While eating soup for breakfast may not seem like a revelatory act, it's significant for me, because breakfast food is nearly always the first thing that crosses my lips, despite the actual time of day when I am eating. (Look out for a variation on "overnight oatmeal" a recipe adapted from the Whole Foods blog).
I woke up craving warm liquid, but was dismayed to find out our ginger root is more suited for the compost heap rather than hot tea. My mind then gravitated to plain vegetable broth, which is as simple as boiling water in the tea pot, and stirring in a mug with a few tablespoons of the powdered broth I bought in bulk from the Berkeley Bowl.
This grocery store is most well-known for its vast selection of produce and fierce battles for an elusive parking space, but what I love about the Bowl is its selection of bulk foods and cosmetics. In addition to the staples you might find at most bulk food aisles in natural foods stores, Berkeley Bowl has staples for vegetarian cooking--chili mixes, textured vegetable protein, and non-chicken powdered mix that is a great base for any soup, stew or homemade meat substitute calling for water. Buying in bulk is the easiest way to save money at the grocery store, even if you are buying organic.
Today I wanted a little more substance, and could feel the need for protein and carbs. So I whipped this up in about 10 minutes, by grabbing a few things in the freezer and with little imagination needed.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. water, boiling
1/2 c. pasta (about a handful of fusilli, rigatoni or macaroni)
1 green onion, chopped
3 frozen meatballs (I used Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs)
3 t. veggie broth powder (or one cube of bouillon)
dash of salt to boil the water quicker
The vegetarian broth calls for 3 teaspoons of powdered stuff for every cup of water, but I suggest using it to taste, depending on how salty you want it. I dropped three frozen meatless meatballs into a small pyrex bowl and popped it in the toaster oven--> 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Then I boiled the water and dropped in a handful of pasta, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down a bit, but keep the water boiling (follow package directions to determine how long you need to boil). About 5 minutes into the 9 minute boil, I added a few green onions and the veggie broth, continuing to stir. After the toaster oven dinged, I carefully dropped the meatless balls into the pot and continued to stir until the pasta reached the end of its 9 minute tenure. And you're done!
The reason why this was so quick and easy was because I chopped the green onions and froze them last week, before I left on the trip. Some may argue whether frozen food is more nutritious than fresh food, but I chose the freezer over the trash can--those onions would've rotted after a few more days in the vegetable drawer. Meatless meatballs can, of course, be made from scratch, but the ones TJ's makes are pretty tasty and cheap AND packed with protein. A one-pound bag is about $3.50, and a serving of 6 meatballs has 16 grams of protein.
Today the soup was a bit saltier than I usually like, but I didn't have the patience to add more water and onions and get it to the right temperature again. I feel better and now have the gumption to go to my neighborhood corner store and grab the ginger I need for my hot tea.
Enjoy!
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