It’s coooold. Even in Los Angeles. So the other day I was hunting through the fridge in search of something to make soup with.
Supplies were low, so I reached for some frozen spinach (it’s too cold for smoothies!) and threw it into about an inch of water to let it defrost. I had green onions on-hand and little else, which I guess inspired me to go in an asian direction? Not sure but here’s what followed:
—The spinach defrosted, infusing the water with a nice and subtle spinachy taste.
—I chopped up the green onion and threw it in the mix.
—Then, as though suffering from a momentary lapse of reason, I decided to add almond butter in there. (The one from TJ’s that has flax seeds and sea salt in it too. SO good.)
I know, that sounds odd to put almond butter in soup (or whatever this was shaping up to be). But I figured, since I’m such a huge fan of asian peanut butter kale, how could almond butter and spinach not be friends? And I wanted to give a richness to this concoction.
—Next I squirted in a big shot of Braggs Liquid Aminos. Vegans as well as the gluten-free set will know this product because it replaces soy sauce in many recipes, offering a similar salty umaminess, as well as 16 amino acids. (If you don’t have any though, but feel inspired to try this recipe, soy or tamari will also do the trick).
—Up next came a squirt of Sriracha sauce.
And that’s it. I added some nutritional yeast in my bowl but it’s not necessary. Note: This entire process took about 5 minutes, and resulted in full-flavored deliciousness!
And that’s why soups are so awesome. I used to do be really intimidated by making soup, thinking that it was some long and complicated procedure. But I’ve come to learn that you can essentially throw whatever veggies you have on-hand into a pot, and as long as you have something like Braggs, or miso paste, or a vegetarian bouillon in the fridge or cupboard, it will be good.
What’s your favorite simple soup recipe? It’d be awesome to collect a few new ideas in the comments.
I’ve since remade my spinach-almond soup again, and it was great with some cubed tofu in there. Next time I’m going to try it with carrot slices and seitan.
Happy Monday, and stay warm!
