“Cream” of Vegetable Soup

Source: Garden of Vegan

Yields 6 liters

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 340g onion, medium dice

• 90g celery, medium dice

• 700g broccoli florets, chopped

• 700g cauliflower, chopped

• 300g carrot, medium dice

• 250g mushrooms, quartered or smaller

• 1 cup frozen or fresh peas

• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

• 4 liters vegetable velouté sauce (recipe follows)

• 2 liters vegetable stock

• salt and white pepper

Prepare the soup in a very large pot.

1. Saute the mushrooms in a little bit of the olive oil, set aside.
2. Sweat onions, celery, broccoli, cauliflower,  and carrot in the remaining olive oil, without browning, until they are nearly tender.
3. Add the velouté sauce, bring to a simmer, and cook until the vegetables are tender, approximately 15 minutes.
4. Puree the soup to your liking. Add the mushrooms and thin to the correct consistency with the stock.
5. Bring the soup to a simmer and add the soy milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Notes:
– Experiment with different vegetables, some good options would be: asparagus, corn, spinach, cabbage, or green pepper.
– The flavour of this soup is pretty versatile, you could easily change it up with different herbs or spices.

Vegetable Velouté Sauce / yields 4 liters

• 1 cup vegan margarine
• 1 cup flour
• 5 liters vegetable stock

1. Melt margarine in a large heavy saucepan, add the flour and whisk together. Cook for a minute to make a blond roux.
2. Gradually add the stock to the roux, whisking to prevent lumps. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
3. Simmer and reduce to 1 gallon.

This recipe can be used as a base for different recipes. A few different ways you can use it are:
– Creamy pasta sauces – Sauté some garlic and onion in the oil before proceeding with the recipe for a base for alfredo sauce.
– Mushroom gravy- Sauté a package of mushrooms in the oil before following the recipe.
– This would make a good base for vegetable pot pies.