Brrrrrrrrr.
Its chilly.
Not Alberta chilly, but chilly.
The arrival of OSGMOM also brought Southern Ontario’s first cold snap of the Winter season. On Thursday, wind chills were around -22C (-4F). Northern Ontario was also pummeled with over 90cm of snow in some areas. Yeeps!
I sprung into Canadian Girl Survival Mode this week. Every winter she surfaces with the only mission to…
Stay.
Warm.
How do you know you are in a cold snap? Well, let me tell you:
- You run the kettle all day long, even when you already have a full pot of tea made- you always need hot water ready, ‘just in case’
- A cold beverage isn’t even an option until at least April
- You currently have so many blankets on your bed you wake up in a hot sweat at 5:30am
- You sleep in long johns and start thinking they are pretty damn sexy
- You put the space heater so close to your body your zipper melts
- Your cat starts to sleep in the cabinet with the door closed for days on end
- You decide that picking up your mail isn’t worth the walk down the driveway after all
- You start eating copious amounts of soup until people start asking if you are on a special soup diet
Vegan Sweet Potato & Pear Soup
This is a traditional Holiday Soup that will warm your heart and soothe your taste buds. It would be fabulous on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, or even on New Years Day.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped celery
3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 pears, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
5 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons maple syrup, or to taste
2 teaspoons lime juice, or to taste
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions:
In a pot, heat margarine on medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and sauté for 1 minute. Add sweet potatoes, pears and thyme and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add paprika and veggie broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until sweet potato is soft.
Puree in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return to pot. Add coconut milk, maple syrup and lime juice. Simmer for 5 minutes. If soup is too thick add a little extra broth.
Season with salt and pepper, adding more syrup or lime juice as needed. Drizzle with maple syrup if preferred. Can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.
Total Prep time: 30 minutes. Cook time: 30 minutes
Adapted from Food & Drink Magazine
After we blended the cooked veggies and broth, we each had a little taste and wow was it ever magnificent!
Rich yet light, sweet yet savoury. So many complex flavours that went so well together. The little kick of lime was genius.
When my mom asked me what we could substitute for the heavy cream that was vegan, I suggested coconut milk. I thought it would go well with the sweetness from the pears and the sweet potatoes. It turned out awesome!!
Do you have a homemade soup recipe you’d like to share? I always like trying out new ones!
The three of us have been having a wonderful visit together so far. I am just soaking up my time with my mom before she heads home on Tuesday. Family is so so important to me. I hope you don’t mind my absence from the blog over the past couple days.
As always I will be very sad to see her go. :( She has also been a huge help for the bakery this weekend, helping me package the 600+ Glo Bars I baked this weekend. Moms are the best, aren’t they? :)
Updates:
1) My CTV interview has not aired yet, but it may be on tonight’s 6pm CTV News. I was told it was going to be on this weekend and it wasn’t on Saturday, so I assume it will be tonight or latest Monday!? I will Tweet about it if I find anything out.
2) Whittle My Middle recap will be coming up shortly. I haven’t been on my computer all weekend so I will get to that this week.
I hope you are having a lovely weekend. Call a family member you haven’t talked to in a while and catch up. Often life gets so busy that we forget what is truly important.
Angela I cant wait to try this soup!! i recently put up a post about a vegan curry lentil soup that was also really delicious & did a great job at filling me up & keeping me full :)
Ive been a huge fan of your blog for ages! love your recipes :)
Thank you- I will have to check out the recipe! I love me some curry!
According to your list I’m in a cold snap too! I have another for the list as well: If you don’t leave the house with less than 6 or 7 layers.
That soup looks delicious! My favourite winter soup was pretty much created from a bunch of veggies I had lying around –
celery
pumpkin
potatoes
green beans
carrots
onions
spinach
chickpeas
garlic (lots – 4-5 cloves – it’s my flu-busting soup!)
continental parsley
veggie stock (homemade if possible)
peppercorns
bay leaves
Directions:
– Saute onions and garlic in some olive oil until soft.
