Basil Tomato Bisque
This Basil Tomato Soup is easy to make, nutritious and so delicious! Fresh basil and sweet potato is key to making this soup rich and flavorful without adding any cream or oil. I prefer to use the Bionaturae bottle tomatoes not only because they taste amazing but because they are in glass so you are don’t getting the potential heavy metal exposure from the can. I can find these at my local health food store. See note below for alternative.
You can find a quick video of this soup on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube @health4lifecooking.
1 cup water
1 28 oz. can tomatoes (or 24 oz bottle “Bionaturae)*
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato (“Jewel” yam)
1 T honey or maple syrup (optional for more sweet)**
1 cup fresh basil
Blend tomato with water, garlic and onion until smooth. Add sweet potato and blend till creamy. Add basil and briefly chop. Transfer to a sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat until steamy. Simmer 10 minutes. Add more chopped fresh basil if desired. Thin with more water if needed. Salt and pepper to taste.
*I use the 24 oz bottle of Bionaturae pureed tomatoes and they have a richness that canned tomatoes don’t. If using canned tomatoes, I recommend adding a spoonful or two of tomato paste to increase the rich tomato flavor.
**If your sweet potatoes are in season (I find the stores don’t start selling the new crop of sweet potatoes until around January) and super sweet, you wont need to add the honey or maple syrup.
Vegan Potato and Kale Soup
This Vegan Potato and Kale Soup is simple, nourishing, and delicious. It’s pretty heavy on greens so If you are not used to that much green, you can cut back or use a softer more mild green like spinach. Feel free to add more herbs like bay leaf, thyme, marjoram etc.
8 – 10 oz. cauliflower
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups water
1 1/4 cups white potato, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 t dried rosemary
1 bunch kale, chopped
Juice from 1/2 lemon or 1 T apple cider vinegar
Steam cauliflower in a small amount of water until tender. Blend smooth with 1/4 cup of rolled oats adding a little water if needed to blend. Set aside.
Sauté onion until it starts to brown. Add garlic and cook for 1 minutes. Add water, potato, rosemary and kale. Cook until potato and kale are tender.
Add blended cauliflower and lemon juice or vinegar. Salt to taste.
White Bean Potato Soup w/ Broccoli
This White Bean and Potato Soup is made with simple ingredients and very simple to make. It has incredible flavor and a light creamy texture and is perfect for a cool spring evening meal.
This recipe is slightly revised from my book Whole Food Goodness.
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 small Yukon gold potatoes, cut in 1/4″ cubes
3 medium carrots, chopped
3 cups chopped broccoli
3 cups cooked white beans (navy or great northern)
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (optional)
1 T Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Salt to taste
Saute’ chopped onion in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until it starts to brown. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add 4 cups water, potato, carrots, and broccoli and cook until vegetables are tender. Blend 1 1/2 cups beans with sunflower seeds, 2 cups water, Mrs. Dash seasoning and 1 cup cooked vegetables from soup until smooth. Add chopped parsley to cooked vegetables and cook for 1 minutes. Stir blender contents into soup. Add more water to thin if needed. Salt to taste.
Wheat Berry Chili
They wont miss the meat in this chili with it’s chewy texture from the sprouted wheat berries, not to mention the delicious flavor. It you can’t eat gluten or don’t want to take the time to sprout, use quinoa, rice, or other non-glutenous grain. You could use the wheat without sprouting but it would take much longer to cook. This chili is cozy and warming on a cold winter night!
This recipe is from my cookbook Whole Food Goodness.
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 medium sweet potato, cubed 1/4 inch
4 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 – 6 oz can tomato paste
¼ – ½ cup diced green chilies
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 ½ cups cooked sprouted wheat berries* (or rice, quinoa or other grain of choice)
1 ½ cups red kidney beans
1 cup mashed pinto beans
½ cups fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion over medium-high heat until it starts to brown. Add garlic and saute 1 minute. Add 6 cups water, sweet potato and broccoli. Cook 10 minutes then add mushrooms. Cook until potato is tender. Add remaining ingredients and cook 5 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
*To prepare wheat berries, soak 1 cup in water for 8 hours. Drain and leave to sprout for a day or two, rinsing twice a day. In a small sauce pan, bring them to boil in 2 cups of water, reduce heat to low and cook for 40 minutes or until tender.
Use either or sprouting jar or just use a large strainer to rinse your wheat.
Cream of Broccoli Soup
6 – 8 cups water
2 heads of broccoli with stalks (enough for 4 cups chopped florets)
Florets from 1/2 head cauliflower
1 medium yellow sweet potato, baked (enough for about 1 cups mashed)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 t marjoram
Fresh group pepper as desired
Place 4 cups water in a sauce pan. Cut off stalks from broccoli, trim, slice and place in a sauce pan with 4 cups water. Add cauliflower florets. Cover and steam until tender.
