Somebody in my life who's been dipping their toe in the waters of vegetarian eating has been wanting New England-style clam chowder. This is a recipe mash-up that I came up with that works pretty well. Still missing that sea-food-y taste, but I think if I add powdered kelp, we may get even closer. IMO, it also needs some acid, like lemon. No matter, this tastes great! (Warning: a bit high in sodium...)

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
• 2 tbsp Earth Balance butter sub
• 4 medium (1 lb. total) red potatoes, diced
• 2 cups vegetarian broth
• 2 cups crimini mushrooms, torn into chunks
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels (I used fire-roasted from Trader Joe's)
  
• 1-2 cups celery-chopped (with leaves)
  
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• Freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp sage
• 2 boxes IMAGINE-brand potato-leek soup -OR- 4 cans creamy potato soup of choice, -OR- make your own potato soup.
• 1tbsp Wondra gravy thickener.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Steam fry the onion in the butter sub 3min. Add garlic and steam from 4-5 min more.
2. Add in mushrooms and veggie oyster sauce and steam fry 3-4 more min, or until the mushrooms start to release their juice.
3. Add potatoes, celery and corn. Stir and combine with other ingredients. Add broth and bring to a simmer.
4. Lower heat and add in potato soup and seasonings. Bring to boil, stirring regularly. Reduce to low and simmer for 20min, or until potatoes are tender.
5. Whisk the Wondra or like thickener into 1/4 cup warm water, then add to soup pot and stir. Turn off heat and let stand.
   

Thai-style hot and sour soup...

Hot and Sour Soup is a world favorite. This recipe is based upon the one found at thai.about.com, but with a few key differences, most notably the doubling of the recipe to make enough soup for the next day!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

INGREEDIENTS:

• 12 cups (three boxes) "chik'n"-style broth - Serves 8 as an appetizer, or 2 for main entree (with left-overs)
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 thumb-size piece galangal or ginger, grated or finely sliced into matchstick-like pieces (skip the galangal, imo; the stuff befuddles me...)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
• 2 Tbsp. red miso paste (in place of fish sauce)
• 3 Tbsp chilli & garlic paste
• 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce (like Dan's bento sauce)
• 2 Tbsp chilli oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (frozen, fresh, or dried) OR 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp. water (whisk)
• 1-2 cups mixed "critter-bits" plus tofu

VEGETABLES (choose from the following, or add your own selection):

• 1 red or green bell pepper
• handful fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms (if dried, soak them in hot water for several hours)
• 1 cup Chinese cabbage such as bok choy, roughly chopped
• handful of fresh or frozen spinach
• frozen or fresh broccoli
• bamboo shoot strips

NOODLE OPTION:

• Serve soup over pre-cooked rice noodles. We used a very thick and chewy kind (not flat-wide rice-stick. Think more like "rice-udon") that we were dubious of before hand, but worked out most excellently, although rice-stick would work well.

GARNISH:

• handful of fresh coriander OR fresh basil
• lime
• mung bean sprouts

PREPARATION:

1. Heat broth in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, galangal or ginger, soy sauce, miso paste, chilli, vinegar, brown sugar and lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and allow to simmer while you add next ingredients.
2. Grill meat/tofu on a cast-iron grill or the like to give it some character, then add it to the pot, plus the vegetables. Simmer 3-5 minutes, or until vegetables are lightly cooked (but still on the crisp side).
3. Prepare the cornstarch thickener by using some broth. Whisk until smooth, then add to soup pot and stir to blend.
4. Ladle the hot soup into bowls (by itself or over noodles) and garnish with fresh coriander or basil.

A dish so nice I made it twice, then once again! I knew I could improve on the Bolly Burger itself. This is the same poutien, but the masala burger patty is on garlic naan, and topped with a bunch of micro-greens, vegan quik-raita (Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream + MDH Dahivada Raita masala) and mango-ginger chutney. The warmed naan is perfect for a non-bun delivery vehicle, and in my opinion, the raita was what was missing from last night. I was going to offer this to my land lady (her hubby's hunting and she was busting a move in her garden all day) but she declined, saying her son and his girlfriend were there and she was making spaghetti w/ meat sauce. Then when I was next outside, she said "You know, Bobby's girlfriend is a vegetarian, and I'm making meat sauce. Can you make her one?" to which I set about doing. I made one large serving of fries, and two burgers. Sent them both up, to rather astonished faces and rave reviews. Dirty secret: this is 80% Trader Joe's... (UK and stateside unexposed friends, substitute your mid-level alternative grocery here.)

"Punjab poutine" of seasoned fries tossed with hot curry powder, chèvre crumbles under piping hot pav bhaji, along-side a vegie masala patty on a toasted onion roll, topped with mango/ginger chutney, diced sweet onion and shredded letuce.

Yes, it was very, very good.

Why do you think I'm blogging about it?

All my desi friends may now comense laughing at me...

...until you break down an make one yourself.