Non chicken soup for nana

Vegan "Chicken" Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 block extra firm tofu

2 cups diced onions (I prefer sweet or vidalia)

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrots

2-3 cloves of garlic chopped

whole grain bow tie pasta

4 grams cocaine (kidding)

sea salt

black pepper

poultry seasoning

olive oil or coconut oil

corn starch

vegetable broth or stock (32 oz)

Instructions:

In a large deep skillet, heat a generous bit of oil (about 3 tbs) on high and then toss in the onions.  Reduced to medium-high and stir now and then.  After the onions have browned some and have started to become soft or more translucent, add in the celery and carrots.  This is a mirepoix base for our soup.  Season the mix with a couple of pinches of sea salt, the garlic, and a dash or two of black pepper.  Continue cooking until carrots become soft.  Do not forget to stir now and then to mix around the flavor and to prevent burning.  

The mirepoix base should take about 30 minutes.

In a large pot (stock pot or dutch oven), bring to a boil the vegetable broth/stock and 3 cups of water.  Stir in the pasta and 2 tbs of poultry seasoning.  I recommend adding a splash of olive oil to help prevent sticking.  Return to boil, cover, and reduce heat to prevent boiling over.  Stir occasionally.

While all this is cooking, drain tofu. In a plastic freezer bag pour about a 1/2 cup of corn starch.  Crumble the tofu and try to squeeze out excess water.  Add the crumbles to the bag, seal, and shake.  Add corn starch as needed until the crumbles are well covered.  Sift the crumbles from the bag using a sifter or colander.  

Add a splash of oil to the mirepoix base, bring up the heat, and add the crumbles to the mix.  Stir fry the mix until the crumbles brown and are not powdery, gooey clumps.  Remove from heat.

Now combine our skillet creation with our noodles and allow to mingle on a medium heat for few minutes so the flavors combine, stir occasionally to mix it all up. 

Soup is ready.

Optional add-in to our skillet mix:  Sprinkle in a couple of tbs of nutritional yeast while stir frying the tofu.

Chesh

Vegetable soup with rice is what I'd do... Easiest way to cook from fresh: celery ,Carrots ,Onion, garlic, oregano. Chop them into bite sized pieces and cook down with a few cups of water. Add in a handful of rice or potatoes for a heartier meal. Other spices/herbs that work well: basil, bay leaves (don't eat them though), sage, thyme.

From Marjorie

2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 handfuls button mushrooms, sliced
1t black pepper corns
5 cups water

From a blog that tells how to give your vegetable stock more flavor.