Coconut Cream of Mushroom Soup

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Thick and full of umami notes, this recipe is incredibly quick and quite inexpensive to make.

Ingredients

2 small onions, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
650g brown mushrooms (I used chestnut and portobello), roughly chopped
10g dried mushrooms, ground fine in a blender or coffee grinder (optional)
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cups coconut milk
Fresh parsley, to garnish

Directions

1. In a large soup pan over a medium-low heat, cook the onions, garlic, and mushrooms until the mushrooms release their juices.
2. Add the mushroom powder, vegetable broth, soy sauce, and coconut milk, reserving a little of the coconut milk for garnish.
3. Cover, bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 7 minutes, or until the mushrooms are softened.
4. Garnish with the reserved coconut milk and parsley.

Celeriac and Chickpea Soup with Spinach-Miso Purée

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This extremely thick, yet very creamy, soup  makes for a filling and delicious lunch.

Ingredients:

For the soup

1 onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 celeriac, peeled and diced roughly
1 can chickpeas
300g white cabbage, chopped roughly
1 can coconut milk
500ml vegetable broth
Pinch white pepper
2 tsp onion salt
2 tsp dried basil

For the purée

50g spinach
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp soy (or other all-plant) milk
1 tbsp white or yellow miso

To garnish

Suitable-for-vegans crispy salad onions, if desired

Directions:

1. Sauté the onion in a large soup pan over a medium-low heat until it starts to soften, but don’t let it take on much colour. Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic for about a minute.
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the celeriac is tender.
3. Meanwhile, make the spinach purée by blending all ingredients in a high-speed blender.
4. Rinse the blender, blend the soup in it, return to the pan, and season to taste.
5. Serve the soup topped with some of the spinach-miso purée, and garnish with crispy onions, if desired.

Sri Lankan-style Romano Bean Curry

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This curry is moderately spicy (but can be easily adjusted) and very bright in flavour. It takes under 15 minutes to make and serves 2.

Romano beans are long, flat green beans, but you can substitute them for French green beans, sugar snap peas, mangetout, etc.

Ingredients

1/2 yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black onion seeds
6 curry leaves
400ml can coconut milk
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp garlic-ginger paste
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch red chilli flakes
2 tsp hot or medium curry powder
Pinch ground cardamom
1 tsp lemon juice
Pinch suitable-for-vegans sugar
400g Romano beans, topped, tailed, and sliced on the diagonal into 2cm lengths

Directions

  1. In a large, stainless steel pan over a medium-low heat, sauté the onions until starting to soften. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Add the mustard seeds, black onion seeds, and curry powder. Cook until the seeds start to turn fragrant.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, covered for 8 minutes.
  4. Season with salt to taste. Serve with rice, if desired.

Creamy Red Curry Soup

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This soup couldn’t possibly be any silkier. The beautiful texture is down to the quantity of coconut milk in the recipe, and the flavours are lively and bright. This serves six.

Ingredients

1 onion, roughly diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cauliflower, in florets
2 x 400ml cans coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
2 tbsp soy sauce

Directions

1. In a large soup pot over a medium-low heat, sauté the onion until aromatic and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic cloves, and stir for 30 seconds.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Blend.
3. Season, taste, and serve.

Pear, Pea, and Parsnip Soup

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Summery, refreshing, sweet, and delicate: a perfect soup for a hot day, and very easy to make.

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
3 pears, unpelled and diced
250g peas, fresh or frozen
1 litre vegetable stock
Salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Sauté the onions over a medium high heat until just starting to colour.
2. Add the parsnips, pears, peas, and stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until the parsnips are soft.
3. Blend, season, and serve.

Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew

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Another easy and cheap recipe. Serve topped, if desired, with some roasted asparagus and croutons. Serves two.

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 red bell pepper or sweet pointed pepper, small dice
1 can (400g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp sweet paprika or smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
200g baby spinach
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. In a non-stick or stainless steel pan over a very low heat, sweat the garlic, adding a couple of drops of water if needed, until fragrant but not coloured.
2. Add the red pepper, chickpeas, vinegar, tomatoes, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne and stir for about 30 seconds.
3. Raise the heat to medium low and add the broth. Stir, and then add handfuls of spinach to wilt.
4. Season, and serve.

