INSTANT POT - Vegan No Fat Split Pea Soup

Vegan, No Fat, Instant Pot Pea Soup

I'm on a mission to figure out why I can't manage to appropriately soften dried Yellow Peas.   Slow cooker results were variable and still aldente no matter how many hours and hours they cooked.  I thought this has got to be it!  Instant Pot will save to the day.  Well, yes and no.  It made homemade soup made the day of seam achievable.  I mean even with the slow cooker, it seemed like a big deal and even though I do it alot, I was never nuts about the idea of an unattended appliance for 6 hours, particularly since it gets SOOOO hot to the touch.  The Instant pot is slightly warm on the sides but the lid where it's not plastic does get hot.  I love the idea of flavours melding for hours but I don't like my house getting a dousing into the pores of food smells and in the winter it's highly inefficient, heatingwise, to leave a fan running all day to suck out the heat.


This pea soup is fast and super easy.  I did run a hand blender in it at the end but you don't have to.

Vegan No Fat Split Pea Soup

2 cups or 1 lb dried Yellow Split Peas
1 medium/large Onion, minced
4 cloves Garlic, sliced
1 large Carrot, diced SMALL... i don't like big chunks of carrot in a soup... blech
1 large or 2 medium stalks of Celery, diced small too
2 small Potatoes
1 1/2 t Himalayan Salt
2-3 t dried Thyme
1 1/2 T fresh Rosemary Leaves..  Now they are from brown woody stems, you'll want to strip the needles off and chop them.  If they are from green stems (we keep our rosemary indoors in the winter) then just remove the needles from the stems and just throw them in.
Black Pepper
2 Bay Leaves

8 cups of liquid:
4 cups Veggie Stock
4 cups Water with...
1 No/Low Salt Veggie Stock Cube
2 T Dried Mushroom Powder.... now, I'm writing it this way because this is how I made it and it was delicious and I want to remember what I did.  You can just as easily just do Veggie Broth

The night before.....

Wash and rinse the Yellow Peas and set aside in a large bowl with Water... make sure the water is at least a couple of inches above the peas.  I changed the water a couple of times during the evening but that's just me.  I like to avoid the scum in the pot.

I minced the vegetables and put them in a sealable container until the next morning... EXCEPT the Potatoes.  I don't want them to brown.  I just washed them and set them aside where I wouldn't forget to put them in :D  the next morning, peel and dice them into 1cm cubes

The morning of....

Drain and rinse the peas.... throw out any discoloured ones.

Dump into the instant pot with all the veg and veg cubes.  I minced the cubes into a powder since I won't be able to stir and didn't want chunks.  Add the Water/Broth.  Add the Potatoes.  Stir to combine.

Close the Instant Pot and set the vent to Sealed.  I chose the soup but could have picked beans/chili but this time I chose soup.  Alot of recipes I came across said 15 minutes ... quite a few.  No way in heck... maybe it's Canadian Yellow Spit Peas or the air pressure in my house but there's now way that that particular legume is getting cooked in 15 minutes.  I set the soup for 30 minutes.  I set a delay timer too.... WORD OF ADVICE. unlike my  rice cooker or my bread machine.  The delay timer on an Instant Pot is the time before the cooking starts.....NOT THE WARM UP and not including the TIME TO COOk.  The Rice Cooker and the Bread Maker, interpret delay for the time it should be ready and the time to cook or bake in included.  But for an instant pot a delay of 9 hours means after 9 hours, it will start the warm up of 3-5 minutes... or even more if the contents are cold or it's really full.  then the time to cook AND THEN natural release.  So when I got home, the soup was just done.  Literally.  I had hoped it was well after natural release .

Since the kids were hungry, I manually vented and then ran the hand blender for all of 30 s.  I wanted to leave texture but I wanted some creaminess.

I closed the pot and with the heat of the soup, it sealed again... which was good cuz dad and I ate later.

