Vegan Chicken Soup. Mmm Good for the Planet
Since going vegetarian over a year ago, I had to revamp my eating habits. As you all know, I decided to go “veg” due to my distaste of factory animal farming and killing animals. But I can’t say I don’t miss the taste of certain food.
There is one dish that I haven’t been able to duplicate. Chicken Soup. Sure, there are mock chicken soup recipes that claim they taste like chicken soup. Don’t get me wrong. These soup recipes are great but taste more like vegetable soup. I wouldn’t dare try and pass off the soup as chicken soup. Why would I want the Bubbie Union to file a complaint against me? (By the way a “Bubbie” is a Jewish grandmother.)
Why Do I Love Chicken Soup
As long as I remember, when you had a cold or were under the weather, you ate chicken soup. Maybe it is a cultural thing for me since I always thought of chicken soup as the Jewish penicillin. It cures everything. Do you feel the same way about chicken soup or another type of soup stemming from your culture?
I have made several mock soups which included such ingredients as mushrooms, turnips, unchicken stock, and nutritional yeast. Atlas, no chicken soup.
Desperately Seeking Vegan Chicken Soup
I can so relate to Rosanna Arquette’s character in Desperately Seeking Susan. Remember? How a bored NJ housewife desperately searched for Madonna in NYC to create some excitement in her life? Oh, come on. It is a classic. 80’s throwback. A must watch. And by the way, I dance just like Madonna in her club scene. Ask my sister.
Back to chicken soup.
Now, I not saying that I am that bored NJ housewife. (I do have my days.) But looking for the ultimate un-chicken soup recipe is like chasing after Madonna. You think you spotted her, but she slips between your fingertips. I figured I was just going to ask some of the food blogs that I follow if they could make the recipe for me.
Luckily, I stumbled upon a great food blog a couple of months ago. So, I knew who to ask. Tanya of Leafy Greens and Me. She is a vegan chef and the editor of a wonderful vegan food blog. What I love about how Tanya cooks is she rarely uses process foods. She mostly uses whole foods.
So How Did I have the Chutzpah (Nerve) to Ask Tanya?
I have been following Tanya for about a couple of months and have made some of her recipes. Delish is an understatement. (Just in case I forgot, her carrot cake cupcakes are to die for.) I comment on her blog, email her questions, and generally bug her. So, I figured since I am her Number Uno fan, I would just come out and ask her to create a vegan chicken soup recipe.. What was the worse thing that could happen? She could stomp on my heart, break my spirit and then say no? I could live with such rejection. (*Whimper*)
Guess what?
She said yes and recalled that her mother made a wonderful chicken soup recipe when she was young. Tanya sprinkled some vegan pixie dust over the recipe. (Trumpets, please.) And guess what? Tanya created a miracle. She “veganized her mother’s recipe!”
And do I love the recipe? Heck, yeah.
Check out Tanya’s mock vegan chicken soup recipe. Be forewarned, this recipe take some time since Tanya creates the stock first and then makes the soup. I told you. No processed foods.
What did the rest of the family think? Hubby thought it was good but not chicken soup. I thought it tasted very close to the real deal and could live with this recipe. Even my kids ate it and didn’t turn their nose up at my “vegan” creation. Remember, they are a tribe of cavemen. (“Me like meat.”)
I would even make the stock again to freeze for all my other soup recipes. Why? Let’s just say I am tried of those aspectic stock containers. Most people can’t recycle them and who knows what’s leaching from those containers into our food. Remember, those containers contain polyethylene (plastic) in their lining.
Adding Matzo Balls to the Soup
I didn’t make the noodles in the recipe. Instead I made matzo balls, which my kids enjoyed. (I have never been a Matzo Ball type of girl.) See here for the matzo ball recipe. Another warning. If you are planning to use my matzo ball recipe, spray your hands with olive oil or PAM since the dough in which you make the balls is really sticky. If you follow the recipe, your matzo balls will float, which is the hallmark of a good matzo ball. Floater, yes. Sinker, um, no. Flunk Matzo Ball School.
Join the Conversation:
- Do you have a beloved chicken soup recipes? If so, link it in the comments or give us the recipe.
