Instead of the traditional food blog accompanying “here’s what it looks like” picture, you’re getting a picture of a soy bean plant I drew. TADAAaaah.
Not only is this a simple “put it all in the pot” and let it simmer while you wander away to watch Jeopardy or chip golf balls or whatever kind of dish, but it’s also a restorative, healthy, my-body-is-a-temple-except-for-all-that-booze-and-cheese-I-ate soup for when you need to feel like a billion dollars in a real jiffy, so here we go.
INGREDIENTS
8 cups vegetable broth
Dollop red chili paste
Dollop chili paste with garlic
Bunch scallions or small white onion, sliced finely
Creminis or shiitakes, buffed with a paper towel and chopped up
Large bunch snowpeas, rinsed and cut in half
6 oz firm tofu, drained, dried, and diced
Jalapenos, deveined and diced
Bok choy leaves, rinsed and chopped
Fat knob fresh ginger, minced
Rice wine vinegar
Soy sauce
Coconut oil
Few drops sesame oil
Lime juice
METHOD
In a big ol’ pot, heat a little coconut oil over medium. Throw in the scallions, both chili pastes, garlic powder, ginger, sesame oil. Warm through a few minutes, add the mushrooms, and continue to saute. Add all the stock, and bring to a boil slowly. Take the heat down again and pour in the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar (to taste, really). Next go in the snowpeas and bok choy. Turn the heat down further to simmer while you get on with frying the tofu.
You could put the tofu directly into the soup without dressing it up like this, and sometimes I do, but since it soaks up flavor like a sponge, I find it’s exponentially more awesome to put a little fry on it before it goes in. Healthfully, of course. While soup’s simmering, heat a tiny bit of coconut oil in a small pan over medium high. Fling in a few scallions with some garlic and your diced jalapeno and a little soy sauce and your tofu. Toss it in this spicy, fragrant mix for a few minutes before dumping the whole pan’s contents into the soup. Let it all simmer for about a half hour. Take off heat and serve with fresh cilantro and a lot of lime juice. Noodles or rice would also be great as well as other veggies with a Far East kinda feeling. The recipe is very forgiving, as you should forgive yourself for eating whatever you ate or drank to precipitate this austere meal. Look no further! A cure is here. Give it all over to the hot pot. There you go.
Food Your Feelings 