I may cut back some of the liquid next time but just for density of the soup.  Not the flavour.  It was SOOOO flavourful and comforting.  I will make this again and again which is why I wrote it with the way to achieve 8 cups of broth I did.

CREAMY VEGAN cream of MUSHROOM soup

Vegan Plantbased Cream of Mushroom Soup

This couldn't be easier and couldn't be tastier.  You will need a good blender like a Ninja or a Vitamix.  A handblender will not work on the Cashews to get them creamy.  A regular blender should work but you will need to soak the Raw Cashews overnighT.  Did you think going vegan or vegetarian meant you can't have this famous comfort food?  Not at all.  Despite no fat or salt added this was amazing.  Double for full batch but I only had 1 c of Raw Cashews left at the time.  USE RAW not roasted.  I used dried mushrooms instead of Veggie Broth because I wanted an extra Mushroom kick.  If you don't have them, then just use a low/no salt Veggie broth.

VEGAN CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

1 c Raw Cashews
4 c Water/Veggie Broth + upto a cup but taste as you go.
1/2 - 3/4 c dried mushrooms (optional if you plan to use Veggie Broth)
1 1/2 t dried Thyme
2 sprigs, thumb sized, Rosemary (leave out if you don't have fresh, you don't want dried needles in your creamy soup)
1/2 medium Onion (tennis ball sized), diced or sliced... it's all going in the blender.
4 cloves Garlic minced
2 pints sliced Mushrooms (I used Cremini)
Black pepper
1/4 t Cayenne (optional)


Put your RAW Cashews in a bowl or big measuring cup with clove of Garlic sliced in half and 2 T of the dried Mushrooms.  Cover with boiling water and set aside.

In a large measuring 4 cup, or a bowl, put the rest of the dried Mushrooms and a sprig of Rosemary and pour over the 4 c of water and set aside.  It should get as dark as a strong cup of tea.

In a large non-stick skillet or ceramic lined Creuset or dutch oven.  It is essential it is non-stick because I'm not using oil.  Put on medium high heat.  Add the Onions.  Don't move right away.  You'll just get frustrated.  Wait and then move.  They will brown.  If you're stressed, add a spoonful of mushroom water.  They will brown.  Toward the browning, add the Garlic just until softened. Toss the lot into the blender jug and set aside.

Spread out the mushrooms in a single layer as much as you can. Sprinkle over the Thyme and add the Rosemary.  Do not chop the Rosemary.  You'll want to pull it out.   Do not touch until you see water start to blister on the surface and flip.  Add more mushrooms as the first batch starts to shrink.  Get them all nice and brown.  If some get extra brown, you can start tossing them into your blender jug.  This will take some time but trust me, they will brown without oil!  if you're a bit worried about sticking, you've moved them too soon but you can splash in a spoonful of Mushroom water.  Set aside about a quarter of the mushrooms and put in after blending for texture.  Pull out the Rosemary and toss the lot into the blender jug.  I then like to swirl about half a cup of the mushroom water around in the pan to get all the fond, sticky goodness out of the ban and pour into the blender.

Pour the Cashew and the other stuff it's soaking with into the blender.  Add the mushroom water.  If you are worried about grit from the mushrooms, you can pour through a seive lined with cheese cloth.  I would do this if you are using Shitake from an asian market.  I had high quality 'organic gourmet blend' from costco so I did not bother.  I let the soaked mushrooms go in too.  Blend on high for at least 2-3 minutes.  Now, you'll want to keep blending thinking, hey it looks grainy.  Well, unless you have a super weak blender or you didn't soak your cashews enough, it probably isn't.  It's just the speckles of the dark mushrooms.  Test it before you create a pasty gunk and burn out your blender.

Pour back into the Creuset you fried the mushrooms in and heat through.  Add the mushrooms you set aside.  Serve hot. 

It was amazing. 

