Plomeek Soup

From the Star Trek television series  

Captain’s Log, Stardate 20100101.17:

 

    The USS Geeky Chef has been attacked by a Romulan starship. Why? Who knows. It's one of those, "they’re weirdly hostile, but we don’t really know why" situations. Anyway, the ship was toast, and we had no choice but to limp our way to Vulcan. Thankfully, Starfleet’s cozy relationship with the Vulcans meant we could park the ship in orbit and beg their engineers to work their magic.

 

    But communication is still a no-go, and we’ve been stranded on Vulcan for almost a year (don’t get me started on the year’s worth of missing log data). But hey, no big deal, right? I’ve learned a lot about Vulcan culture and traditions... mostly that they are as fun as a cold, wet towel. So naturally, they find ways to make even food all logical and boring. They eat only for practicality, so no animal products, no spices... Just a whole lotta vegetables. And I’ll be honest, a whole lotta bland. It would’ve been fine if the Enterprise’s replicators hadn’t been blasted to pieces in the attack, but alas, here we are, surviving on flavorless mush. 

 

One of the most popular dishes here is Plomeek Soup. Basically a watery broth made from the Plomeek plant. The color? Bright orange. The flavor? Watered down vegetable stock. After months of this disappointment, my crew had had enough. We scavenged some of Vulcan’s edible veggies and added them to the Plomeek broth to create a soup with actual flavor. We loved it so much we decided to share it with the Vulcans. Spoiler alert: They thought it was too "rich." 

 

Not to be discouraged, I’ve tweaked the recipe to better suit Earthling taste buds. I’ll be sending it back home in hopes of giving Earth’s culinary enthusiasts a little taste of our resilience and ingenuity in the face of overwhelming culinary stagnation. I look forward to more logs as our mission continues, but for now, as the Vulcans would say... live long and prosper... or at least, survive long enough to make it through another bowl of plomeek.

Ingredients

 

For the soup:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 cups chopped leeks (white and light green parts only)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 to 3 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds
• 1 cup lima beans
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
• 2 cups chopped butternut squash
• 2 quarts vegetable broth
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup cashew cream or coconut milk (optional)

 

Optional toppings:

• Croutons
• Cashew Cream
• Toasted hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds
  
• Additional basil strips or chopped parsley
  

Directions:

1. Optionally, roasted the veggies first. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Toss carrots, cauliflower, and butternut squash with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway, until caramelized and tender.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic, cooking until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the vegetables, lima beans, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, black pepper, and remaining salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes, until all vegetables are soft.
4. Remove from heat and blend in batches using a blender or an immersion blender until smooth.
5. Stir in cashew cream (or coconut milk), lemon zest, and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
6. Stir in basil and parsley just before serving.
7. Add toppings to taste.

 

6-8 servings 

This recipe has been reformatted and reworded for clarity. The recipe has been adjusted for better results, but remains a vegan pureed soup with most of the same ingredients. I'm not sure what happened to the image that used to be at the bottom of the post, but I'm digging through old hard drives to track it down. For now, imagine a fairly classic orange pureed soup.