A very simple tasty stir-fry sauce can be made by whisking miso together with fresh citrus juice. The result is bright, savory and delicious! I always keep miso and fresh citrus on hand to have this quick option available.

Last night I put together a quick dinner using extra firm tofu, green beans and carrots sauteed with fresh ginger.

The Stuff

• 1 lb green beans trimmed and chopped into 1-3″ pieces
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 2″ fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced on a bias
• 8-10 oz extra firm tofu, cubed
• juice of one medium to large lemon
• 2 Tablespoons white miso
• 3 oz uncooked buckwheat soba noodles

The making

In a saucepan bring 4 cups of water to a boil. When boiling add soba noodles and cook for time listed on package. When done boiling, drain soba and rinse with cold water. Set aside while stir-frying veggies & tofu.

Heat wok on medium high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent; about 4-6 minutes. Add fresh ginger and saute for 3 more minutes before adding the cubed tofu. Use spray canola oil if the tofu begins to stick. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring often, to brown tofu. Add in the carrots and green beans and saute for 6 minutes. Add 1 Tablespoon of water, reduce heat to medium low, and cover. Steam/saute for 15 minutes to cook beans and carrots.

In a small dish whisk together lemon juice and miso, set aside while veggies are cooking.

Add soba noodles once beans are tender and toss well. Add in lemon/miso mixture and toss well to coat evenly. Saute together for 5 minutes on medium low heat. Serve immediately.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Dinner is served, quickly!

The Stuff

• 1 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 medium shallot, diced fine
• 1 carrot, cut on bias in thin slices
• 1 medium head of broccoli, stem removed (and saved for later) and cut into small florets
• A few pieces of wakame, snipped into small pieces
• 3 cups vegan dashi
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup red miso
• 8 oz fresh udon noodles
• 4 oz age tofu, sliced very thinly

The Making

In one soup pot bring water to boil and add udon noodles. Simmer udon noodles for time indicated on package. Noodles should still be quite firm. We have often use rice udon, obtained fresh from a SE Asian market, and like them a lot. When noodles are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well and put into bottom of soup bowls.

Saute shallot on medium-high heat in another soup pot with canola oil until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes or less. Add in dashi, water, carrots, broccoli florets, and wakame. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add miso. Stir well to incorporate miso fully. Do not boil!

Top noodles with the thinly sliced age. Ladle hot miso broth and veggies over the noodles and tofu. Garnish your favorite type of Furikake, sesame seeds, and shredded shiso leaves, if you like, and serve immediately.

Hot and Sour Soup is a world favorite. This recipe is makes enough soup for the next day!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 cups (three boxes) “chik’n”-style broth
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 thumb-size pieces galangal or ginger, grated or finely sliced into matchstick-like pieces
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
• 2 Tbsp. red miso paste
• 3 Tbsp chilie & garlic paste
• 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
• 2 Tbsp chilie oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (frozen, fresh, or dried) OR 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp. water (whisk)
• 1-2 cups cubed tofu

VEGETABLES (choose from the following, or add your own selection):

• 1 red or green bell pepper
• handful fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms (if dried, soak them in hot water for several hours)
• 1 cup Chinese cabbage such as bok choy, roughly chopped
• handful of fresh or frozen spinach
• frozen or fresh broccoli
• bamboo shoot strips

NOODLE OPTION:

• Serve soup over pre-cooked rice noodles. We used a very thick and chewy kind (not flat-wide rice-stick. Think more like “rice-udon”) that we were dubious of before hand, but worked out most excellently, although rice-stick would work well.

GARNISH:

• handful of fresh coriander OR fresh basil
• lime
• mung bean sprouts

PREPARATION:

1. Heat broth in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, galangal or ginger, soy sauce, miso paste, chilli, vinegar, brown sugar and lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and allow to simmer while you add next ingredients.
2. Grill meat/tofu on a cast-iron grill or the like to give it some character, then add it to the pot, plus the vegetables. Simmer 3-5 minutes, or until vegetables are lightly cooked (but still on the crisp side).
3. Prepare the cornstarch thickener by using some broth. Whisk until smooth, then add to soup pot and stir to blend.
4. Ladle the hot soup into bowls (by itself or over noodles) and garnish with fresh coriander or basil.