Food Plant

lunch!

it was a good one. the asparagus bruschetta is based on the recipe from vegan italiano, although i think that donna klein cuts her asparagus in small pieces. the idea is simple: take a bunch of asparagus (tough ends discarded,) arrange it on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and spray with olive oil, and roast at 400F for ten minutes or so, until they’re a little browned but still juicy inside. once out of the oven and a little cooled, coat the asparagus with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (and very optional: a few drops of truffle oil. actually, truffle-things are shady from a vegan standpoint. why is this oil so popular with writers of vegan recipes?)

this deliciousness then goes on top of toasted slices of bread that were rubbed with a garlic clove.

for the mushroom soup, i threw together a few things i had at home. like the bruschetta, the ingredient list is a bit fancy but preparation is simple.

i used…

2 tablespoons Earth Balance spread

2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup (approx.) unflavoured soy milk

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

5 – 10 grams dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in 1/2 cup water

900 ml vegetable broth (one tetra box. you may use water and bouillon cubes.)

1/2 cup red wine

1 box of sliced brown mushrooms (227 grams or 8 ounce)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves (or a teaspoon of dry)

1/2 tsp dried crumbled thyme

cloves from 1 head of roasted garlic

freshly ground pepper + a pinch of salt (you won’t need much if your broth is salted)

optional: 2 tablespoons cashew pieces

optional: 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

in a medium soup pot over medium-low heat, melt the margarine and whisk in the flour. whisk constantly for 5 minutes, until the roux stops smelling like raw dough and the shade is a tad darker. take off the heat, and add a few drops of soy milk while whisking to combine. continue adding small amounts of milk and whisking until the mixture stops sizzling when more milk is added. add the rest of the milk and whisk until all lumps are gone.

add the 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast and the soaked mushrooms along with their water. mix in the broth, wine, fresh mushrooms, herbs, roasted garlic and spices. partially cover the pot and gently simmer for about 40 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and the flavours deepened.

remove half the soup to a blender (about 2 cups of soup) and let it cool a bit. add the cashews and lemon juice to the soup in the blender, and blend until smooth. pour the blended soup back in the pot, mix and serve.

while the soup isn’t the prettiest in this photo, kay vouches that it’s “oh my god” delicious.