TL/DR – Vegan Green Chile Bean Soup. This tastes almost like the pork version of green chile sauce, but it’s entirely plant based. The secret ingredient is miso and it is served with an easy baked tofu that bakes while the soup simmers. A delicious and hearty vegan meal! –
In an effort to create more plant based vegan dishes, I did some experimenting with the idea of creating green chile sauce without any pork. And then it turned into a soup, which, on the third go around became my new favorite meal for a cold day, (or for that matter, a day when I have a cold.) These days even the hint of a head cold causes a genuine panic, so I highly recommend this soup to keep everyone’s sinuses lubed up, even if we can’t yet find ourselves completely at ease.
Start by cutting slices of tofu and draining them well on a towel. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Dice a small onion and mince lots of garlic and a jalapeño and sauté them in some olive oil for several minutes.
Then add miso paste and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes. Add ground coriander, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and allow them to mush into the paste and get nice and hot. Deglaze the pot with a bit of white wine, then add two small cans of green chiles, a can of drained pinto beans, a can of drained chickpeas, a cup of jarred salsa verde, and one quart vegetable stock. Bring it up to a boil, lower to a simmer and allow it to simmer for thirty minutes.
In the meantime, make Easy Baked Tofu by placing the drained tofu slices on a baking sheet and coating them in olive oil and then sprinkling them with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. The tofu will bake as the soup simmers. When the tofu is finished, taste the soup and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then add 3 cups of finely diced fresh spinach to the pot and remove it from the heat.
Serve the soup immediately in bowls with three or four slices of baked tofu on top of each bowl. It’s decidedly not a green chile smothered beef burrito, but all of the best flavors are there and it will most certainly satisfy a craving for green chile sauce while saving tons of calories and making you feel great.
Vegan Green Chile Bean Soup
This vegan bean soup tastes remarkably like classic green chile sauce only without the pork. Serve it topped with easy baked tofu.
Ingredients
- 1 14 oz package extra firm tofu, sliced into approximately 18 - 20 squares and drained on a towel
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
- 4 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 T yellow miso paste
- 1 t coriander
- 1/2 t cumin
- 1/2 t chili powder
- 1 t kosher salt, divided
- 1/4 c white wine
- 2 small cans mild green chiles
- 1 c jarred salsa verde, such as Herdez
- 4 c vegetable broth or stock
- 1 14.5 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 14.5 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 t garlic powder
- 1/2 t paprika
- 1/4 t ground black pepper
- 3 c baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2 Slice the tofu into approximately 18 – 20 squares, place on a dry towel, roll up and set aside.
- Step 3 In a stock pot, heat 2 T of the olive oil on medium heat and sauté the onions, garlic and jalapeño for about 4 minutes.
- Step 4 Add the miso paste, coriander, cumin, chili powder and 1/2 t salt and cook for one minute more, stirring constantly.
- Step 5 Deglaze the pot with the white wine, stirring well, and allow the wine to cook mostly off.
- Step 6 Add the 2 cans of chiles, salsa verde, vegetable broth, pinto and garbanzo beans, bring to a boil and then back down to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
- Step 7 While the soup simmers, coat the tofu slices in the remaining 2 T olive oil on a baking sheet. Spread the pieces out and sprinkle them with the remaining 1/2 t kosher salt, garlic powder, paprika and black pepper. Turn each piece over to coat evenly in the seasonings. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
- Step 8 Once the tofu is finished baking, remove it from the oven and set it aside. Turn the heat off on the soup, add the finely chopped spinach and stir to incorporate it.
- Step 9 Ladle the soup into bowls and top with 3 – 4 slices of tofu. Serve immediately. If strictly vegan is not a requirement, add a dollop of sour cream when serving.
