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5/20/09

Quick Asian Tofu & Vegetable Soup

Over the weekend I did not feel like going grocery shopping and decided to use the ingredients I had in my refrigerator to make a Quick Asian Tofu & Vegetable Soup. It's yet another one of my inventions along the lines of "if you don't use it, it'll end up in the garbage."

Ingredients
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 inch piece ginger, peeled, cut into 6 pieces
1/2 jalapeno
2 carrots, thinly sliced into rounds
1 small shallot, chopped
1/2 red pepper, cut into matchsticks
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
1.5 cups cubed tofu
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Directions

1) While preparing all of your vegetables, simmer chicken broth & water with ginger, garlic and jalapeno. This will infuse the liquid with the flavors of ginger, garlic and jalapeno. After the soup is done, you can "fish out" these 3 ingredients. To make your job easier, you can put them in a tea ball (if you have a large one) or into a cheesecloth before adding them to the liquid.

2) After about 20 minutes of simmering, add carrots. Cook for 5 minutes.

3) Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5 more minutes. The peppers should still be slightly crunchy.

This is a very versatile recipe as you can add other vegetables to it: broccoli, zucchini, bok choy, or even Brussels sprouts. You can also add chicken or leftover pork instead of or in addition to tofu. Why not add shrimp? You can serve the soup over rice or noodles. The possibilities are endless!

8 comments:

sj said...

looks wonderful! I love that it uses what you have on hand :)

Dewi said...

I love tofu, and I always love it. This soup look so refreshing Olga!

Juliana said...

This soup looks great...love the simplicity of it. Great pictures. By the way, thank you for visiting my site.

gail said...

Delicious!

Chef Fresco said...

Nice combo of leftovers! I love tofu, but can't quite seem to convert Michael yet - maybe one of these days :)

Anonymous said...

I have to admit to not being a huge fan of tofu but I also haven't really given it a fair chance yet. The flavors of the soup sound delicious with soy and ginger and jalapeno and I love your presentation here.

Simones Kitchen said...

You're so good in making something with leftover ingredients. I have to confess that I should be doing that more too. Soup is obviously a great way to do that...
Btw; your Russian version of canned peas with hotdogs and mayo... for some reason that sounds incredibly appealing! (which is probably a sign I need to get cooking..lol)

The Blonde Duck said...

I'll make you a deal: Make me some soup and you can live in the house and twirl around in the tiara rent free!