Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Garlicky Udon and tofu soup

Delicious!!! This one was one of those spur of the moment meals that came out so tasty we just had to blog it!

Ingredients:
1 pound of tofu, sliced into chunks
1 package of Udon noodles (uncooked)
6 cups of water (to cook noodles)
8 cups of water (for broth)
4 heaping tbs of miso paste
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp chili flakes
1-2 handfuls of fresh spinach, washed and stems removed
2 tbs of olive oil

Tofu Marinade:
Mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 low sodium soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed


Place the tofu slices in a dish and cover with marinade mixture. Place in refrigerator and leave to soak from 30 mins to overnight.

Remove tofu from marinade and place in the oven under the broiler on low heat, turning once so that the tofu becomes slightly browned on both sides.

While tofu is cooking, heat the water in two pots, one for noodles and one for broth. Once the noodle pot is boiling, add the Udon and cook for 13 mins or so, until the noodles are fully softened.

In a big fry pan heat the oil and add onions, garlic and cauliflower. Cook on medium heat, stirring often. After 5-10 minutes, once the cauliflower is begins to soften, add the mushrooms and turn the heat down to low.

In the broth pot, add miso paste and some of the tofu marinade mixture to taste until a rich broth is created. Stir well so that miso is fully dissolved.

Add onion and cauliflower mixture to the soup pot and add chili flakes to taste.

Once noodles are fully cooked, rinse with cold water and strain. Place single servings of noodles in the bottom of large bowls. Add a handful of fresh spinach, 2-3 slices of tofu, and ladle soup mixture on top until bowl is filled and dig in!

This recipe should make enough for about 3-4 people (depending on how hungry).