Maybe I should have called this blog “soups, stews and other soup/stew-related dishes” because it’s true that I post quite a bit of those kinds of recipes. I never used to be a big soup eater, especially the brothy variety. I never felt completely satisfied after finishing a bowl, and Matthew felt the same way. Lately, however, that seems to be a lot of what we eat and they always end up hitting the spot.

I’m also big on making (and subsequently photographing and blogging about) meals that don’t require multiple side dishes to complete the perfect dinner trifecta — grains, veggies, protein. I prefer all three of those things to come together in one meal, be it a stew over rice/polenta or a soup. So that’s probably the main reason for the overload of the latter on this blog.

But that’s OK because they are all YUMMY! Like this soup, for example. When I saw the original recipe online, I immediately thought “Oh, that would be so good with shrimp. And added veggies. And extra spiciness.” So I wrote down all of my changes and voila, delicious! It’s spicy, but still is packed with flavor from the vegetables and shrimp. Feel free to make any changes you’d like — add more or less of your favorite vegetables or experiment with different spices. You could even switch out the shrimp for tofu, chicken or leave it out altogether for a perfect vegetarian meal. This recipe is very versatile.

Spicy Asian Noodle Soup
inspired by The Daily Spud
serves 6

1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 lime, juice of
1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
3 tsp sriracha sauce
2 tsp Thai chili garlic paste
1 Tbsp lightly packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups chicken broth, +/- 1 cup water
6 oz. thin rice noodles
2 cups cauliflower
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
2 cups packed kale leaves, shredded
3-4 cups napa cabbage, shredded
1 lb raw shrimp, deshelled (I used the 31-40 size)
cilantro, for garnish

In a bowl, mix together first eight ingredients (soy sauce through minced garlic) and set aside. In a large pot, add 6 cups chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add rice noodles, cauliflower, carrot, kale and soy sauce mixture. Lower heat to medium and cook until carrots begin to soften (roughly 5-8 minutes). Add napa cabbage and raw shrimp; cook until shrimp is pink (3-4 minutes). Add extra 1 cup water if necessary. Garnish with cilantro. Consume with abandon (and try not to lick the bowl).