Do you know the old story of stone soup? It’s a folktale in which travelers arrive in a village with nothing but an empty cooking pot, and the villagers do not want to share any bits of their food stores with which to make dinner. So the travelers fill the pot with water, add a large stone, and place it over a fire to cook. The villagers are curious what they’re doing, and the travelers answer that they are making stone soup, and it’s going to be wonderful, but it could be even better with a few extra vegetables. So the one villager gives them a few carrots, another villager thinks he could part with a few seasonings, another villager thinks “I don’t need this one onion,” and eventually, an amazing soup is born.
This is how I felt the other night making this noodle dish. I didn’t have the element of cooperation that the stone soup story entails, but I did have the idea of adding anything available and coming out with something amazing, so I am calling these my stone soup noodles. I love what you can create by mixing and matching and seeing what comes together!
Stone Soup Noodles
1 T olive oil
2 T minced garlic
2 C snap peas
1/2 C black beans
1 pound tofu
3 T hoisin sauce
1/2 C onion dip (Tofutti sour cream plus package of onion soup mix – Yum!)
1 t chili oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T rice vinegar
1/2 C nutritional yeast
1/2 C water
oh, the creamyness is important! good to know that the nutritional yeast helps with that.
and yes, i am reading your blog :) since i’m not on FB anymore, it’s at least nice to know what you’re cooking!
If you like the cheeziness, check out this recipe:
http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/09/easy-cheezy-peazy-pasta-balls-vegan.html
Recommend as being totally fun for the girls, and really tasty. I think it could use a bit more nutritional yeast even. :)
that’s one of my girls favorite stories! what role does the nutritional yeast play? I’ve used it in a recipe before, but had no idea why.
genevieve
Nutritional yeast provides a lot of great nutrients, particularly B12, which is the one nutrient missing from a vegan diet, and it’s important! (Just make sure you check the nutrition facts label – Red Star has a great amount of B12, but not every brand does.)
Buuuut… the reason most vegans are addicted to it is that it adds a nice creamy “cheesy”ness to a dish. The flavor takes a bit of getting used to, but man does it grow on you – love it! :)
Didn’t know you were reading my blog – yay! I’ll have to get better about actually posting. :)
I’ve never heard the stone soup story before! And yeah, it’s really fun to just throw random things together sometimes and see what you get. The tofutti+onion soup mix is a really, really good idea!
Aw, well I’m glad you’ve heard it now! It was one of our staples growing up. Highly recommend finding a longer, picture book telling of it to get the full idea. It’s a great story. :)
Yup, tofutti + onion soup makes an awesome dip, great for potato chips and veggies. Onion dip is one of those things I just can’t stop eating, unhealthy as it may be, so I am SO glad to have been enable to make it vegan!