Curried Cashew-Vegetable Soup from "Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons" by Nava Atlas

Well, today's post is a bit different and very exciting for me, because I've been asked to participate in a "Blog Tour" for cookbook author Nava Atlas, in celebration of today's release of Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons . Now in its 4th edition; many of you may remember the cookbook as "Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons".
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First, a technical note for fellow cook-book geeks like myself: While fairly similar to the third edition (the one with the green cover) this edition is significantly different from the original first edition; first, all the recipes are now vegan, and second, there are mouthwatering photos... and check out the beautiful new cover!

Fellow bloggers are participating as well, simply Google "Nava Atlas Blog Tour" and you'll find their posts too! (I may come back and add links when everyone's posted).

This cookbook has been a family favorite of ours for quite some time. Come on people, it's full of soup recipes - who doesn't like soup? You really can't go wrong with Nava's recipes, they're always tasty, easy to prepare and have ingredients I can find at a "regular" grocery store. I also admit, quite selfishly that this particular cookbook is near and dear to my heart because the author includes one of MY recipes. (African-Inspired Quinoa Peanut Soup which I'll spare you from blogging about yet AGAIN!).

For this momentous occasion, I narrowed the many delicious options down to one of my family's favorites; Curried Cashew-Vegetable Soup. I think you'll LOVE this one!

Here is the recipe, (with the author's permission of course) straight from the book, **the only change I made was to use carrots and potatoes instead of the green vegetables, making it a more hearty, winter stew. Enjoy!! (Oh, and we added grilled vegetable sandwiches to ALSO celebrate our new panini press. Double yum!!)

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Curried Cashew-Vegetable Soup

With notes of ginger, curry, and citrus
6 to 8 servings
Cashew butter make an offbeat, rich-tasting soup base.
This luscious soup is good hot or at room temperature.

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large celery stalk, diced
4 cups water
1 cup cashew butter
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, to taste
2 teaspoons good-quality curry powder, more or less to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice, or more to taste
1/2 cup orange juice, preferably fresh
3 cups steamed fresh green vegetables (such as finely chopped broccoli, green peas, diced zucchini, cut green beans,or any combination) **I used potatoes and carrots
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Thinly sliced scallions for garnish
Chopped cashews for garnish, optional

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, garlic, and celery and sauté over medium-low heat until all are lightly browned.
Transfer to a food processor with 1 cup of the water and process until smoothly pureed, then transfer back to the soup pot.

Or add 1 cup of the water to the soup pot and process with an immersion blender until pureed. Add the remaining 3 cups water and bring to a rapid simmer. Whisk in the cashew butter, about 1/3 cup at a time. Stir in the ginger, curry powder, cumin, nutmeg, lemon juice, and orange juice. Return to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat.

Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Stir in the steamed vegetables. If the soup is too thick, add enough water to give the soup a slightly thick consistency. Season with salt and pepper, then serve. Garnish each serving with scallions and chopped cashews if desired.

Quinoa-Peanut Veggie Soup (from Africa)

Made soup again tonight. Thought I'd post the recipe...

This is another family favorite (one of those rare things everyone actually likes!) I made it long before I had Sprouts to cook for - (and long before quinoa was readily available. I had to mail order it... 'cause way back then, I thought it was so unique and "exotic").

I originally got the recipe from a college roommate and gradually changed it to suit my tastes over the years - I like it 'cause it's fairly quick and easy (and healthy) - my kids think the subtle jalapeno heat and mild peanut butter taste combo is great for soup!

OK, I confess... they're also amused with the way the quinoa cooks up and it's little "tail" separates - they say it looks like little worms in the soup, which, I guess if you didn't know better, might make you wonder. Either way, don't be frightened off by my description - it's good stuff.

So, a little bit of bragging here: I originally posted this recipe over at my favorite Vegetarian forums, Veggieboards.com.
Cookbook author Nava Atlas (yes, of cookbook fame) saw it there, tried it (and evidently liked it as much as we do!) and asked to include it in her latest cookbook "Vegetarian Soups for all Seasons". Woo!

So (shameless self-promotion) check out the book! Actually every recipe I've tried from the book is great - (if you have the book, you already know this). I happen to LOVE soup anyway and this is an awesome collection. But enough about that, here's my recipe (oh, it's on page 47 in the book, I think?) just in case you're interested:

Quinoa-Peanut Soup

2 Tb margarine
1 chopped onion or 2 med. leeks sliced (I prefer leeks, use all of white and tender part of green)
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (I use more)
1 fresh jalapeno, minced (Again, I use more)
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 diced celery stalks, with leaves (I usually leave this out, cause I don't care for celery all that much)
2 small diced zucchini
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cup vegetable stock (I use the "non-chicken" style broth)
1/2 cup quinoa, (some brands say to rinse and drain before using - I never have..)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 dash cayenne pepper or to taste (I use more!!)
1/2 cup chunky organic peanut butter, no honey or sugar

Wear rubber gloves to prepare fresh jalapeno pepper if you need to - or just be careful.
In a large heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt margarine over medium-high heat. When margarine is hot and bubbly, add all veggies, and cumin and oregano.
Saute 10 -15 minutes, or until vegetables are softened.
Add stock, quinoa, black pepper and cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.
Simmer until quinoa is cooked and veggies are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add peanut butter, using a wisk to blend in completely, and simmer another 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings.
(I almost always throw grated fresh ginger in there somewhere but it's not necessary).