Gingered carrot and soba noodle soup

This dish is tasty and nutritious, and simple to make and enjoy on a cold winter's evening. The only thing the average person might not have in her kitchen to make this is the soba noodles. I wouldn't recommend substituting regular pasta in their place, so it's worth a trip to the store to get some.
For two:

4 -5 medium carrots, peeled and julianed (i.e. cut into thin batonettes)
1 medium onion, sliced
Fresh ginger, grated (about 2 tbsp)
3 - 4 cloves of garlic, minced
Vegetable stock (or water)
Soy sauce
2 bunches of soba noodles

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the soba noodles and cook for half the time the package recommends, about 5 minutes.

Heat some oil (olive or almond) in a heavy iron skillet. Sautee the onions over low heat for a few minutes, than add the garlic, carrots and ginger. Stir to coat with the oil and cook for a few minutes. Cover with just enough vegetable stock, bring to a boil and lower the heat to simmer until the carrot is just tender, maybe 5 minutes or so. Add the soy sauce and the soba noodles and heat for a few minutes.

Divide the noodles and vegetables evenly into two large bowls, and pour the broth into the bowls. Serve with chop sticks and Chinese spoons.

Skinny carrot and bok choy soup

Sometimes I make something and I think: this isn't blog worthy, it's way too simple. But simple is often (very often) quite good, if not quite scrumptious. And thus I present this simple soup whose flavor has only improved since I cut the heat over two hours ago and which, by tomorrow at lunch time, will surely be all the more delicious.

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• About 2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
• 1 medium head of bok choy, washed and chopped (stalks and leaves)
• Lots of salt
• Soba noodles, cooked and drained

In a large pot, heat some oil. I used grapeseed oil because I was out of olive oil, and I found it to be better because it was lighter and didn't compete with the ginger and carrots for taste. Sautee the onions, garlic and carrots for about five minutes. Add the stalks of the bok choy and stir to cover with the oil. Cook for a few minutes, and then add about 10 cups or so of cold water. Salt generously and bring to a boil. Drop the heat and simmer until the carrots are just tender. Add the bok choy leaves and allow to simmer for five more minutes or so.

Spoon some soba noodles into a bowl, then ladle the soup over the top. This recipe will make many servings. Store the leftovers and cook more soba noodles for a second or third round as needed. Don't add cooked noodles to soup to sit overnight in the fridge, as they will get mooshy.

Enjoy hot on a cold winter's night, or reheated at noon in the office!

Sumo Noodles

Adele made this soba noodle concoction tonight and it was so good that we wanted to keep eating it until we became as big as sumo wrestlers. A few days ago we bought several large boxes of buckwheat soba noodles from an Asian market in Cambridge and now we're hooked. In the regular grocery stores they're not much of a deal, so try checking out an Asian market for bulk soba.

• Half a large onion, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• Juice of one small lime
• Generous half teaspoon each dried cilantro and dried mint

Get a pot of water boiling for the soba noodles. Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a large skillet. Cook the onions and the garlic with the salt and ginger over low heat until very soft and translucent, stirring often. Add the fish sauce and the lime juice and stir to cover the onions. Add the cooked, drained soba noodles (they take about 4 - 6 minutes) and stir to cover. Add the cilantro and mint, stir again and cook for a few more minutes, stirring.

Makes two servings as a main dish. Excellent with a side of steamed bok choy.