Green seasonal transition soup with soy free tofu
Green seasonal transition soup (+ new soy free tofu alternative!) for when you want a warming soup but aren't ready to say goodbye to summer yet!
Soup weather has arrived.
Although I love many things about autumn, I'm not yet ready to say goodbye to summer and fully embrace the new season. I'm already seeing pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice brownies, actual pumpkin pies and Christmas posts, but I'm really not feeling that mood yet (don't judge if you see me posting a pumpkin spice banana bread in two weeks though..). I was really craving a warming 10 minute soup though, so I decided to make a warm version of my cold green summer soup.
Ingredients:
Bone broth - you could also use veggie broth, just make sure it has a good flavour base. I always have some homemade broth in my freezer but also use Borough broth co who do great quality organic broths!. Homemade is definitely better value for money and fairly effortless if you own a pressure or slow cooker, but this is a great alternative if you don't or can't be bothered. Incorporating bone broth into your meals is also a great way to consume this super nutritious stuff. Because let's be honest, not everyone can get on board with the 'sipping hot bone broth every morning' trend or keep up with the number of hot drinks we are told to drink each morning (warm water with lemon, coffee, matcha, adaptogenic elixir, turmeric latte, ginger shots, ACV, green smoothie, what did I miss?)
Every green thing I could find in the fridge, which ended up being: watercress, fresh parsley, dill, chives, spinach, leeks, avocado (yes, I keep my avos in the fridge, where they last much longer). For the veggies, you could also use courgette, or collard greens. For the herbs, you could also use coriander or basil but I would leave out the watercress in that case
I would have added lots of cucumber in summer but decided to throw in some cauliflower and white cabbage instead (you could use white beans or potatoes but those have to be cooked first)
Fresh garlic, dried mushroom powder and salt (onions would work well too)
Some of the salsa verde I posted a few days ago
Mix in a blender on high speed, heat on low in a pan and add toppings.
I added a bit of leftover stir-fry veg, extra virgin olive oil and 'croutons' made from the Fu Fighters chickpea tofu, fried until crispy in a pan/airfryer and spiced with salt and cumin. But you could add pancetta, smoked salmon, sour cream, smoked tofu. Since the flavour of the soup is subtle and balanced (if you don't overdo it on the watercress), it provides a great background for salty, punchy and smoky flavours.
It honestly doesn't matter what you have in the fridge - most green veggies are bland enough to act as a canvas for spices and herbs and good bone or veggie broth will add a lot of depth to it, so you'll get away with pretty much any combination! And each of the veggies, herbs and spices will add some nutritional value.
Make extra and freeze the rest!
A soy free tofu alternative
I'm quite excited about the Fu Fighters chickpea tofu as I don't tolerate soy very well. If you have food allergies or intolerances, you can probably relate.
Soy also contains phytoestrogens, or plant-based estrogens, which your body can recognise as estrogen. Animal studies suggest that eating large amounts of these might be harmful, while human studies have shown conflicting results but that is largely due to the way in which these are conducted.
So you may want to avoid too much soy in your diet, although fermented soy products are considered a safer option, so if you do want to consume soy, look out for fermented products like tofu and tempeh but avoid products like soy milk. Unfortunately soy is added to a lot of processed foods, so you might be consuming a lot more of it than you think.
