Healthy Vegan - 'Cheesy' Broccoli Beer Soup with Smoky Sunflower Chorizo Croutons

Did you see the red sun yesterday?!

It was truly Amazing - I am not one of those people who throws the word around lightly, it really was amazing.  

Early on in the week I made a Red Tomato Curry, today I share a bowl red soup which by all means should have been green according to the both the photograph in the cookbook, but also the ingredients including broccoli.  Upon a little research on blogophere, I noted that other food bloggers had also made the Cheesy Broccoli Beer Soup and it was also not the vibrant green featured in the cookbook Street Vegan, so I felt relieved that I was not heavy handed with either the soy sauce  or tamari and smoked paprika.    

Anyway, this Cheesy Broccoli Beer Soup with Smoky Sunflower Chorizo Croutons was ridiculously flavourful, but in a very good way.  I especially loved the different levels of flavour from the topping the beer, the cheesiness from the nutritional yeas.  It was also very velvety.  Its definitely a soup that clings to the spoon.

I even loved the Smoky Sunflower Chorizo which I served as croutons, but I could easily eat it as a nibble in place of savoury nuts too. 


I think the Cheesy Broccoli Soup is plenty flavourful and may in the future omit the beer all together as I do not think it is necessary, but it is completely up to you if you want more depth of flavour. 

I have been courteous n the past and wasn't going to post the recipe, but noted that other bloggers had, so decided to do so as I adapted the recipe a little, but full credit still goes to Adam Sobel for this amazing Cheesy Broccoli Beer Soup with Smoky Sunflower Chorizo, but if he should ever visit my humble little blog and request that I remove the recipe, I would be more than happy to do so.

I am sharing this with Kahakai Kitchen.  

Cheesy Broccoli Beer Soup with Smoky Sunflower Chorizo

For the Sunflower Chorizo

Ingredients

3/4 cups sunflower seeds

1 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (homemade see here)

1 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon asafetida

1 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

1 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoons fennel seeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ocs and line a large baking tray with baking paper coated with oil.

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse for 1 minute to combine and allow the seeds to break up, but not to a puree, it should retain some texture.

Spread the mixture thinly over the baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or so, until it begins to crisp up. 

Remove from teh oven and allow to cool. 
Then break up in uneven shards, fancy word for pieces.

For the 'Cheesy' Broccoli Beer Soup

Ingredients

Serves 6

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 medium onions, finely sliced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon asafetida

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2- 4 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

1 large head of broccoli, roughly chopped including the stalk

3 small mashable potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

250ml vegan beer (drink the rest!)

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

 Method

 Heat the oil in a large wide pan and saute the onions for a few minutes until translucent, then stir in the garlic and celery and cook for five minutes or so  before stirring in the mustard, cayenne, paprika and soy sauce or tamari and cook on medium heat for a few minutes. 

Add the chopped broccoli and potatoes and stir to coat in the spices, then add the nutritional yeast.

Pour in the vegetable stock and beer. 

Bring to the boil, then cover  and allow to simmer until the potato and broccoli are cooked.

Allow the soup to cool before blending either in a blender or  with a hand held blender.

Reheat a little and serve topped with the Sunflower Chorizo.

Adapted from Adam Sobel's Street Vegan cookbook.
Other recipes that i have made from the Street Vegan Cookbook are
Maple Mustard Glazed Seitan Strips for 

French Lentil Soup with Capers and Fried Pine Nuts from