Golden Soup

Bonnie Mandoe, a former Maui resident, published her cookbook Vegetarian Nights: Fresh From Hawaii in 1994.  It is still one of my favorites.  Her recipes are very simple to make, and full of rich flavors.  I recall ordering a veggie burger many, many, years ago at Maui Coffee Roasters, which still exists today.  The burger was topped with green chile pesto, a recipe found in her cookbook.  It made that burger so special.  One of Bonnie’s dishes that I have made many times is her delicious Golden Soup.  Golden from turmeric and nutritional yeast, it’s a breeze to make.  You can find nutritional yeast in the bulk section of your favorite health food store.  I love it. I always have some in my pantry and use it to make mock chicken tofu as well.

Red lentils are usually orange in color.  They don’t hold their shape well, and are best suited to thicken soups, as is the case with this recipe.  So don’t be disappointed when this happens, it’s part of the plan.

Lots of tasty vegetables go into the soup, beautiful orange carrots, celery and creamy potatoes. I’ve made this soup Bonnie’s way, using vegetable bouillon cubes however this time I used chicken broth because I didn’t have the bouillon cubes in the pantry.  So that means it isn’t a vegetarian soup, but you can easily make it the original way for a vegan meal.  Also feel free to add cup of diced zucchini once the potatoes have cooked through a bit.  Simmer for another 5 minutes or until the potatoes are just perfectly cooked.  Add the parsley and nutritional yeast.

Golden Soup

Adapted from Vegetarian Nights cookbook

6 Servings

Ingredients

3 cups water if using chicken broth

2 cans (14 oz.) chicken broth or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes combined with 6 1/2 cups water

1 cup diced onion

1 garlic clove, pressed

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 bay leaf

1 cup red lentils

1 cup diced celery

1 1/2 cups diced carrot

1 cup diced potato (I like to use Yukon Golds)

2 tablespoons minced parsley

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

salt and pepper

Preparation

Bring water and chicken broth or water and bouillon cubes to a boil.  Turn  the heat down to a simmer and add the onion, garlic, turmeric and bay leaf to the pot.  Continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

Wash the lentils thoroughly in several changes of water until they stop foaming.  Drain and add to the soup, along with the celery, carrots, and potatoes.  Simmer another 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender.  The cooking time will depend upon how large or small you cube your potatoes.  I go for a fairly small cubes for this particular recipe.

Add the parsley and whisk in the nutritional yeast.  Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.