Navy Bean Soup - Plantbased - Vegan - Slow Cooker

My hubbo likes to think I am volumetrically challenged.  Ha!  this time it was him.  He left me with a vague recipe he asked me to double because we've had these dried Navy Beans kicking around.  Well, it didn't all fit... well the stock.  But it turned out awesome nonetheless

Navy Bean Soup - Plantbased - Vegan - Slow Cooker

1 900g pack of dried Navy Beans

1 lb Carrots, diced (about 4 medium)
6-8 stalks Celery, diced
4 small Onions, diced
6 cloves Garlic, minced

1 T dried Thyme
1 /2 T dried Coriander
1 t dried Sage
1/2 T Paprika
1 t Fennel Seeds
6 Bay Leaves
6-8 sprigs (young) Rosmary where the stalk bits are white.  If you have Dried use 1/2 T
lots of Black Pepper
1/2 T dried ground mushrooms (optional)


2 litres Vegetable Broth

Boil a kettle full of water.  In a large pot, pour the washed beans and add the boiled water.  Add more to cover.  Boil for 10 minutes, turn off heat and set aside.

During the boiling, start chopping! 

I fish out the bay and rosemary stems toward the end.  This soup was so good my pick 7 year old asked for a second bowl!!

Kid Friendly EASY HEALTHY Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

My kids are not easy eaters.  They are not terribly picky but getting them to try new things is a battle. We have only a couple of dinner rules and we don't deviate.  1.  Dinner is what is served.  I will not run back and try to find 'something else'.  2. You have to try one decent biteful of something new before you say that you don't like it.

My sister in the bay area has a VERY PICKY EATER.  Sorry V, it's true.  She knows it.  But apparently, according to her hubbo, he'll eat this.  He vaguely gave me the ingredients and I tried this out and it smelled AWESOME and the kids, including a visiting cousin just drank it down.  I dipped my finger on the spoon but since we are still on our cleanse, I didn't eat it.

Kid Friendly EASY HEALTHY Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

1 head of Broccoli.  I know that's vague.  Don't you hate that?  So I cut about 2 inches below the florets because the stalk is very sweet and underrated.  I would have cut more but I wanted to put it in my juicer :D.  I chopped the stalk into 1cm pieces.  Then I cut the Florets into thumb sized pieces.  All of it was about 3-4 cups.

1 medium Onion, tennis ball sized, diced
2 medium Yellow Potatoes, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 tetra pack of no Sodium/low Sodium Chicken or Vegetable Broth (1 l or so)
4 leaves of Sage or 1 t dried sage
1 t dried Thyme
1 t dried Oregano
2 T Olive Oil
2 C Cheddar shredded but 1/2 cup set aside for self serve by the kids

I cook as I go.  Put a large pot on medium heat with the Olive Oil.  Chop the Onion and throw in.  Stir occasionally.  Chop the Potato, and throw in.  Don't worry about the brown tasty goodness on the bottom.  That will add a lot of umami and come right off after you add the broth.  Try to scrape it but if it gets dark, turn down the heat.  Add the Broccoli.  Fry for 5 minutes while stiring.  Add the Herbs and the Broth.  Add the Salt.  Bring to a boil then turn down and let simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft and mutable with a fork.  Turn off the heat and blitz with an immersion blender.  Until all the Broccoli and Potatoes are broken down but not too smooth.  You want some texture.  Bring back to a boil for a couple minutes.  Add Salt and Pepper to taste.  Turn the heat down to minimum and sprinkle in the 1 1/2 c of the cheese in until it disappears.

Serve with the extra cheese on the side.

Red Lentil and Cauliflower Coconut Stew

Day 2 and we went skiing in very cold Canadian conditions.  The thermometer was reading minus 15 but with the windchill and the blowing wind it was at least 10 degrees colder.  Oh that's Celsius baby!  So comfort food is in order for Forks Over Knives month.  No Fats/Oils, No Sugars, No Salt added.

