Basic Cream Soup

1 md Onion

1 md Celery stalk

1 md Garlic clove

1 tb Olive oil

4 c Vegetable; chopped in 1/2 to

-1-inch pieces: Cauliflower Asparagus Broccoli Any other vegetable 5 c ;water

2 tb Miso, light OR

2 Vegetable bouillon cubes

Pepper, freshly ground, opt. 1. Bring water to a boil in a tea kettle. Coarsely

chop the onion and celery. Thinly slice the garlic. 2. In a soup pot, heat oil, onion, garlic and celery.

Cook and stir 1 minute over medium heat, then add vegetable. Continue cooking and stirring 1 minute longer. 3. Add boiling water and bring back to a boil over

high heat. Stir briefly and reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 8 minutes. Lift cover, stir in miso, and continue cooking and stirring for another 2 minutes, until miso is dissolved and vegetables are tender. (At this point, you may puree soup directly in the pot with a hand blender, liquefying a small amount of soup with the tahini in a separate bowl and returning it to the pot. Or, follow steps 4-6. 4. Pour soup into a bowl to cool. Remove 1/2 cup of

broth from soup and stir remaining soup to cool it. While soup is cooling, place tahini and 1/2 cup broth in a blender. Blend to a smooth cream. Set aside. 5. Place three-fourths of soup in blender and

liquefy to a cream. Pour into original soup pot. Place remaining one-quarter of unblended soup in a blender. Pulse-blend for 2 to 3 seconds, allowing mixture to remain lumpy and textured. Pour it into creamed portion in the original soup pot. 6. Place soup over medium heat and stir in tahini

mixture. Gently reheat soup, taking care not to let it boil and stirring frequently. Add pepper to taste. Variations: If you don't have light miso, substitute 2 vegetable bouillon cubes, 2 tbs powdered vegetable broth, or 5 cups of homemade stock in place of 5 cups water. Creamed soups can be served hot or cold. If serving cold, skip the reheating. Add 1/2 tsp dried thyme, basil or marjoram to the sauteeing vegetables for fuller flavor. Add 1 tbs nutritional yeast to the soup pot when you add the water. Note: After the tahini mixture has been added to the cream soup, boiling will make the tahini itself thicken and the soup will be too thick. Take care to reheat it GENTLY, _not_to_boil_! The American Vegetarian Cookbook by Marilyn Diamond/MM by DEEANNE
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