Cream of Broccoli Soup Recipe with Coconut Milk

An easy, creamy broccoli and potato soup that is vegan and gluten-free.

It's hard to not worry these days, I know. Epic snow storms dumping the white stuff without mercy- again. Students and protesters in Cairo risking life and limb for political change. Anderson Cooper- our lovely Silver Fox-  getting punched in the face by pro-Mubarak thugs. Where will it all lead, I ask you?

It's mighty tough for a sensitive soul prone to worry to cope with all this mishegas. To find a little comfort in this volatile atmosphere. That is why I am sharing another soup recipe. Just in case there is a kindred spirit out there in need of a bowl of creamy veggie comfort. A gluten-free vegan soup worthy of the Chinese New Year. It's the Year of the Rabbit, by the way (or as we like to say in my house, BUNNY!). And bunny's aren't known for punching or, in general, wreaking havoc. Unless you count Peter Rabbit's sneaky excursions into Mr. McGregor's garden or Max's devouring love of chocolate chickens.

The year of the bunny is ostensibly devoted to a milder temperment. To kindness and beauty and yes, comfort.

So it seemed only fitting I cook up a batch of vegan soup today as fresh and non-toxic as could be. Creamy, good-for-you soul food.

And by the way. Punxatawny Phil predicted an early spring today. True or not, it's got to be a welcome glimmer of hope for those shoveling out from under heaps of snow. Right?

Stay warm and safe, everyone. May peace prevail.


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Detox Green Soup Recipe with Broccoli, Spinach and Ginger

Detoxing from your holiday sugar fest? Try this vegan green soup with ginger.

I'm not perfect. Goddess knows. Especially during the long pale days of Winter. When I am a slug. Motivation is tricky to summon. I loll on the couch with my iPad and expend as few calories as possible, doing nothing more than watching House Hunters International as I read through your ever delightful comments. I scoop guacamole with homemade pecan crackers and conjure recipes for detox green soup as I follow tall young Cincinnatians ducking into tiny Italian kitchens the size of my corner sofa, daunted by the lack of plumbing but in love with the sun baked view of a tangled vineyard through open shutters. I mute the unintentionally absurd commercial for Cialis, trying to imagine why any woman over the age of fifty would even want to deal with 24-hour tumescence before I realize I have eaten a giant avocado.

All by my self.

I don't beat myself up. I know the bottom line. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. I am not naive. Perfection is unattainable. No matter what the ad men tell you. And it's not perfection I seek. Though, in full transparency, I used to nurture an inclination toward seeking perfection in my long ago first marriage, but the wrecking ball named irony hit too hard to ignore. Turns out my first husband preferred someone decidedly not perfect. Someone sporting shiny green eye shadow and prone to dancing drunk with married men at Chamber of Commerce Christmas parties.

The thing about perfection is that no one cares. And neither does your soul. In fact, your soul loves to throw a monkey headlong into your perfect plan. You know the monkey I'm talking about. The monkey who misses deadlines and loses car keys and eats an entire bowl of guacamole in one sitting (or laying down, as the case may be). So much for resolutions and diet strategies. Monkey WIN!

But just in case you're serious about cleansing those fat little liver cells and whittling away your holiday pie roll, I did make a detox soup. And yes, it was green. And cruciferously abundant in vegan veggie wonderfulness. It made us feel happy. And well fed. Quite virtuous. But not perfect.

Because perfection, Darling, is overrated.


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Mulligatawny Detox Soup

Need to detox from the holiday? Make some mulligatawny soup.

Did you over indulge? Just a little? Don't worry, Darling. I've got a body and soul soothing cure. Mulligatawny detox soup. It's chock full of antioxidant vegetable goodness with detoxing spices to boot. Cook it on the stove top or in a Crock Pot and let it simmer for the afternoon, filling your kitchen with a comforting aroma that feels like one big hug.

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Butternut Squash Soup

Smooth and silky vegan butternut squash soup with coconut milk.

Halloween is creeping toward us, minute by soon-to-be-an-hour-saved minute. Soft and slow but deft on black cat paws. I wake to the dry scratch clatter of leaves spinning down the sidewalk from Santa Monica Boulevard, riding the wind downhill like a gaggle of flattened tumbleweeds. I yawn awake dreaming of soup, imagining my favorite wooden spoon stirring the humble beginnings of some jewel toned potage as the French like to call it. Or so I'm told.

I don't speak French.

I'm craving soup like a mad woman, you see. Like some Shakespearean witch in the wild woods of West Hollywood, I long to stir a little seasonal magic into a pot of silky, orange hued soul food. So this week I conjured cooked up a curried fall classic. Every October I make batches of this gorgeous, comforting soup. That just so happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan.

