Vegan Leek and Potato Soup

I'm originally from the North East of England and we can grow great leeks. In fact when I was a child they would have leek growing contests.
The old guys of the town would prepare all year growing and tending to their leeks. The prized leeks would be displayed on a long table at the local pub. After they were judged and the prizes were given out ( some great prizes, vacations, tv's etc) the pubs staff would make big batches of leek and potato soup to serve to the patrons.

I think this charming old tradition has probably gone now, but I still get a craving for leek soup.

I grew my own leeks this year and although I definitely would not have won a prize, they still made great soup.

Traditional recipe includes butter and chicken stock, but I just vegged it up and it came out delicious.


4 to 5 medium leeks chopped (cut most of the green part off, although I left about an inch)
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
4 drops liquid smoke
approx 4 more cups of vegetable stock
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast powder
4 to 5 drops of hot sauce (I like chipolte tabasco )
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley and 2 tablespoons for garnish
salt to taste

Saute leeks for a few minutes in the olive oil, making sure not to brown. Then add 1/4 cup of broth and turn down the heat. Add lid and cook the leeks down until tender, approx. 10 to 15 minutes. Add more broth, if needed and stir often to prevent burning.
Add bay leaves, pepper, liquid smoke and chopped potatoes and the rest of the vegetable stock.
Cook until potatoes are tender, but not over cooked.

Take 1/4 of the mixture and blend until smooth (making sure you don't blend the bay leaves)
Return the blended mixture back to the pot. Adjust seasoning and add parsley. If too thick add a little more broth or water.

Remove bay leaves just before serving soup with some sprinkled parsley on top.

South of the Border Salad

I love the recipe for caesar salad in Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Life".

If you haven't tried it, I recommend you do. It's delicious and great to serve to the non vegans in our lives. Everyone I've served it to loves it.

My garden has recently exploded with cilantro. It dies off in the summer, but as soon as a little cooler weather comes out it pops again like a lovely surprise.

I decided to make Alicia's caesar salad dressing, but add a bunch of cilantro and make a yummy south of the border inspired salad. It was delicious and you might want to try it.

Salad dressing

2 tablespoons blanched almonds
3 garlic cloves chopped
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons shoyu
1 tablespoons tahini
3 tblsp fresh lemon juice
2 tablsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of cilantro roughly chopped
1/4 cup water

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

I like to make a salad hearty enough for dinner. It's perfect to add beans and rice and then you have a complete protein too. Add anything you like, but this was my combo.

My salad included lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and grated carrot, all from my garden, sliced jicama, avocado, black beans, brown rice and kalamata black olives.

Pour dressing over the top, or mix into salad, whichever you prefer.

Eating out

Went to PF Changs last night and we were happy to see quite a few vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. I had the tofu lettuce wrap, which was on the appetizer menu - delicious!

One of our staples for a quick easy lunch is Chipoltes. We love the crispy tacos with vegetables, black beans, lettuce and guacamole. A vegetable bowl is also yummy.

If we go to a Mexican restaurant, that isn't fast food, I always order the vegetable fajitas with corn tortillas, hold the cheese and sour cream and I'm good to go.

A favorite, is going out for sushi. I usually order an avocado roll and a vegetable roll. A lot of the sushi restaurants have quite a few vegan choices, with speciality rolls, so no need to feel deprived.

If you know of any good vegan options, let us know

Vegan gluten free pumpkin bread with chocolate chips

Here is my recipe for gluten free pumpkin bread. I added chocolate chips because - well why not. You can never have too much of a good thing and chocolate is ALWAYS good!


2 cups pumpkin either canned or fresh
1 cup sugar ( I am using palm sugar right now and I really like it for cooking. It's low on the glycemic index)
1 egg worth of egg substitute (enerG egg replacer)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup sunflower or safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups gluten free flour ( I like Bob's)
1 tblsp xanthum gum
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2/3 cup of vegan chocolate chips
1 cups chopped pecans


Pre heat oven to 350 F

Oil a loaf pan 9 x 5 works well

Combine the pumpkin, sugar, milk, vanilla and egg substitute in a bowl and mix together. In another bowl mix flour, spices, salt, xanthum gum.

Combine dry and liquid ingredients together, add in nuts and chocolate chips.

Mix the vinegar and baking soda together then add to batter mix, pour into prepared baking dish.

Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, approximately 1 hour.

Cool on a baking rack.

I have to say I love to eat this bread while the chocolate chips are still slightly warm. Yum

If you are someone who likes milk with your treats, I like the combo of rice milk with just a touch of coconut milk added. It gives a consistency of milk and a little richer flavor than rice milk alone.

If you like it, let me know.

Quick Sushi Lunch

When it's hot outside and you want something tasty, quick and easy for lunch, I love to make sushi wraps.

When I'm cooking rice I usually make extra, so that I have leftover rice to make wraps with.

Ideally,  I will add a little more liquid when cooking the rice and cook for a little extra time. The rice is then perfect for sushi, a little sticky and soft.

The other great thing is there are no rules, whatever you have in the refrigerator and would like, can work in a wrap.

These wraps are my favorite combo, but get creative and see what will become yours.

Cold cooked brown rice
Umeboshi plum vinegar
Mix rice and a little vinegar together approx. 1 to 2 tsp per cup of cooked rice.

Shredded carrot
Shredded daikon
Thinly cut cucumber
Avocado
Vegan cream cheese
Sheets of nori


I like to cook the nori sheets over an open flame for a few seconds until sheet turns bright green. I use a pair of tongs and hold over the gas the burner turning the sheet so it doesn't burn. This only takes a few seconds.

Cut each sheet in half.

Place rice and veggies in the middle of each sheet. Spread a little cream cheese on each sheet, next to where you have piled the veggies and rice. Then wrap into cone shapes.

Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.

Place ingredients on your 1/2 sheets of nori

Once rolled into cone shape, enjoy with soy sauce and wasabi