– Add the chopped carrots, potato, pumpkin and celery and give a quick stir
– add veggie stock, 5-8 peppercorns and 3 bayleaves
– simmer until the potatoes are soft (they take the longest)
– add the green beans and simmer for a bit longer
– throw in the chickpeas (already cooked). I like lots of chickpeas to make it heartier – around 2-2 1/5 cups worth
– simmer for another few minutes
– at the last minute, stir through the spinach so that it wilts (again, I like lots of spinach but I never measure it) and half the continental parsley
Serve with a slice of fresh, grainy bread and sprinkly with some of the parsley.
Sorry about the lack of measurements. I really just throw everything in and hope for the best! :) This usually serves the two of us for two dinners each and a few lunches.
Wow this sounds fabulous! No need to apologize for lack of measurements…I am the same way when I cook.
This looks delicious!!!
The Alberta weather is a little sucky but I guess I’m just used to it and we’re supposed to get nice and warm next week (0C is warm to me right now, hee).
Now I just have to make it through my long run tomorrow.
It’s all relative right? hehe ;)
Haha, yes I totally agree that it is just TOO DARN FREEZING lately!!! Today is a little better, but a few days ago it was -25*F with the windchill, and I thought my breath was going to freeze in the back of my throat every time I tried to breathe! Crazy!
LOVE the sound of this soup. PERFECT for these chilly days!
xxoo
Heather
We had the Vegan Sweet Potato & Pear soup for lunch and it is divine! I can’t wait to make it for the rest of the family during the holidays. I’m really enjoying my time with Ange. It’s going to be so sad to leave her and go back home!
If you want a soup with a few less calories leave out the coconut mike and maple syrup. To make it thick just add less broth. This also allows you to taste the flavor of the pears and potatoes which I prefer.
That soup sounds and looks delicious! Thanks for the recipe!!
It is -34 and feels like -48 in Regina!!
My sister lives in Regina and anytime I want to feel warm in Ontario I check the temperature there, somehow it just doesn’t seem so bad here when I do.
Looks very good.
Your soup looks amazing!
I hear you on the weather. It has been cold in Winterpeg for the past week or so as well! Brutal.
This looks delis. Whenever I get up the energy I can’t wait to make it. I’ve been very ill with brochitis and the flu and the worst sore throat. I finally went to the doctors today and they gave me antibiotics and something to dry up the drainage. I hate taking this crap it constipates me and the constipation feeds into my eating disorder. Any suggestions Angela?
what a wonderful looking soup! I love the idea of adding coconut milk :)
Oh that looks delicious! I love the pear addition.
Wow, that soup looks delicious! I hope you’re having a great time with your mom! :)
That looks wonderful, I may just have to try it. I love soup.
Your list made me laugh as a born and raised Wisconsinite, going to school in Wisconsin. The one that I laughed at the most because it actually happens was making up in a sweat because you have so many blankets on. You would think I would get used to it!
That looks so yummy :) You have so many good recipe ideas…so creative!!!
That soup looks really really really good. I’m soooo going to try that! :)
I can’t even begin to imagine living in such cold conditions! I’m in Orlando, and as a former Floridian yourself…how do you do it girl!!! it’s still in the 80s here!!! Now, I wouldn’t mind a bit more cooler temperatures, but nothing like you are dealing with!
Hope you stay warm and healthy!!
I know you Canadians are cold right now, but in Georgia it was 30 deg. one night and rainy, tomorrow it will be 79 its hard to get used to the changes. Here you can use your heater one day and air conditioner the next, crazy! Yep, I made a Moroccan Veggie Stew (served over couscous) last night in the crockpot. Then today made a Veggie Chilli; tis the season. I’ll have to try your soup, looks yummo. Angela, Hope you are enjoying your mom. I know you miss her.