Vegetable Curry Rice Noodle Soup

And now, for a peek behind the curtain into my non-Soupruary life.

 

Who am I kidding? I don't have anything as classy as curtains.

We did have something as classy as graham crackers with frosting for dessert, though. Kelly provided; Corrie demolished. The stuff of heaven.

Sure, this is a soup, but it's also representative of my year-round go-to cooking style. If I don't have a particular dish in mind, a bunch of vegetables, curry and noodles is pretty much always what sounds good.

Don't have all the same vegetables I used? Have vegetables you prefer? Dude, go to town. This is really just a method more than a prescription. And it couldn't be easier or more cheater-y, since I used pre-prepared curry paste, broth and and lemongrass. This is a seriously hefty, throw-it-together, 30 minutes on a weeknight kind of meal. You know it would take just as long to order take-out.

Feel like you need some protein in there? You do you, babe. You do you. Short of trying to put in, like, sponge cake or Cheetos, I'm pretty sure you can't screw this up.

You can really amp-up the spice level just by your use of chili sauce and peppers. I kept it right on the verge of spicy, so as not to scare away my lovely dinner guest. Just adjust to taste if you yourself are a fire-breathing dragon in disguise, or, you know, if you're cooking dinner for Smaug (SMOWWWG!).

I used fish sauce here, which can certainly be left out to make it vegetarian. Dank as the stuff is, it sure does add an unmistakable, irreplaceable umami. If you leave it out for reasons of "IT'S MEAT!," be sure to check your curry paste -- a lot of the ones on the market have fish sauce as an ingredient. Why? There's just no fighting the pure MSG ecstasy of fermented fish. 

Part of the joy of Soupruary is in forcing myself to break my habits and explore the shockingly endless world of liquid-based calorie delivery mechanisms. But it comes down to this: if the food rut I'm in is this delicious, I'm not really clamoring to get out. 

How about everybody just be cool if this is what I make every night for the rest of the month. BRB, gonna go wallow in my rut some more.

Vegetable Curry Rice Noodle Soup
Serves four

GET THIS STUFF

1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons minced red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced lemongrass (I used the emergency kind that comes in a tube, and guess what! It works!)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon curry powder

1 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

8 ounces rice noodles of your choice (I used the pad thai sized ones, but rice vermicelli would work great too)
1 handful sugar snap peas, sliced thin lengthwise
6 spears of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" segments
1/4 of a red bell pepper,  sliced thin
1 cup peeled and diced yam
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved 
1/4 cup very thinly sliced red onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 sliced green onions
chili of your choice, sliced thin (I used about a tablespoon of Fresno pepper, but would have used Thai bird chilies had I had them)
1 lime, quartered
 
DO THIS WITH IT 

Melt coconut oil in your soup pot over medium heat. Add minced onion, garlic, lemon grass and ginger and saute for 5 minutes. Add curry paste, sambal olek and curry powder and stir to coat. 

Add coconut milk and whisk to a smooth consistency (since the coconut milk separates into cream and water in the can). While whisking, add vegetable broth, fish sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and cover to keep warm. 

Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in sweet potatoes -- cook until tender (depends on the size of your dice, but mine took about 9 minutes). During approximately the last 2 minutes, place a strainer on top of the pot and fill with asparagus, snap peas and bell peppers, then cover to steam. (You can also just steam them separately if that's easier.)

Remove the strainer and, using a slotted spoon, add the cooked sweet potatoes to it, then set aside.

Put rice noodles in a large bowl and cover with the boiling water. They should be al dente in about five minutes, depending on the size of the noodles you choose (check package directions).

Prepare the garnish -- toss together cilantro, sliced chili, green onion and red onion in a bowl. 

Drain rice noodles and divide among four bowls. Divide vegetables among the bowls, then ladle soup over the top. Top with grape tomatoes and onion/chili/herb mixture, and serve with lime wedges.