I went to sleep last night with the windows open. I woke this morning f-f-f-freeeeezing. It was 42° outside. That is super cold to this Floridian. Many people think Florida is warm year-round, and while we are warmer than most of the country most of the time, the temps still drop into the 20’s and 30’s during the winter months. Although I hear Thanksgiving this year is going to be in the 80’s.
The only food I consistently crave in freezing cold temperatures is soup, a big bowl of delicious hot soup. There is something comforting about soup. Besides the magical healing powers of chicken noodle, soup is easy to make, easy to heat up and easy to enjoy.
I’ve had a bit of an obsession with zucchini ever since I discovered how easy it is to prepare. Add to the fact that zucchini is not expensive and seems to available year round. Zucchini is a good base for a vegetable casserole or a veggie gratin dish. Zucchini can be prepared in a variety of ways- steamed, pan sautéed, roasted or baked. I decided to make a zucchini soup with sage and thyme.
Soup can be very easy to make. Some people like to make their own stock, whether it’s beef, chicken or vegetable based. I, however, love to buy organic low sodium vegetable stock cartons and keep them on hand at all times. Since I try not to cook with a lot of oil, I use vegetable stock to deglaze the pan in whatever I am cooking on the stove. And I love to cook rice in a pot of veggie stock.
This is a very simple soup with just a few ingredients- not fishing out a ham hock bone or bone marrow (or whatever they use to make meat stock). I added radish and celery, both for extra flavor and texture (and radish adds a hint of spiciness along with paprika). A hint of coconut milk and a quick whirl in the blender. Voila! This Zucchini Sage Soup is 100% Vegan and 100% delicious. I hope you enjoy it.
- 3 celery ribs, finely chopped
- 10-12 radishes, chopped
- 2 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 cup veggie broth
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 tsp. dried sage
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme
- fresh sage, for garnish
- Add celery, radishes and zucchini to a medium sized saucepan and begin to sautee over medium-high heat. Add veggie broth, 1 tbsp. at a time, to deglaze the veggies. Sautee for 5 minutes until veggies are tender.
- Add the reamining broth and coconut milk and continue to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
- Add dried sage, paprika and fresh thyme and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour the soup into a blender and pulse until desired consistency is reached. Add more vegetable stock to thin soup out if needed.
- Divide the soup among two soup bowls and garnish wih the fresh sage. Add a dollop of horseradish if desired.
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