped celery
• Chopped ginger root
• Green leafy vegetables: chopped kale or collards
• Herbs, fresh or dry: dill, oregano, thyme
• Shiitake mushrooms: make the soup all the more healthful and flavorful by using shiitake mushrooms

Preparing the Soup

Saute the chopped onion in a bit of olive oil at the bottom of a large pot. When the onion turns translucent, add the barley. Add more than enough water to cover the barley – about one inch higher in the pot. Cook for about 1/2 hour until the barley is almost tender. Add pepper and salt to taste. Add optional ingredients of carrots, other root vegetables, garlic and celery; add the mushrooms. Pour in one cup more of water. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Add optional kale, dill, other herbs and/or other fast cooking greens. Add soy sauce or miso to give the soup taste. Serve warm.

Coming soon (next week?): a list of soup recipes from around the blogosphere. Also, some suggested soup ingredients. If you have a favorite soup recipe that is on a blog, feel free to leave the link in the comments (thanks to Mrs. S., who last week did just that).

I got this recipe for crunchy quinoa salad from Klara. In my own style, I changed it a bit. You can do the same when you try it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1.5 cups water (I used leftover broccoli broth)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• handful of shredded kale
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 2 chopped scallions or 1 small sweet onion (I used a chopped sweet onion)
• 1/4 cup mekabu
  (tiny wakame – use whatever seaweed you have available – Klara’s recipe used arame; you probably need to soak it first)

Dressing, optional:

• A few tsps. tamari
• A few tsps. mirin (rice wine – Eden makes one with an O-K – a specialty product that is DE-licious)
• 1/4 tahini (I didn’t use – I don’t like tahini, but maybe you do)

Soak the nuts earlier in the day. Rinse the quinoa, cook it in water or broth, add a bit of salt. Shred the carrots and put them on top of the almost cooked quinoa. Ground up the nuts. Put shredded kale and all other ingredients on top and cook a bit more until the kale is soft.

May be served served warm or at room temperature.

My daughter asked, how come you haven’t made this since last year? Because I finally have enough basil to make a pesto! She had no idea that some dishes are seasonal.

Ingredients:

• 40 – 50 leaves of fresh basil
• 1/3 cup of olive oil, cold pressed extra virgin
• 1/3 cup of walnuts (or whatever nuts you choose)
• 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• 1 box of rotini noodles
  (or substitute steamed cauliflower if you are on a low or no carb diet or gluten-free diet)

Boil water for the pasta. When the pasta is almost done, put the nuts, olive oil, basil leaves and salt in the food processor. Blend it all until you have a thick, green paste. You can taste it, if you want to be careful about the amount of salt (or just because it is absolutely yummy!). Drain the water from the pasta, put the pasta in serving bowl, and mix in the basil pesto paste. You can either eat this right away or refrigerate it and serve cold the next day.

Optional: the traditional way to make pesto is with parmesan cheese, so you can also had 1/3 cup grated parmesan to your pesto. In addition to experimenting with different nuts, pesto can also be made from sage or parsley. If you have any variations you want to share, please do so.

This is one of my favorite summer treats. It has two healthy fats, olive oil and walnuts. Contrary to popular belief, studies showed almond eaters lost weight instead of gaining.