We don't eat meat in our home either. Here are a couple of soup recipes I use. I have several more recipes (not all soups) typed up that I could email to you if you would like. We also make a lot of meatless curries, which are soup-like. You can also try looking online for different kinds of meatless soups.
Black Bean Soup with Onion and Cilantro (from "The New American Plate", pg. 217)
Ingredients:
1 Tbs olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
6 scallions, trimmed and chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cans (15.5 oz. each) black beans, undrained
2 cups water
½ tsp dried re pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
½ cup orange juice
Salt and pepper
Chopped red onion, for garnish
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
* In a dutch oven or large, heavy pan, heat the olive oil over med.-high heat. Saute the onion and scallions for about 3 min., until translucent. Stir in the garlic, cumin, and oregano, and saute for 1 min.
* Add the beans in their liquid, water, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 min., until the onions are soft. Mix in the orange juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 min. more, then remove the pot from the heat and let the soup cool slightly.
* Remove the bay leaf. Using a food processor or blender, puree about half of the soup in batches and return it to the pot. There should be whole beans and onions in a smooth liquid.
* Serve hot in 4 bowls, each garnished with a little chopped red onion and some cilantro leaves.
(Instead of canned black beans, I cook my own. I don't care for much onion so I only use ½ med. onion and no red onion.)
Tom Yum Soup (Internet Recipe)
Ingredients:
3 cups chicken stock
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stock lemon grass, finely minced
2 kaffir lime leaves, if you can find them
Diced chicken or shelled shrimp (optional)
A bunch of sliced Shiitake mushrooms
1-3 hot red peppers, sliced and optionally fried
1 can coconut milk or coconut cream
2 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
Fresh squeezed lime juice
Julienned carrots
Broccoli floweretts
Red bell pepper, diced
Whole cherry tomatoes.
Fresh cilantro, lightly chopped
* In a large pot prepare broth using bouillon, or heat stock. Add the chopped garlic, lemon grass,and lime leaves (if you have managed to find some).
* Let the broth simmer for a bit and then add the mushrooms and hot peppers. Boil for a few minutes. Also, if you are using meat put it in. You can put in the shrimp raw and let it cook, but I recommend you precook the chicken.
* Once the mushrooms are tender (and the meat is cooked), add the coconut milk and turn the heat down to low. Stir in the fish sauce and the lime juice. Taste the soup, add more fish sauce or lime juice to suit your taste buds as necessary. Bring soup back up to a simmer.
* Once the soup tastes right, turn off the heat and add the carrots, broccoli, and bell pepper. You don’t want these to cook too long; otherwise they loose their crunchy texture and vibrant colors. If you are putting in tomatoes, then do this just before you serve the soup so they don’t cook too much. Top off with cilantro leaves, to taste.
(I make my stock with bouillon cubes. You can usually find minced lemon grass already prepared in asian markets in the frozen section. You can remove the seeds from the peppers to make them less spicy. You can turn this soup into “Tom Khaa” by adding chicken pieces.)