Soft Food for Sore Mouths: Four Delicious Hearty Soups

After gum surgery, I had to eat nothing but super soft foods for about a week, and was pretty bummed about it. But Sarah managed to think of five delicious and creamy soups in a row for us to eat! Anyone who has to avoid hard and crunchy foods and stick to the soft (for whatever reason), rejoice! Your recovery can be delicious. Sadly I forgot to take any pictures until the end of the week when only the last two were left, but hopefully you can visualize the rest (they are all pureed so look similar except for color). An immersion blender is a great way to make soups creamy without having to wash a real blender.

1. Butternut Squash w/ Apple
This recipe came from Appetite for Reduction. Fortunately I had a half-bushel of gold rush apples that added some wonderful tartness and flavor to the soup. It didn't have that many calories, so we added 3/4 cup of cashews (which also added a nice creaminess as well). I've had many butternut squash soups, and a few with apples, but I think this is my favorite.

2. Black Bean w/ Avocado
This recipe from the Bold Vegetarian Chef is kind of like the best things about black bean soup, guacamole, and salsa, all rolled together. I mean, sure it would be nice to eat it with corn bread or tortilla chips or something, but it does the trick by its lonesome too when you're sticking to soft foods.


3. Creamy lentil

This one (from Garlic Garlic Garlic) comes out pretty thick, so you may want some extra water if you want it more like soup instead of stew. It seems like it should be boring, but the sherry somehow makes it different, and the chives are great too if you have them.

4. Split pea soup
This recipe from the Bold Vegetarian Chef works best when not pureed (it has some nice potatoes, and pieces of tempeh bacon), but it still has a nice combo of the split peas, smoky tempeh, and other veggies. This soup is nice and filling, and if you get sick of it, swirl in some Sriracha which adds a pleasant twist.


5. Chili
There was a chili cookoff competition for our neighborhood, and Sarah decided we should make a vegetarian chili to show people that you can have a great chili without meat. Sadly, I put beyond meat beefless crumbles in it, which only add a dry, rubbery, flavorless series of chunks to get in the way of an otherwise delicious chili. But otherwise it was pretty good.

Recipes for all but the first one are at http://fish.freeshell.org/recipes.html

Need something pleasant to drink, but can't have alcohol (b/c of medication, or inflammation, or whatever)? I relied heavily on homemade fake beer.

Cheesy Brocolli Soup from 'Easy Vegan Recipes' booklet

I did a tabling* on Saturday, but it was pretty slow, so I started browsing in Compassion Over Killings' Easy Vegan Recipes booklet. Although I was never a fan of cream of brocolli soup, once I saw that recipe in the booklet, I couldn't get the idea out of my head.


See, just like the picture in the booklet!

This is the recipe: Cheesy Broccoli Soup

I halved the broccoli and nutritional yeast, quartered the cashews, used only 1/4tsp + 1/8 tsp salt, only about 2-3 cups vegetable broth, added 1/3 cup chives, only 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and didn't add onion powder or pimentos.

The great thing about this recipe is it really is a snap to make. I placed my cashews in a dish and covered them with water, and microwaved until the water boiled. I then let them sit and soften, and drained them before adding to the food processor. Otherwise, I followed the instructions in the recipe. It really only took me 30 minutes to put together and I'm a slow mover. After finishing making the soup I liked it but I felt like it needed something. Then I left to walk the dog for 30 minutes, and after returning, the soup was perfect! It just needed time for the flavors to set in.

I need to try to control myself and not eat anymore or I won't have anything for lunch tomorrow. I know some people** think cashews are awfully expensive. For those folks its good to know you can halve the cashews in this recipe and still come out with a mighty tasty result.


*this is where you stand at or sit by a table filled with literature and ask folks if they would like some info as they pass by.
**my husband Jon.