Soups for the Busy Woman

On a cold winter’s day, a bowl of warm soup is incredibly soothing to the body. Who can resist the tempting aroma’s wafting from a pot of steaming Tortilla Soup or creamy Asparagus Soup?
Soup can provide all the nourishment needed for one meal and leftovers only enhance the flavors.

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
4 corn tortillas
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes
4 cups of water
4 Tbl. chicken flavored seasoning
1 bunch fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
oil

Slice corn tortillas into thin strips (1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide). Heat oil in a frying pan until a small piece of tortilla, dropped into the oil, floats and bubbles around the edges. Add a few strips of tortillas to the oil and cook until golden brown and crisp. Don’t crowd the pan and down allow strips to get too brown. Drain tortillas on a paper towel. Repeat until all strips have been cooked. Heat 1 Tbl. of oil in a large soup pot. Add the chopped onions and minced garlic. Cook over medium heat onions until translucent. Add tomatoes to the onion mixture. Then, add water, chicken flavored seasoning and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Chop fresh cilantro and add it to the pot. Sal and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with a few strips of crispy tortillas and some more fresh cilantro.

Quick and Easy Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
2 cans diced tomatoes, any flavor
2 cans mixed vegetables
1 can whole kernel corn
8 cups of vegetable broth
3 Tbl. Bakon Seasoning (vegetarian bacon flavored seasoning found in health food stores)
sal and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a large pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Asparagus Soup

1 pound baby asparagus
3 Tbl. butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbl. four
2 cups vegetable stock, or water seasoned with vegetarian chicken flavored seasoning
1 Tbl. lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream, half and half, milk, or soymilk
salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse asparagus. Cut tips off of asparagus for garnish (about 1 1/2 inches). Chop remaining stems. Melt 2 Tbl. butter in large pan and saute onion until softened. Add asparagus and saute for another minute. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add stock and stir to remove any lumps in the flour. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, half cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Asparagus should be very tender. Remove from heat and cool. When soup is still warm, but no longer hot, ladle into a food processor and blend until smooth. This may take several batches. Return soup to pot, add cream and heat gently until heated through. In a small pan, add 1 Tbl. butter and saute asparagus tips until tender. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with asparagus tips.

Easy Mushroom Stew with Herbed Dumplings
Adapted from Didi Emmons’ Vegetarian Planet recipe for Wild Mushroom Stew with Herbed Dumplings, p. 319

1 lb. mushrooms
12 cups water
12 tsp. vegetarian beef flavored seasoning
1 tsp. dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
oil
herbed dumplings (recipe below) 

Saute mushrooms in a small amount of oil until tender. Add water, vegetarian beef seasoning, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 10 minutes. Meanwhile make dumplings. Drop herbed dumplings into broth and cook for 10 minutes. Do not stir! Occassionally press dumplings into soup with the back of your spoon. Ladle soup into bowls and serve!

Herbed Dumplings

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp. dried thyme
3 Tbl. butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk or soymilk

Combine dry ingredients to a medium sized bowl. Add butter and use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the flour mixture until well incorporated. Add eggs and then milk. Stir until the mixture just comes together. Drop by spoonfuls into boiling broth. Cook for 10 minutes.