10-Spice Vegetable Soup

Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free

By Angela Liddon

This is the ultimate bowl of comfort food, made with a decadent creamy broth and loaded with an array of health-boosting spices and vegetables. Be sure to soak the cashews in water the night before (or see my 1 hour quick soak method) so they are ready when you plan to make the soup. Recipe lightly adapted from The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon. Avery Publishing, an imprint of Penguin Books © 2014.

YIELD
6 SERVINGS

SOAK TIME
2-8 HOURS (FOR CASHEWS)

PREP TIME
30 MINUTES

COOK TIME
30 MINUTES

Ingredients:

FOR THE SOUP:
3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked
6 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet or yellow onion, diced (2 cups)
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (1 heaping cup)
1 red bell pepper or 1 cup jarred roasted red pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato, regular potato, or butternut squash
2 stalks celery, chopped (1 heaping cup)
1 (28-ounce/796-mL) can diced tomatoes, with their juices
1 to 2 tablespoons Homemade 10-Spice Blend, to taste
Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 to 3 cups baby spinach or destemmed torn kale leaves
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or other beans, drained and rinsed.
Homemade Spice Blend (makes 1/2 cup):
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Place cashews in a bowl and add enough water to cover. Soak the cashews overnight, or for at least 2 hours. Drain and rinse the cashews.

In a blender, combine the soaked and drained cashews with 1 cup of vegetable broth and blend on the highest speed until smooth. Set aside.
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Season generously with Herbamare or sea salt.

Add the carrots, bell pepper, potato, celery, and diced tomatoes with their juices, the remaining 5 cups broth, and 10-spice blend. Stir well to combine.  

Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Season with salt and black pepper and add the bay leaves.

Simmer the soup, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and black pepper. 

To freeze, ladle the soup into containers (leaving 1-inch for expansion), cool completely, secure lid and place in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.

Tips:

1) If you don’t wish to make the 10-Spice Blend, feel free to use your favorite store-bought Cajun or Creole seasoning mix and add to taste. 2) You will have leftover spice blend. Store it in a container and keep it handy anytime you want to spice up a dish! It's great for pasta, soup, tofu seasoning, stir-fry, and more. 3) When thawed, this soup's broth looks a bit grainy, but rest assured when it's heated up again it will return to its former smoothness.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2014/10/02/10-spice-vegetable-soup-freezer-friendly-vegan-gluten-free/#ixzz40qDW4s00

Homemade Nutella Hot Chocolate

Homemade Nutella Hot Chocolate 

This recipe is a twist on traditional hot cocoa. This recipe features my homemade Nutella nut butter which makes this drink so creamy and decadent! I also love adding 55-60% dark chocolate into the mix for even more chocolate flavour. For a luxurious twist, try stirring in a bit of full-fat coconut cream into the hot cocoa, or serve it topped with some vegan marshmallows. Yield four 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients:
2 cups unsweetened almond milk (homemade or store-bought) 50 grams 55-60% non-dairy dark chocolate
1-2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup Homemade Mocha Nutella (recipe linked below)
Dash fine grain sea salt, to taste
Directions:
Prepare the Homemade Mocha Nutella.
Break up the chocolate into chunks. In a medium pot, add the almond milk and chocolate pieces. Increase heat to medium-low. Whisk occasionally until all of the chocolate is melted.

Whisk in the maple syrup, cocoa powder, nutella, and salt until super smooth. Heat over medium-low and remove from heat just before it simmers. If you can't get the hot cocoa smooth enough by whisking (this will depend in large part by how smooth your homemade nutella is) you can transfer it into a blender (with lid ajar) and blend until smooth.

Adjust the sweetness to taste, if necessary. Serve and enjoy! Leftovers will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 2 days or longer.


Homemade Mocha Nutella  Yield: 1 & 1/4 cup
Ingredients:
2 cups raw hazelnuts
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt or to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300F and roast the hazelnuts for 13-14 minutes, watching closely, especially if you aren’t sure of your actual oven temperature. When ready, the skins will have darkened and some will have come loose.

Place nuts into the centre of an old damp tea towel. Cover it up like a purse and rub the nuts for a couple minutes to loosen the skins. Pick out the “naked” nuts and place into processor. Repeat towel rubbing for the rest. It’s ok if all of the skins don’t come off. Add the rest to processor.

Process the nuts, stopping to scrape down the bowl every minute or so. After 9-10 minutes of processing, add in the coconut oil and process until smooth. This will help thin it out a lot and I don’t recommend skipping the oil.

Now add in the rest of the ingredients slowly and keep processing and scraping down the bowl for another 5-10 minutes, or until silky smooth. It took me 15-20 minutes total processing. The sugar will thicken up the spread significantly, but keep processing and the heat will smooth it out once again.

Store in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will harden slightly when chilled. Simply bring it to room temp or heat it to soften.

Soft and Chewy Granola Bars

Soft + Chewy Baked Granola Bars

By Angela Liddon
Dense, chewy, soft, doughy, seedy, hearty, protein-and-fibre-packed granola bars, sweetened naturally with dates! Try them spread with nut or seed butter for a fun treat or just enjoy them plain.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats, ground into a flour
1 cup water
3/4 cup packed pitted Medjool dates
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

*

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F and line a 9-inch square pan with two pieces of parchment paper, one going each way.

Add rolled oats into a high-speed blender. Blend on highest speed until a fine flour forms. Add oat flour into a large bowl.

Add water and pitted dates into blender. Allow the dates to soak for 30 minutes if they are a bit firm or your blender has a hard time blending dates smooth. Once they are soft, blend the dates and water until super smooth.

Add all of the ingredients into the bowl with the oat flour and stir well until combined.

Scoop the mixture into the pan and spread it out with a spatula as evenly as possible. You can use lightly wet hands to smooth it down if necessary.

Bake at 325F for about 23-25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then lift it out and transfer it to a cooling rack for another 5-10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

I suggest freezing leftovers to preserve freshness.