Vegan Cocido

While I daydream about visiting Spain next spring, I think I a lot about how this time will be different now that I'm vegan. From blog posts to internet searches, it seems vegan foods abound all over the major cities of Spain, so I'm not concerned, and I'm even a little excited to discover a world that was unknown to me while I lived there 5 years ago. It will be a new adventure in an old hometown.

Today,  while it's still windy and cold, I decided to whip up a quick soup to use up some vegetables in our fridge, in preparation of our grocery trip tomorrow (hopefully the weather will be kinder). I grabbed some potatoes, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, a rutabaga, and some kale, and was delighted to see we still had some Italian Tofurkey sausages. Perfect. A cozy basic vegetable soup with some sausage for depth.

As this dish evolved, I was reminded of a delicious stew called cocido, which I enjoyed mostly while I trekked through northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago, the way of St. James. The traditional soup has a variety of meats, all very easy to find in vegan form. If I'd had some, I would have added pinto beans and seitan strips, and maybe used kielbasa instead of Italian sausage. Adding a little red wine and smoked paprika made it look like a tomato-soup, which it is not. The porcini mushrooms are perfect for adding some earthy depth and another chewy texture. Don't leave them out if you can help it.

So if you want to be transported to dreary, wet, northern Spain on this equally dreary northeastern US day, please try this out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp canola oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, leaves included if you have them
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 small red potatoes (Yukon gold would work too)
1/2 C red wine
6-8 dried porcini mushrooms
2 C vegetable broth
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
2 vegetarian sausages, cut in half moon disks
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 C kale, chopped
Smoked paprika

In a soup pot, heat 1 Tbsp oil and add the onion, carrots, and celery. Stir occasionally, and cook till soft, about 10 minutes on medium heat. Add the garlic and stir, cooking about 1-2 minutes, not allowing it to burn. Add the red wine to deglaze the pot, then add the potatoes and vegetable broth. If the liquid does not cover the veggies, add water. Add the thyme and oregano, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

While the soup simmers, brown the sausages in the remaining oil in a cast iron skillet (a regular frying pan is fine too).  When the potatoes are tender, remove the mushrooms (if they are big) and set aside to mince. Then remove about 2 C of the broth and veggie combination, and blend with the lemon juice, using a handheld or regular blender. Return the blended soup to the pot and add the minced porcini mushrooms, kale and sausages. Cover and simmer until the kale is soft. Sprinkle with smoked paprika to taste.

Buen provecho!