Soup, soup, and soup

Yesterday, I wanted soup.

For lunch I made wonton miso soup. Well, not entirely, I should rather say, I assembled wonton miso soup. I had been wandering the isles of Whole Foods when I saw the pre-cooked wontons (O'Hana brand) and suddenly HAD to have them. I wanted to make the wontons myself, but I couldn't find the wrappers, so frozen wontons it was. I cooked 6 (miniature) wontons in a fair amount of water, to which I added miso paste and wakame. Simple and delicious. I would have added green onions, but alas I was out of them at the time.

Now the day before a very good friend of mine had been talking about barley soup. After listening to this I began to crave barley soup. So the next day I went off to the store and bought a can of Amy's Vegetable Barley soup and had it for an afternoon snack. Normally I don't like to eat pre-prepared foods, but I really really wanted the soup, and I think when you really really want something, you should have it.

And then I also decided to make a soup. I made, Gaeng Khae (spicy Thai vegetable soup). Supposedly it's medicinal and is supposed to cure colds and fevers. It's also labor intensive...and delicious. Though it's so flavorful, after two servings last night and one this afternoon, I simply cannot finish the rest. It's also not something I'd recommend for a date or anytime you want to smell nice...very very garlicky. I got the recipe from vegetarian times.

Gaeng Khae
Ingredients (chile paste):
-15 dried chiles de arbol/japones chiles (I couldn't find these, so I used red peper flakes)

-8 cloves garlic, peeled

-1/2 t. salt

-2 stalks lemongrass, minced
- 2 shallots, minced (1/2 c)
-1 t. red miso
Ingredients (soup):
- 4 c. low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 T. low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 c. sliced beet greens, swiss chard, escarole, turnip greens, or kale (I used kale)
- 1 c. turnip or fennel chunks
- 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
- 1 c. firm tofu chunks (I used soft, personal preference)
- 1 c. coarsely chopped arugula
- 1/2 c. fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 c. coarsely chopped parsley

Directions:
Soak chiles in bowl of boiling water 30 minutes. Drain, pat dry and finely chop. Combine garlic and salt in motar and pound with pestle. Add lemongrass, shallots, miso, and chiles, pounding and crushing after each addition to make a thick paste.
Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Stir in soy sauce and chile paste. Add kale, turnip, and mushrooms, and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 more minutes. Add tofu and cook 2 minutes.
Stir in arugula, mint, and parsley. Simmer 1-2 minutes or until herbs wilt.