Chickpea-Noodle Soup with Marinated Asian Tofu

I felt that we had been eating a lot of meat recently and wanted to cook something completely vegetarian.   So i went looking through my vegan cookbook and found this interesting chickpea noodle soup that had both herbs and miso.  as i thought the soup wouldn't be substantial enough i decided to make a side dish of tofu to add some extra protein to complete our dinner. 

Recipes Adapted from Veganomicon Cookbook

Marinated asian tofu

Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes, not including tofu pressing time

Serves 4

ingredients:

  • 1 pound (400g) extra firm tofu, drained and pressed

  • 1/2 cup mirin

  • 3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

  • 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 1 inch chunk ginger, peeled and chopped coursely

  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed

method:

  1. preheat oven to 400F/ 205C.

  2. cut the tofu widthwise into eight equal pieces.  Marinate for an hour, flipping after 30 minutes.

  3. place the tofu on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Flip over and bake for another 10 minutes. Place in the BROILER for about 3 more minutes for extra chewiness.

chickpea- noodle soup

cooking time: 50 minutes

serves 6

ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly

  • 1 carrot, sliced thinly

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms (8-10 depending on size)

  • 1/2 tsp celery seeds or 1 celery, thinly sliced

  • 1 tsp dried thyme

  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

  • 2 tbsp mirin (optional)

  • 1/3 cup brown rice miso (or any miso paste)

  • 6 cups of water or vegetable stock

  • 2 cups cooked dried chickpeas, or 1 (15 oz or 400g) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

  • 6 oz or 170g soba noodles or any noodle

method:

  1. preheat a soup pot over medium-high heat.  Saute the onions and carrots (and celery) in the old for about 10 minutes.  (Not too high to brown them but to soften them).

  2. add the garlic, mushrooms and herbs, and saute for another 5 minutes.

  3. deglaze the pot with the mirin (or splash of water).  Then add the 6 cups of water (Or stock) and chickpeas.  Cover and bring to boil.

  4. once the broth is boling, break the noodles into thirds and throw them in.  Lower the heat to medium so that the soup is at a low boil.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring OCCASIONALLY.

As Soba Noodles aren't gluten free I used these rice noodles instead

  5. add the miso and stir until its incorporated.  Taste and adjust the salt, and add a little extra miso if you would like a stronger, saltier flavor.

*Soba noodles expand a lot when they are soaking, so this isn't best soup to keep in fridge overnight.  Use regular pasta noodles broken in half or thirds if you want to keep it overnight.

*add some chopped greens towards the end of the cooking progress if you want some greens in the soup.

I was actually surprised at how tasted the soup was, i had never thought to combine rosemary, thyme, and miso together but somehow it worked really well.  the miso also adds another dimension to the soup making it more rich and a bit more interesting.  the dish was very tasty and quite filling, i added some green beans to the soup in order to have some greens.  for the tofu i should have pressed them or cut them thinner so the marinate could have soaked in more.  i also brushed the top of the tofu with the REMAINING marinade before baking to add some more flavor and color.  a nice change to have a meatless dinner.

cooking, dinner, gluten free, soupJackie Wongchickpea, noodle, tofu, miso, vegetarian, veganComment