Saute onion in a soup pot or large sauce pan over medium high heat until it starts to brown. Add a little water if needed to keep from sticking. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add celery, carrots, and chopped broccoli florets. Cook until tender.
When cauliflower and broccoli stems are tender, blend with sweet potato, including cook water from vegetables, until creamy. Pour into soup pot. Add more water if needed to thin. Stir in marjoram and pepper and heat through.
Cauliflower Soup w/ Rice
This is creamy, comforting, and so satisfying! This recipe has saved me on my year-long elimination diet.
1 yellow sweet potato yielding 1 cup cooked
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots, chopped
Florets from one medium head cauliflower
1 1/2 t marjoram
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper
Cooked brown rice or other grain*
Bake sweet potato in 350-degree oven until soft, about 2 hours. Higher temp is shorter time is needed.
Sauté onion in dry soup pot over medium-high heat until it starts to brown. Add garlic and sauté one more minute.
Add about 4 cups water and loosen browning off bottom of pan. Add celery, carrots, then lay cauliflower florets over the top so they can easily be scooped out. Bring to a boil then lower heat to medium, cover, and cook until cauliflower is tender.
Scoop out cooked cauliflower and place in a blender jar and blend until smooth. Add cooked sweet potato and blend. Stir in blender contents into soup pot along with marjoram and mix well. Heat for 5 minutes. Mix in cooked brown rice or other grain. Salt and pepper to taste.
*I love a combination of cooked quinoa and cook buckwheat. Boil 2 cups water, add 1 cup quinoa and ½ cup buckwheat. Lower heat to low, cover, and cook until tender, about 10 – 15 minutes.
Butternut and White Bean Stew
Recipe from Whole Food Goodness
1 medium butternut squash, divided (Enough for at least 4 cups cooked)
1 large yellow onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 T fresh ginger root, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 T curry powder
2 t cumin
1/4 tsp allspice
1 small bunch of kale, finely chopped
5 cups water, vegetable broth or bean broth
2 cups cooked white beans
1/4 cup cashews
Bake whole squash in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until tender. Cool, then peel and cut in cubes. Saute onion on medium high heat until it starts to brown. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno, and spices. Cook 2 – 3 minutes adding a little water if needed to keep from sticking. Add 3 cups water and kale. Cook until kale is tender. Add beans and all but 1 cup of squash to pot. Blend cashews, 1 cups water and reserved squash until creamy. Transfer into soup pot and heat through. Add water or broth to thin if needed and serve.
Chic Pea Vegetable Soup
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped red potato
1/2 pound kale or collard greens chopped
4 cups water or broth
1/2 cup quinoa
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 t dried thyme
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
2 1/2 cups cooked chic peas
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Sea salt
Saute’ onion in a dry soup pot over medium high heat until it starts to brown. Add garlic and saute’ an additional minute. Add 1/2 cup water to loosen the onion and brown that has stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add celery, carrots, potato, greens, quinoa, 2 – 3 cups of water just to cover the veggies. Stir in bay leaf and thyme. Cover and cook until quinoa and vegetables are tender. Add chic peas, mushrooms and parsley and cook an additional 5 minutes. Salt to taste.
Autumn Stew
1 butternut squash or other winter squash of choice (about 4 cups)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cups chopped mushrooms
2 or more cups chopped kale
3 cups water or veggie broth
1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1/2 of a 6 oz can tomato paste (or more)
1 T chili powder
2 t cumin powder
1 t onion powder
1/4 t black pepper
3 cups cooked kidney beans
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
Salt to taste
Place squash on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour. (There is no need to poke it with a knife or cut it. It’s much to dangerous to cut winter squash before they are cooked:-)Set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into cubes.
Sauté onion in a dry skillet on medium high heat until it starts to brown. Add garlic and sauté for a minute or two. Add 1 cup water, bell pepper, mushrooms, and kale. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and cook until kale is tender. Add tomatoes, seasoning, beans, corn, and squash and cook 5 – 10 minutes. Add more liquid if needed, salt to taste, adjust seasonings and serve.
African Yam Stew
1/2 cup black rice
1 onion, chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms
2 T fresh minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 4 oz can diced green chilis
1 small bunch of kale, finely chopped
2 pounds sweet potato, cut in 1/4 inch cubes
5 cups water or broth
1 T cumin powder
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground coriander
1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
3 cups cooked garbanzo beans
1/2 cup no salt natural peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Boil 1 cup water, add rice, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook until tender, 25 – 30 minutes.
Saute onion in a large soup pot until it starts to brown. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add green chilies, 2 cups water, kale and sweet potato.* Cook until kale and sweet potato are tender. Add spices, tomato products and beans. Cook until heated though. Stir in peanut butter (cashew butter can be substituted), cilantro and cooked rice.
*Since sweet potato takes longer to cook than kale, I like to cook it ahead of time and add it at the end of cooking. I often keep sweet potatoes on hand in the refrigerator to have for a snack. They are one of the highest nutrient foods and most economical.
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