Om Girl’s Pho (vegan, gluten-free)

 

I love easy food, but you know what I love even more? Soup!  This Asian inspired Vegan soup is a take off of Vietnamese Pho.  (pronounced phugh, as I was rudely corrected once by the man taking my order.   I’ve been told by my husband a number of times that my pronunciation of anything but English is laughable, and he has since stopped trying to teach me his native tongue.)

The great part about this dish is the customization of it.  You put some cilantro, some lime wedges, some raw onion, maybe some basil and mung bean sprouts, in dish in the center of the table, and suddenly each person’s soup is different.

The broth took two tries, but I think I really hit the nail on the head the second time.  I had bought vegan chicken buillion and tried to make a soup base out of it.  Perhaps it has its uses, but I wasn’t a fan of the flavor and it was NOT at all what I was going for in this dish.  The second try though, if I were to grade myself, A+.

Om Girl’s Version of Pho

• 1 package rice stick noodles (I used only half, and had WAY more then I could ever eat in one sitting)
• 2 tbsp vegetable broth
• 5 crimini mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1/2 onion, sliced thin and divided
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 bunch baby bok choy (optional, I used it in the first batch, and decided it wasn’t fitting, but hey, its your soup!)

Boil a pot of water, enough to submerge the noodles.  When it comes to a boil, turn off the heat, cover the noodles with the hot water and let them soften up, about 8 minutes.  In  a separate pan, healthy saute (see how to here)  the rest of the ingredients, covered, 2 minutes.  After 8 minutes, drain the noodles and run them under cold water so they don’t get mushy.

Base:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp liquid amino acids (or substitute tamari)
• 1 tsp garlic ginger paste (or you can use 1/2 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp ginger, ground up in a food processor)

Bring the water to a boil and turn off the heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir to combine.

This makes enough for 1 bowl of soup.   Double for two servings, triple for three…ect…

For the side:

A handful of cilantro, chopped up

2 scallions, diced

Mildly spicy green peppers, whichever you like to add.  I personally don’t like to add it, but its usually what you would see served at a vietnamese resturant

Whole basil leaves

Raw onions, diced

mung bean spouts

lime wedges

Putting it all together:

Take the noodles and put them in a bowl, take the cooked mushrooms and onions and put those on top of the noodles, and then pour the soup base over the top.  Each person can then add to it any extra raw ingredients that have been placed out on the table, all of them, or none at all (but I have to say the basil and cilantro added in are SO good).  Enjoy!

 

 

Raw onions are excellent for cardiovascular health, however, most of the flavanoids are found in the outer layer.  So when you peel off the paper like layer, be careful not to take off that first onion layer with it.   On top of that, consuming raw onion 5-6 times per week is a powerful cancer prevention tool.  Just like garlic (they are in the same family) cutting an onion and letting it  sit for at least 5 minutes releases health promoting benefits that you might miss out on if you don’t chew properly.  (And most people don’t chew properly)