#tofunoodles

酢味噌ぶっかけ豆腐めん。

Warning: You will need both a fork and spoon to eat this soup. 

As the rain picks back up and the grayness settles inbetween the cracks of the sidewalk --  my body, runny nose, and watery eyes all scream in unison for soup. A soup that can provide all of the following: a pleasant amount of spice, a whole lot of substance, a little bit of umami. 

For the past week, I have been saving certain veggie tops, stems, and roots instead of throwing them in the compost. It is easy to make your own veggie stock for free and way less sodium. How to make a stock: Place all your vegetable scraps into a large pot and fill to the top with water. Add spices (for this stock I used salt and cayenne pepper). Turn the stovetop to low-medium and let the stock simmer for a minimum of 1 hour and up to 4 hours. (You can also make a stock by placing the scraps, spices, and water in a crocpot and letting it sit all day.) 

(I added some roasted seaweed to the soup stock for the umami flavor)

Once the stock is done, take the amount you will need for a bowl of soup and either save the rest in the fridge (up to 4 days) or freeze in sections. 

Thai Spinach and Tofu Noodle Soup ingredients (for up to 5 bowls):

1 small head of cauliflower 3 bunches of Thai Spinach (if not available use Bok Choy) 2 Carrots 1 package Soba Noodles 1 package Shirataki Tofu Noodles (usually found right next to the packaged tofu) 3 Tablespoons grated ginger

1.) Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles at a rapid boil for 6 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. *It is very, very important that the soba noodles cook at a rapid boil for the entire 6 minutes.* 

2.) Steam the cauliflower for about 2 minutes. Just until it becomes a little softer - be careful not to over-steam or it will have a mushy texture in the soup. 

3.) Chop the carrots into thick pieces and pull the Thai Spinach off of the stem, and grate the ginger.

  4.) Pour the soup stock into a pot and drop in the carrots and cauliflour. Heat to desired temperature. Drop in the spinach, soba, and tofu noodles and heat for an additional one minute. Serve! *Make sure to only have the spinach heated for > one minute -- you can even mix in the spinach once ready to serve. You do not want the spinach to wilt*