Easy vegan soup recipes

BY GAURAv MASAND

This classic soup is one of the easiest you can make. It has something for everyone beans, zucchini, carrots, pasta. What more do you want?

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

I NG r E d IEN t S n 1 tbsp oil n 1/2 medium onion, chopped n 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed n 1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped n 1/4 cup beans (cannellini beans and black beans, soaked for 4 hrs) n ½ tbsp stock powder or2-3 cups warm water n 1/4 cup carrots n 1/2 cup pasta any type n 1/2 cup zucchini, chopped n 1 cup spinach/ kale, chopped n Salt and pepper to taste n Lemon juice optional

I NS tru C t I o NS

Wash and soak beans in water for 4 hours or overnight.

Heat oil in a saucepan; add onion and garlic. Mix well with a spatula.

Once onions turn translucent, add tomatoesand salt and let it cook.

Cook the tomatoes till they have softened.

Add beans along with 2 cups of warm water and stock powder.

Cover and cook for 15-20 mins or until they are soft. Add pasta, carrots and remaining water. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes or until the pasta has cooked

Add zucchini,chopped spinach and let it cook for a few minutes.

Optionally, add lemon juice before serving.

Note: You can also use canned beans for this recipe. Just run them through water to avoid extra salt. Soup also takes less time to cook this way.

Cold winter nights are here, and it’s soup time. Soups are comfort food for both your body and soul. Plus of course, you’ll spend less time in the kitchen, to give yourself a hearty meal that will see you to bed with your tummy full. The soups presented here are vegan and one-pot meals in themselves, and taste good with or without toasted bread.

Broccoli is packed with nutrients – vitamins, minerals, bioactive compounds, antioxidants and fibre. It’s also an easy veggie to cook with. Here we make it the star of a winter soup. This soup is made with nutritional yeast, a wonderful product you must try if you haven’t so far. It is known as the vegan alternative for cheese with a salty, nutty taste, and is great to use as a thickener.

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

I NG r E d IEN t S n 1/2 tbsp. olive oil n 1/4 cup onions, chopped n 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped n 1.5 cups broccoli florets (do not throw the broccoli stem) n 1/2 medium potato, boiled n 1 /2 tbsp vegan soup stock powder n 1 cup water n 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional) n 1/4 cup carrots n Salt to taste, grated thickly n Few drops lemon juice.

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Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onions and garlic, along with salt. Stir for a few minutes.

Now, add broccoli stems and let them cook for a few minutes.

Add chopped potatoes and stir. Add half of the broccoli florets and mix well.

Now, add water, soup stock powder and let it come to a boil. Once the vegetables are soft, turn off the heat. Blend with a hand blender. After you blend, add nutritional yeast flakes to it. This gives you that yummy cheesy flavour like cheddar.

Start heating the soup base; add remaining broccoli florets and grated carrots to your soup and get it to a boil.

Add lemon juice and let it simmer for a few minutes. Best served hot with toasted sourdough bread.

I am an Australian, married to a lady of Indian descent. I occasionally read your columns and need an online dictionary to understand some of your gaalis, but on the whole, I think that you give good advice, and your directness and call-aspade-a-spade approach works well. I am hoping you can counsel me as well. We live in a large home in Sydney and my wife’s sons (early 20s) from her first marriage also live with us. Our home is loving, happy and harmonious, and I love my two stepsons as though they were my own. But Auntyji, as the boys are growing up, every now and again, one of them might get frustrated over something and may raise his tone with his brother. They never ever argue with their mother or with me. But when they debate something, I feel a bit of tension, because I can’t stand confrontation. So in those moments, I put on a record and I listen to my heavy metal at volume. My wife gets upset by this, because she says it’s too much stimuli for her and the music stresses her. But I say that I should be able to listen to my music in my house - and I do it to block out the noise of the debate. The boys don’t like my music much but they only complain when I do it when they are arguing. Am I wrong here, Auntyji? How do I tell them the music soothes me?

Listen up, Iblis ke nana, I will say this only once. Only a White man has the audacity to insist on having his own way, and having his selfish needs met over that of his family while declaring that he should be able to do what he wants in his own house. Seriously? Is this how you think, you individualistic shaitaan? So your wife has created a loving home for all of you. And when people live together, every now and again, there will be some disagreements - even if they are minor. And your response to this is to listen to black metal? Are you not aware of how music affects our emotions? And black metal - which some people say are the croonings of shaitaan, can be particularly jarring and unsettling. And you choose to play at volume? A most stupendous way to terrorise the family. So listen up you budtehzeeb, two brothers communicating, even if tones are raised, is all part of healthy family dynamics. What no one needs is Darkthrone or Neurosis screeching their incantations from hellinciting all to madness. I understand that you want to block out their voices, so use headphones - the hearing damage can be yours alone. Better yet, retreat to the pub where the rest of your people gather to get away from their families. And one more thing. Your house? Your house? Yes, this is the same attitude that all the goras had when they decide to come and pillage India. No, it’s not just your house. It belongs to all your family.

DEAR AUNTYjI

You are fairly blunt in some of your comments and advice, and I suspect you won’t mind if I do the same with you. I am beginning to suspect that you may be a latent racist. Your comments about White people - do you think they are the right thing to do in the spirit of harmony? Wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t look at our differences and instead chose to focus on our similarities? And is it necessary that you make White people the “others”? How are you making this world more connected if you focus on White people and their supposed failings? I look forward to your candid responses.

AUNTYjI SAYS

Oh, candid you want, haan? Candid you will get. Let’s start with your allegation of racism based on my making comments about White people (the British in particular). I would like to declare that I peddle in stereotypes, because as we all know, stereotypes save time. But my starting point really should be that I am a scold to all peoples everywhere. I don’t discriminate on the basis of race or nationality - unless it’s pertinent and makes sense. I challenge you to find any response of mine where I say something about the Japanese or Norwegians or even Papua New Guineans. And you know why? Because the Norwegians did not take the Koh-i-Noor diamond under suspect conditions and then singularly failed to give it back. The Japanese did not denude an ancient country with a rich culture and heritage of its resources, including its people. No. It was under Pax Britannia that all this happened and much more, and I am well within my rights to point all this out. I am simply highlighting the injustices of history and if I choose to make a point - somewhat crudely - through the nationality of the reader who writes in with a question, then so be it. And another thing: it’s budtehzeeb log like you who insist that we shouldn’t look at differences and only see the similarities. Really? This is your pseudo intellectual perspective? Allow me to enlighten you, bewakuf. When we see people’s differences, we can seek to understand them better. When we see how different they are, only then can we understand how similar we are. When we learn that White people celebrate Christmas, we can see that just like us at Diwali or Eid, it’s about family. If we only strive to look at similarities, we will miss the opportunity to learn something new about other people. We will miss an opportunity for a connection. And as for being a racist. How am I a racist if I want the Koh-i-Noor back? If I am a racist, then you, sir, are an ignoramus. Take it and go.

हैं, इसकी संभावना बहुत

अधिक है फक हम COVID-19 के संपक में आएँगे।

इसलिए अब समय है फक बूस्टर के साथ अपनी सुरक्ा को मज़बूती दी जाए। यदद आपकी आयु 16 वर या इससे अधिक है, और आपको COVID-19 की अपनी दूसरी खुराक लिए हुए तीन माह से अधिक हो चुके हैं, तो आपका बूस्टर िगवाने का समय अब आ चुका है।

BY MINAL KHONA

Minal Khona has been reading tarot cards for the last two decades. She uses her intuition and connect with the cards mostly to help people.