Cannellini Bean and Red Cabbage Stew

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A simple, budget recipe, bursting with colour, and oil-free, this stew is bound to please. Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 leek, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
250g red cabbage, finely shredded
2 cans tomatoes (400g each)
1 l vegetable stock
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika
200g cooked cannellini beans
To garnish, soured tofu

Directions
1. Sweat the leek, garlic, carrots, and celery in a large stock pot over the lowest heat possible for 10 minutes. If they start to stick, add a splash of water.
2. Add the red cabbage, tomatoes, vegetable stock, lemon juice (which serves the function of preventing the cabbage from losing its colour) and paprikas to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the carrots are fork tender.
3. Add the beans, and warm through.
4. Serve garnished with some soured tofu, if desired.

Creamy Butternut, Cauliflower, and Lentil Soup

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This is an easy budget soup, making four main-meal-sized portions. Don’t let the inclusion of the notoriously difficult to peel squash put you off; there are two options below to make your job much, much easier. As always, use this recipe as a roadmap: try it with the addition of coconut milk and either Thai or Indian spices; add a can of tomato sauce and some Italian herbs. A good base soup can be varied in so many different ways.

Ingredients:

1 red onion, medium dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 butternut squash
200g split red lentils
1 small cauliflower, in florets (approx. 500g)
1.5 litres vegetable stock
Pinch chilli flakes
1 tbsp fresh sage leaves, minced (or 1 tsp, dried, rubbed between fingers)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 heaped tbsp yellow miso

Directions:
1. Carefully make several slits in skin of the squash with a small sharp knife, and microwave for about 3-5 minutes to loosen the peel from the flesh slightly. Alternatively, slit and then boil the squash whole in a large stock pot for about 5 minutes, until softened. Wait until it’s cool enough to handle, and then peel, deseed, and chop into bite-sized dice.
2. In a stock pot over a very low heat, sweat the onion and garlic, stirring frequently until softened, about 5 minutes. Don’t allow them to take on any colour; if they start to stick, the heat is too high. Lower it, and add a little broth to loosen.
3. Add the cauliflower, stock, butternut squash, chilli flakes, and sage leaves. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4. While the soup is cooking, rinse and drain the lentils, picking them over to ensure there are no small stones or pieces of grit among them. Add them to a saucepan with about 400g water, bring to the boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until softened. Drain and rinse.
5. Add the lentils back to the pot with the butternut squash (cooking them separately ensures that the lentils don’t add any foam to your soup), and mix well to combine. Spoon between a third and half of the soup into a blender jug with the miso paste and blend until creamy. Alternatively, remove the same quantity of soup and use an immersion blender to blend it to smooth.
6. Stir the blended soup back to the pot, warm, and serve in warmed bowls with some parsley, additional chilli flakes, and nutritional yeast if desired.

Speedy Chana Saag

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Perfect for novice cooks, this meal is warming, nutritious, and ready in just a matter of minutes. If you wish, you can cook the tomato sauce for longer to reduce it, but it’s delicious as it is.

Ingredients
1 cup vegetable broth
3 cups baby spinach
400g can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 cup suitable-for-vegans tomato sauce
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp onion granules
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp curry powder (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp turmeric
Pinch ground ginger

Directions
1. Place all ingredients into a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Heat over a low heat, stirring frequently, until spinach is wilted and curry is heated through.
3. Season to taste with salt, lime juice, and extra spices if desired.

Sweet Spinach, Pea, and Basil Smoothie Bowl

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A deliciously healthy smoothie bowl made with ingredients that you can find in your local supermarket. Don’t worry; this doesn’t taste like vegetable soup: the flavours of the fruits are dominant.

Ingredients:

For juicing

1/4 cucumber
1 slice pineapple
1 apple
1 kiwi fruit

For blending

2 frozen bananas
Large handful spinach
Large handful frozen peas
Handful oats
15-20 basil leaves

For decorating (suggestion)

Fresh, dried, or frozen fruit
Nuts and seeds
Coconut flakes
Suitable for vegan muesli or granola

Directions:
1. Juice the pineapple, cucumber, apple, and kiwi.
2. Add to the blender with the bananas, spinach, oats, peas and basil. If the mixture is too thin, add more oats or frozen peas. If too thick to blend, add a little more liquid (all-plant milk would be suitable).
3. Pour into a bowl (or two, depending on desired serving size), and serve decorated according to taste.