- Do you have a tried and true vegan mock chicken soup recipe? Again, link it in the comments or give us the recipe. And then tell us, why you think your recipe is to die for.
- Do you use chicken soup when you are under the weather?
- Does anyone have a sniffle?
- Oh, and be sure to share this article with all of your beloved friends and family. I would love to have a list of great chicken recipes in the comments especially vegan ones. Everyone needs a great chicken soup recipe that is gentler on the Earth. Go ahead. Tweet and share my post on Facebook. (I live for likes and tweets, you know.)
Angela says
Hi there! This looks soooooo good! I can’t wait to try it. I’m also really excited to try the Matzo balls, too — but I have one question. Do you have a vegan version I could try? I have never made them before so I don’t want to just wing it — I won’t know if they’re right!
Thanks so much!
~Angela~
Anna@Green Talk says
I saw this article which links to a potato version and a quiona version. About.com also uses tofu but you can’t use this on Passover so I skipped it. See http://blogs.kcrw.com/goodfood.....tzo-balls/
Nava Atlas created the quiona version but tells you that they don’t taste like matzo balls. I have a couple of her books and love her recipes.
I happened to make a gluten free one with almonds based upon someone’s recipe. They were horrible.
I would try the potato version and see how it comes out. I am glad you brought this up since I was going to sub chia seeds for the eggs. I read that from another article that would have been a huge mistake! Let me know if you make the vegan matzo balls.
kimberlee says
Did you see Tanya’s recipe for the Pumpkin Chai Frappuccino??!! Yum!!!
Anna@Green Talk says
No. I didn’t see that one. I subscribe to her newsletter. She made a killer veggie burger. Haven’t tried it yet. I adore her recipes. If you make this Pumpkin Chai, you have to tell me how it was. Anna
Dedra says
Can you tell me why the chia seed gel wouldn’t work? I just bought some to practice matzoh ball soup before Passover.
Anna@GreenTalk says
Try it. I am not sure in floating water if chia seeds would keep the matza balls together. I often bake with chia seeds to make muffins in lieu of eggs. Most recipes say 1:3 T of chia to water for one egg but I find that the chias seem to suck up the liquid in cooking. One package said a gel is 1:9 which I think works better. Let me know how your experiment comes out. I would love to post your recipe. Anna
Dedra says
First attempt worked well keeping the matzoh balls together. They didn’t get much bigger, though. So my next attempt will be with the addition of two tsp of baking powder.
I mixed 2 tbs ground chia with 6 tbs water and let it sit 10 minutes. Then I added it to a box mix as the two eggs. The next time I will go with 1/4 water per tablespoon ground chia instead of 3 tbs of water. The raw balls were pretty dry, and I’ve seen it written both ways as a substitute for eggs.
Anna@Green Talk says
Let me know if the added water works. Why the baking powder? Thanks for trying to figure out a vegan version. Anna
Dedra says
Well, I tried again with the extra water and with two eggs worth of EnerG egg substitue. I thought the EnerG, since it has levening would help puff them up a bit. I don’t think it did very much, if t all. I noticed that you have to cook them longer with the chia to get the inside cooked. It is still not perfected.
I also tried a recipe I saw that used vital wheat gluten instead of eggs. The matzoh balls got big and fluffy just like regular. It was a beautiful site. Unfortunately there was a little bit of a weird chew to them. I tied to deal with it, but ultimately I would rather have a smaller ball than a big weird one. This is starting to sound unsavory;)
Anna@Green Talk says
Debra, did you try more water with the Chia seeds? I wonder if flax would work better? Anna
Dedra says
There was more water because when you use EnerG you mix it with several tablespoons of water. Plus, I added some just to make it easier to roll. But they pretty much were the same as my first try. They tasted OK, and held together, but I was looking at the “normal” ones in other peoples’ bowls and felt like I still have some more work to do.
I think flax seeds would probably do about the same, non-fluffy. We used them in our potato latke recipe last Chanukah. Too bad about the wheat gluten ones, they were big and beautiful. Thanks for your interest.
Anna@Green Talk says
Check out this recipe. http://blogs.kcrw.com/goodfood.....tzo-balls/. Tell me if it works!
Dedra says
Thanks. I’ll try it out someday!