Welcome to The Virtual Vegan Potluck. It’s kind of fun to be in the middle of the potluck this time around. Last November I was near the end with my Hazelnut Stuffed Pears.
Before we go any further, I want to extend a HUGE thank you to Vegan Bloggers Unite for hosting this event. Head over there if you are looking for the beginning of this virtual online potluck. Also, lets send some LOVE to Annie, Somer and Jason for their hard work making this Virtual Vegan Potluck a success! Yay! You guys are the BEST.
At the beginning of a meal, soup is an excellent way to prepare our bodies for digestion. Because of this, I try to eat a variety of different soups every day, year round. Warm weather soups do well served warm or at room temperature. Use less salt and heavy flavors. Use more broth and cut vegetables small so the soup doesn’t need to cook for very long. This is in contrast to the strengthening stews we crave during cooler weather, with their chunky vegetables and hearty legumes.
This soup is really easy and quick. To save a little time, bring a pot of water to a boil before cutting the vegetables. Then, when the vegetables are ready, you can add already boiling water to them and it will speed up the whole process. Replace the oats with 1/4 cup cooked brown or white rice and use tamari for a gluten-free version.
I like to use as much of the plant as possible, so the tender inside of the broccoli stems get thrown in here, too. Only the outer skin is tough, so just peel them to reveal the tender core.
The pumpkin seed dulse condiment is a great way to sprinkle more minerals into your food and I love a slightly crunchy topping. Children love most anything that sprinkles. Dulse is a seaweed that is high in iron and grows mostly on the Atlantic Coast. It’s a beautiful dark red color. This soup is also great with a spoonful of beet ketchup on top.
Creamy Broccoli Soup
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
6 cups broccoli, cut into bite size pieces, tender stem parts and all
6 cups water
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 Tbsp steel cut oats
1 cup of small broccoli florets
2-3 tsp unpasteurized shoyu or gluten-free tamari
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice or serve with some lemon slices
1. In a medium cast iron skillet saute the onions in the olive oil. Keep the heat moderate so the onions are just barely sizzling and cook until they are soft and caramelized. Don’t let them brown.
2. Place the 6 cups of broccoli in a soup pot with the water. Sprinkle sea salt and steel cut oats over the top. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then lower the heat until the water is barely simmering. Cook uncovered for about 15 minutes. When the broccoli is tender, remove from heat.
3. In a small pot, bring 4 inches of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, add the 1 cup of florets and blanch for 10-15 seconds. Remove the florets as soon as they turn bright green. Spread on a plate to cool. Set aside.
4. Add the onions to the soup when the broccoli is tender. Puree using a standing or immersion blender. The immersion blender may yield a more rustic soup. A blender will make it creamier. Place soup in pot again and stir in the shoyu. Gently simmer 5 more minutes to cook in the shoyu. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice. Check flavors and add more lemon juice or shoyu if desired.
5. Stir in the broccoli florets. Serve with a garnish.
Pumpkin Seed Dulse
sesame oil
1/4 cup dry dulse, whole not flaked
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1. Pull the dulse apart and pick out any shells.
2. Heat a cast iron skillet on low medium and brush with a small amount of sesame oil. Add the dulse and saute stirring constantly until dulse begins to get crispy. Be careful it doesn’t burn. The color makes it a little hard to tell.
3. Transfer to a suribachi and grind into small pieces. Leave in suribachi and set aside.
4. Rinse pumpkin seeds and strain out any excess water. Heat the skillet to medium and pour the pumpkin seeds in. Stir constantly. As soon as the pumpkin seeds are dry, lower the heat. Continue stirring constantly until some of the seeds turn a very light brown and the seeds start to plump. Taste a few to see if they are cooked all the way.
5. While still very hot, transfer the seeds to the suribachi with the dulse. Grind seeds and dulse together until about 70% of the seeds are broken up.
6. Transfer to a small bowl and use as a condiment to garnish grains or soup.
Note:
If you are grinding this with a mortar and pestle, you may have better success if you omit the oil. My first try was with a mortar and pestle, and the oil just made the pumpkin seeds slide around and they were hard to crush.
I think grinding by hand yields a much better product than using a food processor.
From appetizers to desserts, on the same day over 150 bloggers link up to share vegan recipes for The Virtual Vegan Potluck. To start at the beginning of the potluck head on over to Vegan Bloggers Unite.
Or you can mosey on over to Fitting into Vegan if you are ready for another serving of soup. Thank you for dining with us!
vegan miam
That’s very true. Soup is indeed an excellent way for our body to digest. In Taiwan, you will see loads of healthy soups 🙂 and I remember that my mother would make me drink herbal soups every single day, to ensure that my body stays healthy. Thank you for sharing this recipe and I love creamy soups!
