post-holiday ‘turkey’ soup

It’s been over a month since my last post.  I kind of disappeared for a while, for both good and bad reasons. Life got busy, the days got shorter. Essentially, life happened.

I left on a bit of a bad note; my last post was slightly dreary, wasn’t it? Well, thankfully, I am feeling much better. I went on a lovely holiday to the Netherlands with a good friend of mine and we had a really nice time. A highlight was definitely going to Germany for a few days to soak up the amazing Christmas markets. We spent two nights in Cologne and made our way through five different markets. We drank mulled wine, skated, and ate roasted chestnuts. It was everything I ever dreamed a Christmas market should be.

We came home a day or two after our city had received its first major blanketing of snow. I listened to Christmas carols everyday, watched Christmas movies by the fireplace, and even decorated a couple gingerbread houses. Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. I like almost everything about Christmas: the snow, the family gatherings, the cheesy Christmas themed romance novels… the list goes on. The amazing food is another great thing about Christmas (duh!). However, it is also a time that being vegan can be a bit of a challenge.

Many of us, I am assuming, spend the holidays with our friends and/or family. Unfortunately, not everyone is vegan. Sometimes non-vegan food can be really tempting (no shame) and sometimes it can just be really depressing to see how so many of our traditions revolve around the suffering of others. I used to get into heated discussions with family members at the dinner table, but somehow I was always the one who got upset and left the table as everyone else continued to eat. I am really fortunate though; my immediate family is wonderful and incredibly understanding. At holiday dinners, my mother always made sure that there were multiple vegan options. Now that I am older and have a love for cooking, I often prepare the vegan options.

This morning my mother was preparing turkey soup with all the leftovers and the smell swept through the entire home.  Needless to say, the smell gave me a craving for a savoury vegan soup.  And so, I made this soup as a vegan (and gluten free) alternative to the traditional post-holiday meal turkey soup. The mushrooms replace the turkey, the fresh sage and thyme bring the traditional poultry flavours, and the nutritional yeast and splash of tamari add a savory depth. Hopefully this will satisfy any turkey soup craving you may have!

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post-holiday ‘turkey’ soup

serves 2 – 4

This is a really yummy alternative to turkey soup and is perfect for both lunch and dinner.  I personally think the mushrooms make this soup, but feel free to add or sub other veggies as you wish.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup carrots, diced
• 1/2 celery, diced
• 1 cup brussel sprouts, sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp fresh sage
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 4-5 cups of mushroom broth (or just regular veggie broth)
• 3/4 dried brown rice pasta shells
• 1 tbsp tamari
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  In a medium pot, add oil, onions, and a pinch of salt. Sauté over medium heat until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and mushrooms and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes.
2.  Stir in the carrots, celery, and brussel sprouts and cook for another 5 minutes.
3.  Add the thyme, sage, celery salt, and nutritional yeast and stir to combine.
4.  Pour the broth into the pot and bring to a boil.
5.  Once the soup is boiling, add the brown rice pasta and turn down the heat to medium-low.
6.  When the pasta is cooked, add the tamari and the salt and pepper, to taste.
7.  Serve immediately if using brown rice pasta, as it tends to get mushy if it sits too long in soup.