Hi everyone! Today’s recipe is Easy Vegan ‘Chicken’ Noodle Soup! It’s yummy, super easy, and it’s every bit as comforting as the one you grew up on, but so much healthier! It has loads of veggies, it’s cholesterol free, low in fat, and instead of chicken, you can use tofu or your fav vegan chicken substitute (recommendations coming). My whole family loves this soup, and my oldest son has even been known to request it for his birthday… in August!! It’s really that good. The recipe is definitely family sized, it makes almost 6 Qts., but I find that it never lasts more than 2 days with our family of 4! You can reduce the size if needed or you can even freeze the leftovers. The best part is that this hearty, healthy soup is really easy to make. I promise it will become a favorite with your family too!…
Summer Celebration Tortilla Soup
Summer, Love, and the Evolution of Summer Celebration Tortilla Soup
Last week, my husband and I celebrated the day we met 31 years ago! I was working as a live mannequin at a clothing store on Venice Beach. We were 17 and 22. My husband frequented the boardwalk with his friends, and decided to try to get my number, on a bet. I had noticed him several weekends before, in a crowd of people that had gathered in front of the store, and I felt a connection with him. I was really happy when he came to the store when I got off of work. We met, started talking on the phone, and started dating and the rest is history!
So thinking back to that time, I wanted to give you a recipe that is near and dear to our hearts. This was in the early 90’s so we didn’t even have a computer, and food blogs were definitely not a thing! I had always loved cooking, and now that I had someone to cook for, I wanted to expand my repertoire a bit! Tortilla Soup was one of the recipes in one of the first cookbooks I bought. It looked so yummy, but it definitely wasn’t vegetarian. (I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 16). So I began to tinker with the recipe. My husband (my then boyfriend) loves Mexican food and this soup was an instant hit. Over the years I’ve perfected this recipe and it’s gone through many different variations. This latest one is our favorite, as it really celebrates the bounty of summer! So celebrate with us! Here’s to Summer! Here’s to wonderful summer veggies! And here’s to 31 yrs of being in love! I think that’s a lot to celebrate! 🙂
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Low-fat Vegan Tamales
So, it appears that I’ve attracted Vegan Tamales in my life! Weird, right? I know. Let me explain. For years, I’ve been wanting to learn how to make tamales, but I always had this idea that tamales are hard to make. I don’t know why I thought this, I didn’t really research it, I just didn’t know what to do. I’ve picked up the wrappers at the store, looked at them, and put them down. I had a mental block! Around Christmas time I really started thinking about them a lot. We live in Southern California, and all during December, you see signs on restaurants that say ‘order your Christmas tamales’, and there’s even a tamale factory that gets a line around the block for the whole week before Christmas. I know that, because one year, a very pregnant, tamale craving me, sent my husband down there to get some, only to find out later that they don’t sell vegan tamales, but that’s a whole other story… (Tamales are traditionally made with lard, butter, and chicken stock, and filled with other, mostly, non-vegan ingredients). Anyway, I was thinking about tamales a lot, when I was presented with an awesome opportunity! A fellow vegan food blogger, Dora, from Dora’s Table, asked me if I was interested in reviewing her new book, Vegan Tamales Unwrapped. What?! Perfect timing! So of course, I said YES! I’m so glad I did too, because this book is awesome! Oh, and it’s only $7.99
There are detailed, step by step instructions for assembling the tamales, with lots pictures, and a whole variety of fantastic recipes to choose from. I knew that tamales came in savory varieties, usually stuffed with vegetables or meat, and sweet tamales (my favorite), but I had no idea that you could make CHOCOLATE TAMALES, or fruit flavored ones, like Dora’s recipe for blackberry tamales! (That one is next for me!) The best part, is that this book really demystified the whole process, and now I know that, not only are tamales actually very EASY to make, they are really fun too! Seriously, I really wish that I had this book years ago! I’m definitely going to be making up for lost time!
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Angel McNall is the author and photographer of High Vibe Lifestyle. For over 20 years, Angel has been teaching people how to live more vibrantly by eating a plant based diet, and using plant based medicine. 