Happy Virtual Vegan Potluck 3.0 Day!
♡ rika, vegan miam
http://www.veganmiam.com
★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★
sweetveg
You’re welcome! I love creamy soups, too! 🙂
Richa
i love the soup and love the dulse topping even more.. Happy VVP!
sweetveg
It’s one of my most requested soups! Thank you!!
narf7
This soup looks like soul food 🙂 I love the dulse, never heard of it before and will be using it in my next bowl of soup 🙂
sweetveg
I guess I could have put in my post that dulse is a type of seaweed, so it adds kind of a salty mineral rich flavor. It’s high in iron. It does look like you can get it in Australia. 🙂
Lorna
Everything in this soup, and the topping, sounds right up my street. I’ve never put oats in soup before, but I’m imagining this will make it quite thick and porridgy (which I love). I’ll have to try it, thank you!
sweetveg
The oats do make it creamier and richer and the steel cut oats add a little more texture than oat flakes. I hope you like it!
deerly beloved bakery
This looks yummy very fresh and clean looking! Yum! X
sweetveg
Thank you! Enjoy the potluck!
Ula
This looks amazing. Can’t wait to try. VVP is giving me enough recipes to cook for a long long while.
sweetveg
I know, right? I just have a hard time keeping track of all the ideas.
Poppy
Love the dulse topping and the idea of adding oats for creaminess!
sweetveg
I think the sauteed onions add richness, too, which combines with creaminess well. I wouldn’t call it cheesy exactly, but it does have that kind of quality. That’s why I add the onions at the end instead of the beginning.
Inge
What an interesting soup idea! I had never heard of dulse before. Love learning about new soup toppers!
sweetveg
Me, too! It’s so fun to have jars of toppings in the fridge to use on dishes. 🙂
Annie
Thanks for the love :-)! Back at you! And for the delicious soup. Appreciate you joining this crazy thing again!
sweetveg
I wouldn’t miss it. I am having so much fun!
sugarcoatedvegan
This looks so good! I love soups so this looks amazing!
– alexis
http://www.sugarcoatedvegan.com
sweetveg
I love soups, too! I am excited to try some of the soups other people brought to the potluck.
Andy Cowan
Teresa, Your recipe has introduced me to some new ideas! I’d never even considered adding oats to soup before…although I often use barley/rice. So oats seems pretty logical when I think about it!
Even though seaweeds are popular in Japan, I never seem to notice dulse in the shops, so might have to wait till I go back to Scotland to try this one out. Looking forward to it 🙂
sweetveg
Great! My creamy carrot soup recipe uses the steel cut oats, also. That’s interesting you haven’t seen dulse. It may not be as common in Japan because it’s more from the Atlantic Coast.
Anne
Wowy – so beautiful! Love the pumpkin seed dulse! Beautiful photos!
Thank you 🙂
sweetveg
Thank you! I thought about a variety of different toppings, but really wanted to share a sea veg recipe. 🙂
Allison (Spontaneous Tomato)
This looks and sounds delicious! I never would have thought of adding steel cut oats in there, but I assume they must give it a really nice texture. I love the presentation!
sweetveg
Thank you! I had fun making it.
Lea
Delish soup, always try to eat brochli since heard is such a great supper food and good for thyroid issues too. Plus luv pumpikin seeds, never had dulse. Leanred something new!!
Cool on potluck day and tip on how soups aid digest. think they help me realize am full quicker and fanastic way to get more veggies in and put together produce.
sweetveg
Yep! Soup is pretty incredible. Plus there are so many different ways to make it! I never get bored.
Susmitha - Veganosaurus
Looks like a very delicious and satisfying soup. I can just imagine that beautiful mouth feel of all those textures in there. Mmm.
sweetveg
I’m glad you like it.
Somer
Broccoli soup is one of my favorites! That pumpkin seed dulse just sends it over the top. Super tasty girl!
sweetveg
Thank you! 🙂
Brittany
I have yet to find a good vegan broccoli soup recipe!! LOVE this!! It looks so delicious.
sweetveg
I hope you try it! It’s great just by itself, too, but toppings just seem like so much fun.
Becky Striepe
This looks amazing – I love broccoli, and the topping sounds awesome!
sweetveg
I think the topping is fantastic!
Maggie Muggins
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good broccoli soup, yours looks delish! I really like the idea of sprinkling on dulse for the extra minerals.
sweetveg
I hope you make some soon! 🙂
spinachrevolution
Love dulse. Never thought of using it with soup. I am definitely doing with my next bowl of soup. I also like the idea of adding brown rice. It definitely makes the soup a lot more filling. Thank you for the great ideas.
Brandi
Looks absolutely delicious and so creative!!
Keely @ Gormandize
I love the dulse, a great idea for a soup garnish. Looks delicious!