We make something similar to this but it has things like canned Chipotle in adobe sauce.  Weird right?  It came from my sister in law from a magazine.  It's ok but I really think it would be ok without the Chipotle but my hubbo religiously follows recipes.  But I'm cooking tonight.  This time, since we got home sorta late, I made it in a Creuset on the stove top.  No fussing with the slow cooker today.  Maybe when I go back to work next week.  The reason I use the Creuset is because of the ceramic lining.  Stuff doesn't stick when you don't use oil.  But also it helps that I'm using Red Lentils.  They soak up water just from rinsing.  They will fall apart.  Don't feel bad.  They also do not stay red, don't feel bad. :D

Vegan Red Lentil and Cauliflower Coconut Stew

Red Lentil and Cauliflower Coconut Stew

Rince and drain 1lb of Dried Red Lentils, about 2 1/2 cups, set aside
Put a 7 quart Creuset on medium heat on the stove with the lid off. As you chop, throw stuff in and stir occasionally.  This is the order I chopped thinking about cooking time and browning where possible.  Your onions will not brown without oil unless you have them on high heat but since I wanted to get lentils going, I didn't want to bother.

2 medium onions, (tennis ball sized or smaller), diced
1 large head of Cauliflower, chopped up randomly because you just ran in the house
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 inch Fresh Ginger, minced
(optional 2 yellow waxy Potatoes, diced; but I had leftover Potatoes so I didn't put them in)
2 1/2 T of your favour Curry Powder
1/2 T Ground Cumin
1/2 T Ground Coriander
1/4 t Ground Cinnamon
1 t White Pepper
2 T Red Chili Flakes
1 t Turmeric
1 t Garam Masala (optional if you have it and we have a really nice one a friend brought back from India)

The spices go in with the veg in the dry pan to wake up and cook a bit.  After a few minutes continue.

1/2 - 1 T ground dried wild Mushrooms or Porcini Powder
2 l of no Sodium or low Sodium Vegetable Broth.
1 large tin of Tomatoes, squish them gently each in your hand before putting in the pan.  If you squish too fast or too hard, you will have a face full of Tomato guts.
1 can of Coconut Milk and another just before serving.

Stew until Cauliflower is tender.  Longer if you have added the Potatoes.  About 40 minutes but you can keep on low heat for longer.  I left it on like 1 until I was done with the kids.  Serve as is or over Brown Rice with Fresh Cilantro.

Coconut Split Pea and Leek Curry

January-Vegan-Saltfree-Sugarfree-Fatfree-Processedfree-cleanse continues.  I made this based on about 5 different recipes because not all of them used the ingredients I wanted.  It is FABULOUS even if I do say so myself :D and very easy!  One pot, not to much fuss on order and this can be done in a slow cooker!

Coconut Split Pea Leek Curry

Coconut Split Pea and Leek Curry

2 1/4 c Yellow Split Peas, picked over for small stones and washed.
1 900ml tetra pack of Salt Free Vegetable Broth, Organic if you have it
3 c Water, boiled and divided.
1 Vegetable Stock Cube, no Salt
1 c Coconut Milk

1 large Leek, sliced and washed
1 medium or 2 small Onions, sliced from half
2 large cloves Garlic, minced
1 large Sweet Potato, cubed (not autumn massive sized), roughly 2 cups)
1 pack, Frozen Spinach, defrosted, if you remember.
2 inches fresh Ginger, julienned (finely sliced)

1 T Garam Masala
1 T Curry Powder
1 t Ground Coriander (heaping)
1/2 t Cayenne
1 1/2 t Ground Cumin
1 t Ground Ginger
1 t Turmeric
1/2 t Black Mustard seeds (because I did not have Yellow)
3 Cardamom pods
1/4 t Salt (or leave out)

1 t Black Pepper
1 birds eye Chili, chopped (Dom found this too spicy)