The secret is- use ripe flavorful squash. Choose a butternut squash with firm golden-tan skin. The squash should make a hollow ring when thumped.

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Curried Carrot Soup with Pan Toasted Cornbread Croutons

Easy {slow cooker} carrot soup topped with cornbread croutons.

What I love about slow cookers? The obvious. It's a no-brainer. (Such an odd expression. I mean, if I had no brain would I care about soup?) Wait. Are zombies no-brainers? If so, I can relate. Totally. I've been feeling zombie-ish again, assaulted by the second wave of pollinating hostile trees here in my hip little hamlet of Santa Monica by the sea. Excuse me while I honk.

The dreaded oak. My nemesis.

In spite of hopeful neti pot usage I am brainless once again. Shambling. Screwing up paintings. Too tipsy for kettlebells (I visualize my zombie-pitiful grip during a swing, letting the kettlebell fly out my fifth floor aprtment window like a missile and knocking out some poor soul in the street below; if you read about a kettlebell incident in the news, I swear I'm innocent).

And craving comfort food in a big way.

That is, easy comfort food. Not complicated comfort food. Who wants to stand at a stove right before dinnertime, chopping and stirring and simmering, when you can chop and toss in the morning and let a Crockpot do the work for you? Zip. Boom. Bonjour! The slow cooker must have been invented by a woman, right? Or maybe a zombie who had better things to do than sauté.

Free time. It's a gift.

Ask any zombie.

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Gluten-Free Turkey Soup Recipe

An easy, homemade turkey soup simmered in a Crock Pot. 

A certain soup slurping and prickly individual (we won't name names, to protect the innocent) has been feeling under the weather for so long now the sensation is in danger of becoming a habit. Yes, the tree pollen onslaught continues. Blessed by a wet winter, Southern California trees are celebrating with copious amounts of pollen, and who can blame them? 

Hence, your intrepid gluten-free goddess has been up to no good, stumbling and mumbling around her freshly painted apartment in a Snuffleupagus stupor, thick-nosed and unable to string two coherent sentences together, never mind invent a new recipe for her lovely and devoted readers (that would be, You). Ears and sinuses filled with unspeakable things do not a creative, exhuberant cook make.

This is when a Slow Cooker can save your life.

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Roasted Vegetable Chowder

Craving a bowl of comfort? Have I got a soup recipe for you.

Frost was not on the pumpkin this morning. Not my pumpkin, anyway. Mine's long gone. Turned into a pie. Well, that and it was 80 degrees yesterday. Skateboarders careening by my apartment (at impressive speeds for a Fat Tuesday) wore nothing but Aloha shorts. Welcome to Santa Monica in February.

But what was on my pumpkin- if I still had one?

Pollen, dude. The trees are blooming, doing their sexy spring thang. Bursting. Co-mingling. Giving the bees something to buzz about. And I'm all about having a good time. I believe in love. And bees. But tree pollen, I have to ask you. Why so hostile?

Can't we all just get along?

I am thick and stupid from your assault. Not to mention, dripping from frontal orifices (not the most attractive trait sported by a woman of a certain age, I assure you- though how would you even know? You're a microgametophyte, for goddess sake).

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Mulligatawny Soup with Jasmine Rice

Warm up with a bowl of this delicious mulligatawny soup.

Soup weather has arrived in Southern California. The sky is flannel gray and thick with rain. The streets below are slick and shiny wet. Monday morning traffic sounds are hushed and distant. It is even a bit chilly- for L.A. standards. I am wrapped in a sweater. And I am craving mulligatawny- one of my favorite spicy soups. As luck or fate or Plan B foresight would have it, I had enough ingredients on hand to make my favorite soup for lunch today. A simpler, easier version of my well worn favorite recipe for Vegetarian Mulligatawny. I skipped the cabbage and cauliflower and canned tomatoes this time. And upped the carrots for a fresh tasting, healthy soup.

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Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk

Here's a recipe for a quick and easy pantry soup
that just so happens to be gluten-free.

Cleaning out the pantry always makes hungry. Come to think of it, so does packing. And lugging laundry. But the truth is, this time of year- anything can make me hungry. I could blame it on shorter daylight. Or the jarring touch of the cold tile floor when I tumble out of bed barefoot and sleepy and weave through boxes of books and movies to locate my tea mug, gone missing since three PM yesterday when I set it down- goddess knows where- to help my husband wrap one of my forty-inch square abstracts.

All of it makes me hungry. But here's my top ten.

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Watermelon Gazpacho with Lime

Refreshing watermelon gazpacho. Serve cold, cold, cold.

