You know that person who "hates" soup? There's one is almost every family. Basically that person is ridiculous. There are just too many different kinds of soup to strike it as a category from your table entirely. I mean, there's chicken soups, chowders, meatball soups, tomato-based soups, fish soups, lentil soups, creamy soups, squash soups, coconut soups, even gumbo is basically a soup. Simple soups are a home cooking staple, and that soup hater needs to try picking up a spoon again.
Although meat and noodles and rice are wonderful in soups, they don't have to be in the pot to get satisfying results. This deeply-flavoured vegetable soup starts with onions cooked slowly for maximum flavour. Then garlic, ginger and soy sauce are added, resulting in a satisfying and robust broth that is so rich in flavour it's hard to believe that it's just veggies in the pot. Thin strips of carrot add texture and colour, and I love the way the whole stalks of baby bok choy look in the finished soup.
This one is for weeknight winter dinners. It comes together quickly with simple ingredients and fills bellies with rich, comforting flavours.
Get my recipe for Baby Bok Choy Soup below...
Makes 5-6 servings
3 baby bok choy
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
1 tsp (5 mL) sesame oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
8 cups (2 L) water
1/4 cup (60 mL) soy sauce
1 cup (250 mL) julienned carrots
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) grated fresh ginger
Trim the root off the baby bok choy and separate the stalks. Rinse the stalks well to remove any soils. Set aside.
In a large soup pot, warm the vegetable oil and sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and golden, which should take about 15 minutes (take your time here to build lots of flavour).
Stir in the water, soy sauce, carrot, garlic, ginger and bok choy stalks. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve.
How do you like to use baby bok choy in your kitchen?