Quick Shrimp Noodle Soup. 100 Days of Recipes: Day 21

True confession: 100 days of recipes in a row is hard! I could just pull things from older posts/archives, but I had approached this challenge as more of a way to highlight the every day 'recipes' that I create. Some are created with great planning and care, some just kind of happen. Some are recipes for food, others for other things to nourish the soul. And some days, those things happen, but they don't get chronicled or even thought about until all there was to chronicle was a pile of empty plates or a distant memory. I've done a better job of capturing glimpses, at least, on the Instagram page, so if you're following there the gaps won't be as noticeable. :)

Case in point - Day 20 was yesterday, and it was a lovey and full day that actually presented multiple opportunities to be that day's post: a surprise housewarming for a Lindsey and Michael that had a table laden with bagels and all sorts of yummy things that go with it. The real recipe from that experience, however, was the peace found sitting on comfy couches, watching lovely birds dance around feeders in their new front yard, while Michael swung gently on the porch swing and strummed his banjo. Later in the afternoon, Lindsey and I attended an inspiring, if not chilly and damp, Healthcare Townhall, where we heard the new progressive voice of Matt Coffay, and celebrated his announcement to run for office (recipe for change!). That was followed by a warming bowl of soup at Blossom on Main, in Waynesville, NC. We were too busy talking and getting rid of the chill to think about photos or recipes, but later when I got home and was thinking about dinner, I just wanted more noodle soup!

So in fact, today's recipe is yesterday's recipe! When I got home I was happy to see I still had some rice noodles, and I found a few other things to add to the mix:

Noodles, shrimp, kale, mushrooms, miso, broth, and sriracha to start.

 Also from the pantry: some tamari, garlic, onion, and ginger. I'm going to list this in 'recipe' form at the bottom of the post, but admittedly I was tired, so amounts are estimates! I think it's a simple enough dish, however, to say that almost any ingredient may be added "to taste".

The finished soup, except that I snapped the picture before
I poured more broth over the noodles, so this is really the goodness
that was IN the broth!

Quick Shrimp Noodle Soup

8 oz pre-cooked shrimp*
4 oz. rice noodles
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup kale leaves, thinly sliced
thumb-size knob of ginger, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 TBSP miso paste
2 squirts of tamari sauce
Sriracha sauce to taste
Salt to taste


prep note: *The shrimp were pre-cooked, and because if was the end of a long, if not lovely, day, I didn't want to take a lot of extra time for a slow-cooking soup that would give me more fully developed flavors. Miso is a wonderful ingredient to add depth to a quick recipe - I created a quick "marinade" for the shrimp by finely dicing some of the onion, garlic, and ginger into some miso. I loosened it up with a bit of the broth, and coated the shrimp with it and let that sit to the side while I prepared the rest of the soup. 

In a sauce pan, heat just enough broth to cover the pan. When you see it simmer, add the onion, garlic, and ginger and saute until they soften and become fragrant. Add the kale and mushrooms, and a bit of salt. Saute another minute or so to soften those vegetables, then add the broth. Bring it all to a high simmer, and add the noodles. Cover the pan and let the noodles completely soften - they will absorb a good bit of the broth, so add more if it gets less soupy than you like. Add the tamari and taste the broth for any seasoning yo might like to add. Reduce to a light simmer, and add the miso paste and the shrimp, stirring to fully dissolve and incorporate (and to heat the shrimp). Add sriracha to taste (more at serving, even!). 

Scoop out noodles, shrimp and veg to a bowl, then pour over as much broth as you want for your soup-slurping delight!