If fresh lingonberries are hard to find, there are a number of other berries that would work as well  – cranberries or red currants probably being closest taste-wise. Another option would be to use lingonberry jam instead of the fresh berries and the sugar.

Here’s what I used (serves 2):

• 2 dl boiling hot water
• 1/2 dl rye flour (or a bit more if you prefer it thicker)
• pinch of salt
• 1 and 1/2 dl crushed lingonberries
• 1/2 dl whole cane sugar (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar

I poured the boiled water in a large mixing bowl, and plugged my electric whisk. Then I started whisking the water and sprinkled the rye flour in the bowl. I continued whisking for about 10 minutes, until the rye porridge had turned quite light in color and fluffy in consistency. Then I added the rest of the ingredients and whisked for a few more minutes until thoroughly combined.

This is best served with cold vegan milk or vanilla custard.

The secret of this soup is how we used tahini as a thickener, which produced an almost coconut-milk-like creaminess. It really worked well in this recipe, and we’ll be sure to try tahini in other soups in the future.

This is what we used:

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons cumin (jeera)
• 2 teaspoons coriander
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
• about 6 dl of vegetable stock
• 5 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 teaspoons tahini
• 1 – 2 tablespoons lime juice
• salt to taste
• sugar to taste
• pepper to taste
• chopped fresh parsley to garnish

I began by prepping the potatoes, onion and garlic. Since we were hungry, I diced the potatoes into smallish cubes to reduce cooking time.

I heated the oil in a thick-bottomed pot and added the cumin, coriander, turmeric and paprika. I stirred with a spatula, until the fragrances were released. Then I added the onion and garlic, and sweated them for a few minutes. Next I put the potato cubes in the pot, and poured in the stock, just enough to cover the potatoes. I brought the soup to boil, covered the pot, and cooked until the potatoes were soft.

When the potatoes were done I added the chickpeas in the soup. Then I took about 1 dl of the liquid from the soup in a cup, mixed in the tahini with a spoon until no lumps remained, and poured it back into the soup. Then we added the salt, sugar, pepper and lime juice, and checked the taste until it was to our liking. Before serving, we sprinkled our soup with some chopped parsley.

I sprinkled my leftover-lunch-portion of the spicy rutabaga soup with these seeds, and that was the most satisfying meal I’ve had for a long while. This recipe is eminently customizable – for starters: basic soy sauce can be used instead of tamari, any other sweetener instead of agave, and wheat flour and olive oil instead of spelt and canola. The seasoning possibilities are endless, but these are pretty great even when made with just soy sauce and no extras!

Here’s what I used:

• 2 dl sunflower seeds (hulled)
• 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon agave syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon hot chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
• pinch of smoked paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon spelt flour

First, I toasted the sunflower seeds in a non-stick frying pan on medium high heat until slightly browned. It took me about 10 minutes, and I kept stirring them every now and then all through the toasting process. I’ve found that seeds often start to “smoke” a little when they’re done toasting – maybe it’s the water that evaporates when they’ve reached a certain temperature.

While I was toasting the seeds, I mixed the seasonings together (tamari through canola oil). When the seeds were done, I added the seasoning in the pan, and stirred with a wooden fork until all the liquid had evaporated. Then I sprinkled the spelt flour over the seeds, and fried them for a few more minutes.

When the seeds were all done and nicely covered with the seasoning mixture, I spread them on a piece of baking parchment to cool down.