Vegetarian Hamburger Soup

I eneded up going for a light lunch with my parents yesterday. (By light, I mean I had a small plate of fries) My mom had a bowl of ukranian hamburger soup. It looked and smelled amazing! As a kid I used to hate hamburger soup. I am not entirely sure why, because it wasn’t as if I didn’t like any of the ingredients. As I grew up it became one of my favorites. After my mom told me how yummy it was (and offered me a taste, which I politely declined) I started thinking: Can you make a vegetarian version of hamburger soup? I decided I was going to try.

You will Need:

1 tsp minced garlic

2 medium carrots, sliced

1 small onion, diced small

2 stalks of celery, chopped small

1/4 of a bag of mixed frozen vegetables (mine included peas, carrots, corn, green beans and lima beans)

1 package of Ground Round. I used regular flavor, but you can use whatever flavor you think is yummy

A good 2 tbsp of chili powder. I just used the regular chili powder, since some of the powders out there can be a bit spicy

About 1 tbsp poultry seasoning

3 rounded tsp of Knorr Vegetable Broth mix

1 small can of diced tomatoes, drained

I also added a small bit of napa cabbage. Cabbage gets sweeter the longer it cooks, so it made a nice addition to the soup.

What you Do:

In a large pot sweat your garlic, celery, carrots and onion over medium heat with a bit of oil. Once the veggies are starting to get soft, add the frozen mixed veggies and continue to saute for another 5 minutes. Add the chili powder and poultry spice.

To make the broth I just added the vegetable broth powder into my pot and filled the pot 3/4 of the way full with water.

Add your veggie Ground Round and bring to a slow simmer over medium-low heat.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and if necessary add some more chili powder and poultry spice.

I also like to add either a handful of rice or barley to the soup towards the end. (By a handful I mean 1 or 2 palmfuls. Not enough to make it glompy, but enough to add some texture) If you choose to do this,  if you are adding just plain instant white rice, just add to the soup and heat until the rice is cooked. If it’s brown or wild rice you may want to cook it seperately and then add it, as sometimes it can color the broth and ends up looking not so tasty. Barley can also be boiled in with the soup, but if you are hesitant you can also cook this seperate and add at the end.

I am a firm believer that a good bowl of soup like this should be served on a cold night with a nice warm woodstove blowing, and some really yummy crusty bread for dipping. I am so glad that fall is just around the corner!

Summer bbq’s!

I am considering having a bbq in the next few weeks. My husband recently got a management promotion, it’s his birthday in September (can you believe September is almost here?) and it’s starting to get cool enough where I can go outside without dying from heat exhaustion.

I’ve emailed a few people, I’ve sent a few messages out via Facebook, and the answer I get from everyone is pretty much the same……’Thanks for the invite! I don’t eat tofu….should I bring my own burger?’ I think this is hysterical. Just because I am not eating meat does not mean I will force tofu laden dishes upon my guests.

There is a big difference between enticing people to try something new, and ramming your opinions down thier throat. I have always been experimental with food. I will try anything once. I used to work in a restaraunt where my boss would randomly give me different things to try. If I liked it, he would tell me what it was. If I didn’t like it he wouldn’t tell me, because I probably wouldn’t want to know what it was.  I have tried rabbit, venison, squab, and have loved them all. I was not a fan of boar (too gamey) or panna cotta (didn’t like the texture) but would gladly try them again if they were prepared differently.  I sometimes forget that others are not quite as adventurous as I am.

Recently I went to Vancouver and tried agedashi tofu. It is fantastic. It’s deep fried tofu (firm!) and it’s served in a light soy sauce with a few dashi flakes sprinkled in. It’s wonderful. I love it and have developed quite an addiction to it. The other week I went for sushi with 2 friends in Victoria and ordered this. They were both quite intrigued by it and asked if they could try a piece. That bowl didn’t see the light of day after. It was really neat that rather than hearing ‘Oh, I don’t eat tofu’ they actually tried a piece before making thier decision. I have heard so many people say that they won’t eat this or they won’t eat that. I really enjoy the ones who insist they won’t eat tofu. That’s like saying you wont’ eat cake mix. It’s nothing until you actually DO something with it. Tofu is the same. I will be the first to admit that I have no desire to crack open a pack of plan tofu fresh from the fridge and dive in with a spoon. Yuck. I will however, marinate the crap out of it with ginger, garlic, soya sauce, honey, lime zest and juice, maybe throw in a thai chili pepper for some heat and bake it, using the marinade to baste it with. Serve that with rice and a green salad or vegetarian spring roll and you have one hell of a meal.

Back to my terrified bbq guests…..the temptation to tell them that yes, I will be serving all plant based food, and to prepare themselves for the tofu feast is huge. Just to see the look on thier faces. However, I am sure they would never come to my house again. Instead I will make the normal bbq fare for everyone else. Burgers, pork skewers, hotdogs, the normal stuff. No tofu for anyone who doesn’t want it. Also, I have promised not to lecture about how they are eating what used to be a living creature. I will not moo, oink or make any other animal noises during dinner. However I will have a decent selection of non-meat dishes. Anyone brave enough to try a bite might be pleasantly surprised……