Because I turned vegan a year ago on this day (which I’ve cornily dubbed my ‘veganversary’), I couldn’t not post a recipe. And seeing as it is a special day, I give you one of my absolute favourites: mustard soup. Mustard soup, or ‘mosterdsoep,’ is a Dutch classic, but as much as I’d like to tell you that it reminds me of windmills, tulips and coming home to a bowl of this after a hard day of skating on frozen ponds (possibly saving the village by spotting a hole in the dike), I had never heard of it till I was in my twenties. Mosterdsoep was on the menu of a bar/restaurant where I was a bartender at the time, and I fell in love with it straight away. The creaminess of a roux-based soup with the tang of mustard and the luxurious feel of cream… gorgeous. Now, it being roux-y and creamy, you might think it’s not an obvious recipe to turn vegan, but it was pretty straightforward and I think this version is at least as good as the original.
Ingredients
1 1/4 l (1250 ml) hot vegetable stock
50 g vegan margarine (Try to find one with no trans fats. Remia’s Biologische Margarine is a very good Dutch one, imo)
40 g plain flour
4 tbsp mustard. I used a mix of Dutch (Groninger) and French (Dijon) here.
125 ml of soy cream (leave out if you like a more full-on mustardy flavour)
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
– Make the roux by melting the margarine in a largish saucepan, then adding the flour.
– Cook the mixture for two minutes on a low heat, stirring continuously.
– Add a ladleful of hot stock to the roux and stir or whisk until absorbed. Repeat this step until you’ve used up half the stock.
– Add the rest of the stock to the pan, bring to a gentle boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.
– Add the mustard and stir until dissolved, then add the cream, if using.
– Add salt and pepper to taste. If you want to be fancy, garnish with snipped chives. Serve.
The Vegetable Chopper 