Soup for the Soul

It is raining in L.A., the kind of sideways, wind-driven rain we usually don't get until January. I'm recovering from a week-long cold and just do not feel like doing any of the work that's sitting on my desk. Days like this, what I really want to do is curl up with oatmeal cookies and hot chocolate but I'm a big girl now, so what I'm going to do instead is make soup.
We're big soup makers here at Casa Tomlinson and the last pot (curried chicken quinoa) has one bowl of its earthy, chickeny goodness left.
I've been craving a different range of flavors though and have pulled out a recipe I normally only make in the spring. (Spring and Fall in Los Angeles are pretty much the same season though, even the Japanese magnolia trees seem to bloom twice a year.)

JADE SOUP

4 cans low sodium chicken broth

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin "coins"

3 green onions, diced

2 Tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tsp ginger (or 1-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and grated if you have the patience)

20 smallish spinach leaves

Small square firm tofu

1 Tbsp. dark sesame oil

Dash crushed red pepper flakes

 

Open cans of broth and put in soup pot.  If you can’t find low-sodium broth, just use two cans of broth and dilute with two soup cans of water.  Add ginger and soy sauce. 

Add carrot coins and green onions.

When soup is boiling, add spinach leaves, which will wilt.

Cut the tofu into little chunks and add to the liquid. 

Stir in sesame oil and red pepper flakes at this point. 

This is a light soup, more of a broth.

I don't like mushrooms, but a handful of enoki mushrooms works well in this soup. I usually also add snow pea pods.