Happy August. The Dog Days of Summer are upon us. The Back To School Sales have commenced. Evenings are shorter, sultry and sticky and it's too damn hot to cook. Here in our sweet little Santa Monica sublet the modest act of baking two potatoes nudges our ambient temperature to a hot flash inducing tie-dyed t-shirt peeling UGG throwing fever pitch. I pace and prowl for air like the downstairs yellow cat who slinks into our kitchen unnoticed despite his thunderous girth. I stick my sweaty matted head out the kitchen door inhaling the hope of an onshore breeze.

My restless, itchy body you see is trying to ignore the calendar.

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Celery Soup with Ryeless Rye Croutons

A creamy celery soup that is dairy-free and gluten-free? Indeed.

By the time you read this new soup recipe, we'll be well on our way to Southern California. It will Monday, you see (it is Monday, right?). It will be bright and early. And we'll be waving our coffee fueled good-byes to piney Flagstaff, Arizona, the infamous gateway to the Grand Canyon (inspiration for Steve's movie) where we stayed overnight. We'll be up with the chickens, Honda packed with gluten-free treats, hitting Route 40 West for the second leg of the trip.

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Carrot Soup

A simple and elegant vegan carrot soup.

Here's a fresh and easy vegan carrot soup recipe for spring. Why soup? Because it rains in spring. It snows in spring. It even does so simultaneously, accompanied by thunder, out here in the wilds of sunny New Mexico. We experienced the gamut of meteorological events over the weekend as we were loading boxes of books into the car. Four seasons in one day. Packing and unpacking. Once again weeding out what is no longer necessary, hunched in our cramped little storage unit, out of the stinging sleet, rummaging through boxes, weeding out for the next move. The migration West. To Southern California.

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Gluten-Free Potato Leek Soup

Creamy potato soup- no dairy needed.

Twenty-nine hours. That's how long I've been awake. I could blame the full moon, big as a gleaming white soup plate hanging in the clear desert sky last night. Or the pollen. The hostile spiky spewing of hundreds of junipers rooted round our plucky little casita. Every time I drifted toward the promise of sleep I would sneeze straight up and fumble in the dark for a Kleenex, my throat as raw as Tom Waits' vocal chords after belting forth, Make It Rain. We're talking ragged.

It ain't pretty.

So excuse me if I keep today's ramblings short and sweet. I'm hovering outside my body- nineteen inches to the left of myself. Any moment now, I might spin off with the tumbleweeds and roll down the dirt road to the highway. I might not even mind, if I end up tumbling west, rolling into the City of Angels in my sleep, snoring down Sunset Boulevard all the way to Ocean Avenue and south to Venice Beach where I live a parallel life in an alternate universe surfing at dawn. And if you see me, give me a sign. Any sign will do. As long as you dream walk the same blue wavelength.

But before I spin toward the rutted crooked highway I'll leave you with a perfect soup for spring. Stir it up when the March winds blow, and soothe your winter weary bones.

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African Sweet Potato Soup with Peanut Butter, Black-Eyed Peas & Beans

A scrumptious peanut soup recipe - gluten and dairy-free.

Happy New Year, Gentle Reader. It's a new dawn. It's a new day. And it's time for a black-eyed pea recipe. One of my favorites, with African flavors. Serving black-eyed peas and beans at the start of a freshly birthed year is serious good mojo in some circles. At least that's what they tell me. Why eating a plate of legumes on New Year's Day brings luck I've no idea, but someone somewhere decided these humble little nuggets of vegan protein were a good and fortunate culinary choice. So why not?

Rather than rummage through cookbooks searching for Southern Hoppin' John recipes or Italian white bean escarole stews I turned instead to the sun drenched flavors of North Africa and reprised a stew that is spicy and hearty and peanutty. If you cannot use peanut butter try sunflower seed butter. It is no less fabulous.

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Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger

A comforting sweet potato soup for the sun deprived  soul. With ginger.

Winter Solstice is approaching fast. The days now are so short I've been warning Steve to hide all sharp instruments. Your intrepid gluten-free goddess, you see, has that infamous seasonal wrestle with gloom this sun deprived time of year. In a perfect world I'd be spending the month of December in Hawaii like certain lucky individuals, soaking up vitamin D with the surfer girls and feeling all mahalo instead of Get me the bleep outa here before I scream.

So I've been on a sweet potato kick. I can't get enough of these ruby and golden hued tubers- perfect for winter comfort food. So tasty. And versatile. Astute readers may have noticed the trend already.

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Moroccan Coconut & Chick Pea Soup

A delicious gluten-free soup with Moroccan flavors

On a whim I threw together this North African inspired fusion of flavors led by cravings and intuition. We slurped it down and scraped our bowls. Turns out that sweet potatoes, chick peas, roasted green chiles and coconut milk make for one scrumptious soup. I think you'll love it.

Dairy-free never tasted so good.

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Roasted Corn Chowder with Chicken, Lime + Cilantro

Roasted corn chowder with chicken is a fabulous soup.

