12.06.2008

"Chicken" Noodle Soup!

I have been eating this soup a lot lately because it's so healthy and filling. The biscuits are a nice touch, but certainly not necessary. This reminds me so much if the chicken noodle soup I used to eat as a kid, the resemblance is uncanny. Not only is this quick and easy to make, but it's also incredibly inexpensive and feeds a lot of people as an appetizer, or 2-4 people as a main course.



"Chicken" Noodle Soup

6 stalks celery chopped
1 onion chopped
1 C baby carrots sliced thinly (regular carrots are fine too)
1 C vital wheat gluten
2 vegan vegetable bullion cubes
12 cups of water
1/2 bag of pasta (I like shells for this, but use whatever you want)
2 TBS tamari
1 TBS olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste (I like lots a black pepper in this)

Start the soup first. In a large pot, over medium heat, cook the celery, onion, olive oil, and carrots until soft. Add the water, tamari, and bullion cubes. In a bowl, put the vital wheat gluten and add enough water to create a soft, spongy texture. You really can't add too much water in this recipe because the extra water will just separate from the seitan and you only need little crumbles for the soup, so it doesn't need to stay together. Remember, the key to avoiding rubbery seitan is not to overwork it, just gently massage it with your finger tips, there is no need to knead or mix heavily. For more tips check out my DIY setian recipe. Once you have your seitan ready and the soup has come to a boil, crumble all of your seitan into the pot and add your dry pasta. Simmer covered on med-low for an additional 30 minutes and your soup is done! Don't forget the salt and pepper it!



"Cheesy" "Buttermilk" Biscuits

2 C whole wheat flour (for softer biscuits use whole wheat pastry flour)
1 C soymilk
1 TBS lemon juice
1/2 C earth balance
1/4 C nutritional yeast

For the biscuits, combine the soymilk and lemon juice and allow it to curdle for one minute, this will be your "buttermilk". In a separate bowl, add your flour and pour the "buttermilk" mixture over it. Combine until you get a dough that you can roll out, if it's too dry, add some water, if it's too wet, add some flour. In another bowl, mix together the earth balance and nutritional yeast, it's easiest to use your hands for this. Roll your dough out in a square about a inch thick, I usually don't even need a rolling pin, just press it out. There is no science to this really, so don't be intimidated. Take 1/5 of your earth balance mixture and put little dots of it across your dough. Again, there's no science to this part either, so don't freak out. Fold your dough in half and press it out to an inch thickness once again. You are creating layers here. Add another 1/5 of your earth balance mixture and fold over again. Repeat this 3 more times, so you end up with 5 layers. Push it back out to an inch thickness and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. You can use a cookie cutter, but I don't like to waste anything, so I just cut it up as is and some of the biscuits may be shaped a little differently than others. Place on a parchment-line baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve a bowl of soup with a biscuit and you're set. You can also add some cayenne pepper to the soup if you like it spicy!

I'm going to try and put up a video for this recipe, so keep a lookout for that!

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