I am so excited to be writing my first post! I thought I would start with something easy to make when you are tired and haven’t been to the grocery store. After the wonderful food binge that is Thanksgiving it was definitely time for a mellow, light supper. As a bonus I was able to include the last veggies I pulled from the garden here in Flagstaff. Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend the day in the Grand Canyon with friends on the Tanner Trail. So much fun, but after leaving most of the running to Rob lately I found myself still exhausted today! Sunday has turned into a lazy day and I put together this easy soup for dinner with enough leftover for lunch tomorrow. This is loosely adapted from a recipe from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and inspired by some wonderful ingredients from a recent house guest from Japan.

For the broth:

• 1 carrot chopped
• A few scallions chopped
• 1 large piece kombu (4-6 in long)
• 6-8 dried shiitake mushrooms
• Soy sauce to taste ( I use about 1/4 cup)
• A few tablespoons mirin
• Toasted sesame oil

Bring all this to a boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. I also added some dried carrot that I got from my house guest – adds a nice flavor! I let this simmer while I am chopping and prepping the rest of the ingredients for the soup. Drain off the broth but pull out the mushrooms to use in the soup.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. I used Udon, but you can really use any Asian noodle – cook according to the package directions, drain and rinse with cold water then set aside.

The rest of the soup:

• 7 oz Udon noodles
• 1 carrot sliced thin
• shiitake mushrooms from the broth – sliced thin
• 1 box silken tofu cut into cubes
• Something green – I used a few cups of chard sliced thin
• Seaweed –  two small handfuls of dulse or wakame *
• Green onions sliced thin
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Sriracha to taste

* Note: Seaweed is sold in so many ways!  I often get mine at an Asian Market when I am down in Phoenix or Eden Organics brand here in my natural food store in Flagstaff.  Any dried seaweed will work great, simply rehydrate in a bowl with plenty of water and chop into bite size pieces as necessary

Putting it all together:

1. Pour the strained broth back into the pot
2. Add the sliced carrot and mushroom, simmer for a few minutes
3. Add the cubed tofu, cooked Udon noodles and greens, simmer until greens are wilted and everything is heated through
4. Fill bowls with noodles ( I use tongs to pull a bunch out of the pot), ladle broth over noodles
5. Top with green onions, sesame seeds, and sriracha to taste

ENJOY!