Love Grows Where Rosemary Goes

 I finally got to go to a Whole Foods while I was in Tacoma visiting my mom! Not just one, but 2!!! I was ecstatic! I tried a soup at the first Whole Foods that was a revelation. It was so simple yet so delicious. I knew that as soon as I got home, I had to recreate it! It is something I never would have come up with on my own if I hadn't been inspired by that soup at Whole Foods. I tend to overthink soups and throw everything I can think of in them. Then I picked up some roasted rosemary potatoes at the second one for my mom to go with her dinner, and luckily she saved some so that I could try them! I was fascinated by them too, so while I had the rosemary, I decided to make a duo of soup and potatoes. Without further ado...


Kale, White Bean, and Rosemary Soup
3 stalks kale (take kale off stalk)
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cans reduced sodium white beans
1 stalk fresh rosemary (take rosemary off stalk)
1 tsp vegetable bouillon
Salt and Pepper to taste

Reserve some of the vegetable broth. Combine the rest of the vegetable broth and bouillon in soup pot on stove on medium. Using a food processor, blend some of the vegetable broth and the rosemary for a minute or so until the rosemary is in tiny particles. Pour into pot. Put the rest of the vegetable broth in the food processor with the kale and pulse just until the kale is in smallish pieces. Add to the soup pot. Finally, rinse the white beans and add to the soup. Season the soup. I brought the soup to a boil and simmered soup for about an hour to really develop the flavors, but you can cook however long you want. Enjoy! :)


Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Baby red potatoes
Rosemary
Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut baby potatoes into four pieces per potato. Toss with some oil (I used grapeseed oil), salt, and pepper. Tear the rosemary off the stalk and sprinkle over the potatoes. Cook for about 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. It might take more or less time, depending on how many potatoes you have. Enjoy!

Creamy Asparagus Soup

When I need a warm, delicious, comforting soup, this is what I make. It is sooooo creamy and a tiny bit salty....Mmmmmmm! Bonus: I sneaked some beans in there this time for extra protein and I didn't even notice a difference in taste!

Creamy Asparagus Soup

2 cans asparagus spears
1 can coconut milk
1 can white cannellini beans
2 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. Earth Balance butter
1/2 tsp garlic
2 grinds of sea salt

Combine butter and garlic in a pot and let simmer for a minute. Add in rest of ingredients and cook for 10 minutes. Blend in a blender until really smooth and pour back into soup pot. Heat until the desired temperature. Enjoy!

Chilled Cucumber Avocado Soup with Pico de Gallo

Chilled Cucumber Avocado Soup

with Pico de Gallo

For the Pico de Gallo:

1 onion

1 green pepper

3 or 4 tomatoes

1 chipotle pepper canned in adobo sauce

1 or 2 Tbsp. adobo sauce

cilantro

Combine first three ingredients in food processor and pulse until barely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse a couple of times until combined. Refrigerate until needed.

For the Cashew Cream:

Soak 1/2 cup cashews in water for at least 4 hours or overnight. Rinse and add 1/2 cup nondairy milk. (I used coconut milk to make it really creamy and yummy.) Blend in food processor until really creamy and not gritty anymore. Refrigerate until needed.

For the Cucumber Avocado Soup:

1/2 cucumber

1 avocado

1/4 cup cashew cream

Blend in food processor until smooth.

The recipe for the soup makes a little bit more than one serving. Top soup with a dollop of pico de gallo and enjoy! :) The soup is really light and fresh tasting. It is so easy...I made it in about 15 minutes, cashew cream and all! This is my own creation, feel free to tweak it to your own taste.