Some people, not including myself, do not enjoy soup.These people tend to be ex-cons, kitten haters, pirates, and people who seem to enjoy MTV reality shows.Yes, as you can see from that sinister list, these are the dregs of society.So, if you know someone who actually hates soup, all soups,any soup, you may very well be dealing with someone of a dangerous and/or untrustworthy nature.*
I have no facts to back that up, so you can go and research it for me, and if I stand corrected, I can simply just ignore you and stick to my theory.
That is how I roll, folks. Please don’t blame me, blame the society in which I was raised, or whatever.
Anyways, so yeah, soups.If you have not guessed, and that would be odd, as the title kind of gives it away, this post is about soups, or rather a soup.
I did some research, myself.I learned that there is no actual true minestrone soup, that they can vary, and they tend to use whatever vegetables are in season, and have some pasta , maybe beans, in them.I know, I do research for you? Sure, it is called Google, and it is also called Wikipedia.
This is a soup, this is a minestrone soup, this is Edamame and Snow Pea Minestrone Soup.I will not go into if this is a proper meal for the season, as I wanted to make soup.So, there.
Minestrone Soup Ingredients.
- A medium sized onion, diced finely.
- 3 tablespoons of minced garlic.
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- 2 celery stalks, diced.
- 2 or so carrots, julienned.
- 2 cups of julienned snow peas.
- 1 cup of peas.
- 1 cup of edamame beans.
- 2-3 cups of broken up uncooked spaghetti pasta.
- 6 cups of water.
- 2 tomatoes chopped up.
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.
- 2 tablespoon of basil.
- 2 tablespoons of parsley.
- Salt.
- Pepper.
Imagine I just listed the ingredients, and then just said “Okay, fuck you! Figure out how to make this off the list of ingredients, assholes! aHhahaha!” ?
How much fun would that be?
Okay, heat the oil up over medium in a biggish soup pan, or whatever you call it.Cook the minced garlic and onions till the onions are a bit softer.I wold venture to say a few minutes, maybe five!
Meanwhile, on another burner, bring bring some water to a simmer, maybe four to five cups.Toss in a tablespoon or two of salt to that water.
Now, add the carrots and celery to the onions and garlic, and cook for three or so minutes.Toss in some salt and pepper, if you wish.I wish, so just listen to me, actually.Add six cups of water to that, lid it and let it cook for 15 minutes.
Back to the simmering salt water; Cook the edamame for a few minutes, then , using a slotted spoon, scoop and place in a strainer.Repeat with the regular peas, and the snow peas.You can add them all to the same strainer.Put aside.
Now, back to the other pot, you should stir in the tomatoes basil, parsley, the tomato paste; Let this cook a few minutes.Now, remove three or so cups of this mix, veggies, and broth, and process in your processor.You may then return it to the pot, and add your pasta.Cook for a further eight minutes.
Bring the heat down, add in your veggies in the strainer, warm through, and serve.
I wold have added croutons to mine when served, but I was lazy and had not made any.Maybe you will not be as lazy, maybe.
I wonder, if you hate soup, and are perhaps a degenerate? Or maybe, you are not, and enjoy soup?Our friendship may depend on it, or something.**
*This may or may not be intended to be factual.
** This may not be, either.
I could have just called this a vegetable stew, instead of a ragout.But, this name makes it sound more like I know what I am doing, more like I am an actual chef.Vegetable Ragout just sounds more fancy.I like fancy, you like fancy, we all like fancy.Well, I hope you like fancy, or perhaps you like simplicity.Maybe you just are boring.Be boring, see if I care.Though, I might.
Honestly, I will not care, or will try my best not to.
Ragout is a thicker type stew, or so I think.So, it does fit, as this is something you can eat off a plate, not a bowl.That makes sense to me.Whatever, just try the fucking recipe.
Ingredients.
- Two tablespoons of olive oil.
- Onion, slices, chopped into thin half-moons.
- 2 tablespoons of minced garlic.
- A cup of vegetable stock.
- One carrot, grated.
- One zucchini, chopped into little strips.
- One cup of frozen corn.
- One cup of edamame beans.
- One tomato, chopped, diced.
- One tablespoon of tarragon.
- One tablespoon of basil.
- Half a tablespoon of oregano.
- 1 teaspoon of thyme.
Heat the oil in a large pan, on medium heat.Cook the onion and garlic till the onions start to become soft.Now, and this could really be hard,I mean really hard, add the vegetables other then the tomato, and the vegetable stock.Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook till the zucchini becomes somewhat soft.
Toss and mix in your seasonings and tomato, and cook another 5 minutes.
Serve with some polenta, whatever, I do not care.I enjoyed mine with a baked potato.
So, there.
I am not the biggest fan of tofu.Yes, that makes me sound like a bad vegan, doesn’t it? Well, I am not.So, suck on that, if you must.Whatever.I find it mushy, mooshy ,and any other fake word that may end with “shy”.If I am going to eat it, or enjoy it, it must be frozen , first.
Frozen tofu gives it a bit more of a texture I can handle, or even enjoy.So, that is what I did!See, I am fucking brilliant.I pressed it, froze it, and then let it thaw, and cooked it.See, I told you, you are reading the thoughts of a super genius.I would have taken over the world by now if not for my dislike for crowds, my anti-social behavior, and general laziness.But! Minus those key things, and you could have been reading the blog of a world controlling tyrant!Or, whatever.
But, I digress!
Spicy garlic and ginger tofu stir fry, that is what I am here to write about.So, let’s begin.
Ingredients.
- Tufu, duh.I used nearly a whole package, pressed, frozen, and cubed.
- One red pepper, this one was medium-ish.Smallish slivers.
- One carrot, peeled and chopped into skinny slivers.
- 2 Tbsp of minced garlic.
- 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil, I wanted to use maybe peanut oil, or something,but this is what I had, on hand!
- Half a cup of vegetable stock.
- 1 cup of edamame beans.
- 3 Tbsp of ginger.
- 1 Tbsp of red pepper flakes.
- 1 Tbsp of toasted sesame seeds.
Okay, I used my wok.Woks are fun, get into them.I heated up the oil in the wok, at medium to high heat, adding the garlic,and after a few minutes added the carrots.I also put in two tablespoons of the ginger.I cooked that, stirring as I went.I do not know it that truly matters, but it is fun.A minute or two later, I added the tofu, mixing and stirring.Again, because it is fun.
I added the peppers, and then added the stock.I cook and stir that , till the stock is cooked in, and evaporated.That should be about 5 minutes, or so.Now, I added the edamame beans, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and remaining tablespoon of ginger.Sit and cook for a few more minutes.
I cooked up some simple Asian noodles, and topped the noodles with the stir fry.
There you go, or whatever.Enjoy, or do not.