In a large Creuset, or any large ceramic pot, because I'm not using fat, you have to have nonstick but really it's not essential but it will be easier to clean up.  On medium heat, add the ingredients as you go.  I'm going to tell you how I walked through it with a playdate going on in my living room.  Add the washed and chopped onion.  The moisture on the leaks will help things keep from not sticking too fast.  Stir until soft.  Add the Sweet Potato that's been cut into 1cm cubes.  If things are browning too fast on the bottom, throw in the Stock.  Rinse out the tetra box with 1 c of the water and add to the pot.  Add the Peas and stir well.
Add the Garlic and Ginger.
Add all the spices.
Add the Spinach.
Add the stock Cube softened in 1 c boiling water (you can use any veggie based stock. I used Onion  because the only Veggie cube I had, had Salt and we're cutting out salt.) Yes, I added 1/4 t salt to the HUGE pot, just to see how it would help the flavour.  It was okay.  Not sure it would have hurt not to have it since there was so many spices and aromatics but I don't feel bad about a mere 1/4 t.
Add the can of Coconut Curry.  Rinse the can out with the last cup of water to get all the coconutty goodness.  You can skip this but I NEVER do because so much clings to those cans.  Don't do this with boiling water unless you use an oven or kevlar mitt to handle the can.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes or preferably an hour to ensure the peas are soft.   They are fine a bit al dente like the texture of Edamame.

Serve with fresh Cilantro if you have it. Serve with Rice or with Naan.

Babyfood so good, she may never taste it - Butternut Squash and Corn Puree/Soup

As I mentioned in my previous post about my new, second baby, less intense food introduction, I've been introducing new foods with ones that have already been tested.  Whereas last time, I would give lil T only that new food for a week and that didn't go over too too well with some of the greens.  Well, Red Bell Peppers were introduced this week with Zucchini, Carrots and 1 Apple.  It tasted like an awesome Gazpacho.  Yeah, she didn't love it so much.  It's amazing how pungent something I used to think was so mild to non contributing as a Bell Pepper really asserts itself.  So I've frozen it as smaller ice cubes so I can toss it in with other mixes later. 

Here I was rather unprepared for her next food as I usually time it with a lull in the week.  I had to do it in the evening while the kids ate.  She isn't as captivated watching me cook as lil T was.  He would sit happily for hours in his high chair in the kitchen gnawing on a rice cracker but lil R, not so much.  Anyhoo, the one I made tonight as she screamed at me is so YUMMO that I will seriously make this again for myself and D as a soup.  Of course, I'll add alot of my stuff like aromatics like Garlic and Onions, probably but really this puree soup stood on it's own without Salt, Pepper, Spices nor Aromatics.  Amazing what fresh produce tastes like when you don't over cook it.  I steam until just done before pureeing.

Butternut Squash and Corn Puree/Soup

(all ORGANIC)
1 medium Butternut Squash, cubed 1inch (about the sizes of a nerf ball, renders 5-6 cups of cubes)
1 c Carrots, diced 1cm cubes
1/2 c dried Green Peas
2 small Bartlett Pears, cubed large
1 large ear of fresh local Corn

Chop in this order and wait on the Pears 10 minutes into steaming the first two so you don't get ugly browning.

In a large pot, place 2 c of filtered Water and the rinsed Green Peas. 
Place a stainless steel vegetable steamer on top.  Bring to a medium simmer. 
Place the Squash and the Carrots and cover.
After 10 minutes, with the Corn standing up in a bowl, run a sharp knife down the length to 'de-cob' the Corn kernels from the cob then chop the Pears, with peel, and add to the steamer. 
The total steam time should be 25-30 minutes.  Let stand a few minutes with heat off to avoid volcano in the processor.

Spoon the steamed veg into a large food processor.  Then drain the Peas, keeping the water and add to the processor.  Add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of the steam water.  Pulse the processor to breakdown the bulk a few times.  Then let it run for 30s to 1 min until no big chunks are floating around. If you don't have a large processor, you can use a processing wand. 

If I were making this as a soup, I would use all the water.  I try not to add to much water because I don't like watery babyfood like the store bought stuff. 

Seriously, this was delicious without any added flavours. 

Enjoy!!