An easy family favorite- my roasted corn chowder with tender pieces of chicken, a dash of fresh lime juice and mild green chiles- is a perfect recipe for early fall. Because nothing is quite as sweet as savoring the last fresh corn of the season. And the perfect accent to these southwestern flavors? Cilantro.

As always, Babycakes, if you don't care for cilantro just leave it out. Use fresh basil or parsley. And while we're talking changes, if you're not a fan of coconut milk and you'd rather use traditional moo cow milk in your chowder, Darling, feel free. Be happy.

Note: This recipe was originally entered into Kalyn's Kitchen Weekend Herb Blogging event: Your Favorite Herb. I've since updated the recipe, and it's better than ever.

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Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Recipes for Soups, Stews, Chili and Roasts

Here is my collection of gluten-free slow cooker recipes for the Crockpot. I love using a slow cooker year round. In the winter it warms the house with comforting spices and inviting aromas and in the summer it helps keep the kitchen cool- not to mention, it does all the work and frees up the day. Reader favorites include African Bean & Sweet Potato Soup, New Mexican Stew with Ground Turkey and Beef in Pomegranate Sauce.

Slow Cooker Soup and Stew Recipes

African Bean and Sweet Potato Soup
African Coconut Chick Pea Soup

Big Easy Soup with Andouille Sausage and Beans
Buffalo Sausage Stew
Butternut Chili

Crockpot Curry with Coconut Milk
Curried Butternut Soup
Curried Carrot Soup with Pan Toasted Cornbread Croutons

Karina's Beef Stew
Kicked Up Coconut Split Pea Soup

Mediterranean Chicken Soup for the Soul
Melted Peppers and Dags (yes dags)
Mexican Pumpkin Soup with Black Beans and Lime
New Mexican Stew with Ground Turkey

Potato Soup for the Sensitive Soul
Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup
Purple Cabbage and Sweet Potato Soup with Sunbutter

Roasted Corn Chowder with Chicken, Lime and Cilantro
Roasted Hatch Chile Stew with Sweet Potato
Roasted Tomato Soup

Santa Fe Pumpkin Chowder
Sneaky Tomato Soup
Spicy Vegetable Soup with Lime

Turkey Soup

Vegetarian Mulligatawny with Coconut Milk

Slow Cooker Chili Recipes

Santa Fe Chicken Chili
Two Artists Chili

Slow Cooker Roast and Meat Recipes

Beef and Potatoes au Chocolat
Beef in Pomegranate Sauce
Pork Roast in Brown Sugar Apricot Mushroom Sauce

Mexican Black Bean Soup- In Memory of Sher

Sher's black bean soup recipe.

Sher and I never met. We were what people refer to as blogging acquaintances. We exchanged occasional comments on one another's blogs and admired each other's penchant for rustic Mexican recipes. Real food, with big flavor. Last Sunday lovely Sher passed away suddenly- from a heart attack. She was 59. Today food bloggers are joining in memory of Sher- and her enthusiastic love of good food- by posting one of her recipes. I suspect this would please her no end; as her blog title suggests, the first question asked by her family on any occasion is...

What did you eat?

Today we are collectively offering, One of your recipes, Sher!

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Gluten-Free Tomato Soup

A yummy tomato soup with a secret.

A old school family favorite- tomato soup. Right? Here's an easy kid-friendly recipe. With a secret. When I was a little girl cabbage was a stinky word. Cabbage was something you wrinkled your nose at. The mere mention of the word conjured the smell of my grandmother's house- which was, in truth, an olfactory bouquet of Lucky Strikes, boiled eggs and kielbasa. Cabbage was only the top note. And how I hated it.

In those golden culinary days of the 1950's and '60's, the favored method of cooking cabbage was to boil it to death. Often, with potatoes. And apparently without opening the windows. Come to think of it- I don't ever remember seeing an open window in my grandmother's house. I have no images of curtains sailing upward in a gusty cool spring breeze. No sense memories of distant humming lawnmowers to distract from the television. No conjuring of fresh air. Was this lock-down by some unseen divine plan? Or maybe a generalized exercise in denial? Who knows?

All I knew was that the end result of the boiling-cabbage-to-death method was rather like eating swampy unidentified mush. Not exactly tantalizing for a texture and fragrance sensitive child. Why would anyone eat this? my tiny girl heart would question. Because it's good for you, was the inevitable answer.

Turns out, of course (and you knew this was coming), cabbage is, indeed, very good for you. Especially for those of us healing from the ravages of celiac disease. Cabbage, it turns out, heals the gut. So, what if your childhood included smelly bowls of boiled cabbage and you simply can't make yourself- or someone you love with all of your buoyant and hopeful heart- eat the damn stuff? Bubela. 

Have I got a soup for you.

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