Happy Monday my friends! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. It has been perfectly gorgeous here in Atlanta these last few days, so I've been spending plenty of time outside when I can. Though after the boyfriend picking up my market goodies Saturday morning while I was at work, I did have to buckle down and stay indoors for my Sunday cooking spree. It is blasphemy to let any of this goodness go to waste!
I know I say it every season, but I really do love what comes around this time of year. This week I got the first of the fennel for the season, along with some of the last of the bell peppers. Fresh celery is one I love finding at the market, as well, since it is another one that has so much more flavor than what you find at the grocery store. I also got plenty of leafy greens, more of my beloved kohlrabi, radishes and a number of other goodies. With all of my bounty ready to go in the refrigerator when I got home I opted for a soup to put much of it to use in one nourishing bowl.
I make soup all the time, and like a lot of cooks, it is slightly different just about every time. I probably have something similar I've posted before, but it is always fun to note each variation because someone may really like one versus another. Plus I do enjoy marking my foodie journey and looking back year to year to see what I gravitate to making each season. Fennel is an item I never used to use until we started trying to sub out something for onions when cooking for my allium-sensitive sister. Now it is common for me to make dishes with no garlic or onions, even though I love them both, as I know plenty of others who can't tolerate them and need flavorful substitutions.
I often get my fennel from my farmer Lynn (Straight from the Backyard Farm). Hers has the most luscious fronds! If I can't use all of the fronds and stalks right away, I have started keeping them to add flavor to my homemade vegetable stock. I just roughly chop up what I can't use and toss it in a bag in the freezer until it is time to make the stock. I'm all out of homemade stock at the moment, so it is time to check to see if I have enough scraps in the freezer to make some. It is prime soup season ahead, after all.
I also used my Wonderbag again for this meal as I do so enjoy the simplicity of it for slow cooking a one-pot dish. It is so easy to start the soup on the stove top then transfer it over to the insulated bag and just let it get happy for the rest of the day. I am happy to keep doing my part to promote such a wonderful company, as well! The more recipes out there for them, the more likely people are to buy them. That also means more bags go to women who really need them. Of course you can also easily make this completely on the stove top, just bring down to a simmer and cook until the rice is done and the vegetables are tender.
Slow Cooked Vegetable & Tofu Soup
Makes about 8 servings
- 1 fennel bulb & stalks, chopped with fronds (herb-y part attached to the stalks) reserved for serving
- 2-3 large celery stalks (I added the greens right along with the stalks), chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 3-4 small colorful bell peppers or 2 large, seeded & chopped
- 1 small hot pepper, seeded & minced (optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground celery seed
- 1 (15-ounce) package firm tofu, drained & cubed
- 1/2 cup brown rice (or sub other whole grain of choice)
- 10 cups water or low-sodium vegetable stock
- 1 bunch fresh arugula, roughly chopped
- Juice of one lemon, plus more for serving
- Salt to taste
Heat a large stock pot over medium heat on the stove top. Add in the fennel and celery. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, then add the bell and hot peppers. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the vegetables start to soften. Add in a tablespoon or two of water as needed to prevent sticking.
Add in the fresh ginger and ground spices. Cook for a minute to bloom the spices, then add in the tofu, rice and liquid. Increase the heat to bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for at least 5 minutes to ensure the contents are heated through. Remove from heat and place in the Wonderbag. Close tightly and let sit for at least 4 hours, or up to 6-8 hours to let all of the ingredients cook through and the flavors to meld together. (For more of my Wonderbag tips check out my latest Chili Recipe)
Remove from the bag and mix in the arugula (or other leafy green of choice), lemon juice, salt and the reserved fennel fronds. Taste and adjust seasoning as you like. A fresh squeeze of lemon on leftovers brings the flavor right back out!
Another simple meal, yet loaded with so many nourishing ingredients to help keep up your immunity as we go into the cold and flu season ahead. Especially with the "C" word still looming, taking care of our health through proper nutrition is even more important now than ever. Loading up with all the seasonal fruits and vegetables you can, along with the immunity-boosting duo of ginger and turmeric never hurts. Plus it tastes oh so good "eating your medicine". ;)
Also, congrats to the team at the newly rebranded @exxp for just releasing the updated Wordpress Plugin to share my blog straight to the Hive blockchain. This will be my first post testing it out, but I'm sure it will be even more awesome than the original (@steempress)! New to Hive? Sign up for a free account through exxp.io with my referral link.
Join The Best Natural Health Community on Hive Posted from my blog with Exxp : [https://plantstoplanks.com/slow-cooked-vegetable-tofu-soup-another-vegan-wonderbag-meal/]
Yellow, Plants! It's like hello but Southern.
I've never been a fan of tofu but i doubt I'd leave anything on the table at your place--yum to the E.
You gotta see these cutting boards I had commissioned for Pura. 🤫 They haven't arrived yet! It's a pair, one size for sandwiches and a large one for everything else.
Well Yellow right back! It is one of my favorite colors after all. Well, I pretty much like all colors, but yellow's a good happy one.
Speaking of happy, I know someone who is going to be super happy when those arrive. Straight up pieces of art right there! As I'm sure the meals she makes using them will be, as well.
How goes things up there? Hope the settling in continues and that you guys are getting out and enjoying some nice Fall weather there, too!
This looks and sounds delicious. Will be trying at the weekend! Hooray for autumn, soups are back
I hope you enjoy it! Soup season is the BEST season! Actually made chili yesterday, too, so I'm in warming bowl heaven right now, haha.
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Thanks for the support team!
Lemon is SUCH a good addition - it really does bring out the flavour and it's a simple trick that not many people know about! When poeple say 'what on earth do you do with so many lemons', I say 'um, squeeze them on EVERYTHING!'.
As you know I'm a huge fan of fennel - I braised some with white beans the other day (and lemon juice) with some garlic tops. Does your friend find garlic tops or green spring onions just as bad? I know Jamie can't eat garlic or onions, but he's fine with the green tops of any allium (including leek) which is a real relief!
Soup is such a good way to get all that nutrition in one bowl - plus, I'm lazy sometimes with cooking so love the 'chop chop chop saute simmer' kinda action that doesn't involve too many complicated steps!
Oh my gosh I remember that being such a revelation when I put lemon in a soup for the first time! Well, as you said, on anything it provides such a pop of brightness that enhances the whole dish. We have some lemon plants finally growing in a few pots from seeds we saved, so we're hoping they overwinter fine in the garage so we can finally get some fresh grown ones next year. :)
So kind of funny, I meant to put this post in the Nat Med community, but with the switch to the new plug-in to post from my blog to Hive I messed up my settings and tags. Thus the "allium-free" tag ended up most prominent and you can't change the first tag after posting. Big face palm moment there, but anyone like my sis and Jamie would appreciate it, haha. I'm not sure if she's tried the tops, but she can handle a wee bit of dried ground garlic or onion on occasion. At least we've found ways around it now when we have family meals together!
There's a reason why soup is comfort food. It's comforting to eat, but also doesn't break the energy bank to make it. Especially with the Wonderbag. I love this thing. 😜
Curated for #naturalmedicine by @justinparke.
This WonderBag soup is wonderful indeed. A lot of in-season and local produce makes this that extra bit special. Also, there is plenty of stuff in here to supercharge the immune system too.
Thanks @plantstoplanks.
Your post is featured in our latest #plantbased curation post, Sweet Potato Creations, WonderBag Soup, Chili Fit For Hipster Cowboys, Tempeh Fried Rice , And More!!.
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And it wasn't a snack this time! I actually shared a real meal. 😜 Thanks for popping by with the Nat Med love @justinparke!
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