prelude to a recipe - nytimes vegetarian frustrations

i read the following post today in the "diner's journal" - called to my attention by my recently internet-omniscient brother: vegetarian frustrations, vegetarian solutions

to the observations made by the author, i offer the following thought... why is vegetarian/vegan food considered an afterthought or a substitution? true, i have never known a life where meat, seafood and poultry were central, nor do i question their centrality in the culinary lives of others. my frustration stems from being viewed and misperceived as a nuisance to the true gustatory possibilities to be found at most eating establishments - you mean you just want plain pasta? i've even given up on the fantasy of being able to pick anything on a given menu because allergies keep it from ever becoming a reality. and certainly no eatery can appeal to everyone. but might not there be more than a hidden few that offer a range of choices without the shaming of the veggie/vegans?

the ny times post is really a call to arms for some of the many wonderful vegan/veggie bloggers, whose recipes and descriptions read like culinary poetry, to open up eating establishments - whatever the format. one of my consistent favorites for several years now is a food truck - two food trucks in two campus locations, to be exact - on the upenn campus: magic carpet. the food is just good. and fast. and healthy. and it's not 'vegetarian food' - although the menu is completely vegetarian - but rather good food that all can enjoy. and really, what could be better than eating from a truck, especially when you know what you're putting in your mouth isn't going to wreak havoc in your stomach just a few hours later...!

hello udon!

last month i made a glorious discovery: whole wheat udon noodles at zabar's! the precooked kind in vacuum sealed packets that can be found in the refrigerated section. i scooped up 4 packets and went to town on them over the next week.

my first culinary experiment continued the soup tradition that i'd been exploring during the fall - vegetable and udon noodle soup. this is something that i love to order as take-out or while dining at chinese restaurants, but when the last bit of broth has been slurped, i'm left feeling like there was more potential to the soup than was realized in the dish that i just consumed. just like salads are always better when you can tailor them to your liking, so, too, with soups does tailoring matter. and, as i've mentioned before, i like hearty soups that give me the benefit of protein and veggies without weighing me down (like the baked potato soup i used to order in my youth at houlihan's - before i knew that it was made with chicken stock, and once even after i knew b/c it was really so yum!)

ok, so on to the soup. i had in my freezer a veggie mix that included baby corn, water chestnuts, mushrooms, seaweed, and edamame; on my hanging basket thingy a couple of small red onions; in my fridge a half a red pepper, some broccoli florets, and the noodles; and in my pantry, a box of vegetable broth (i usually buy the low sodium kind so that i can flavor soups like i want to and not have to worry about over salting them, but still get broth goodness).

i like to start with a nice base, so in a medium saucepan, where i build the soup, i put about a teaspoon of olive oil and some (a non-wussy pinch-full) red pepper flakes and let both heat up while i thinly sliced up the red onions. texture is key here b/c i wanted the onion to have a presence but not overpower the soup.

once the onions wilted and gained that coveted translucence, i added in some thinly sliced red pepper strips - i kept them all around the 1" long and about an 1/8" thick. while they softened and sweated, i rinsed the broccoli florets and put them in a small dish, covered them with a set paper towel, and nuked them for 60 seconds. this brought out their brightness and once done, i let them hang out for a few minutes until they were ready to be added.

next i threw the 1/2 bag i had left of the frozen veggies - it looked to be a little more than 1 cup - into the onion and pepper sautee. after a couple of minutes the veggies started to soften. i added in the broccoli and then poured in the broth - about 4 cups - and then added about half as much water (2 cups) and 2 packets of soy sauce that i had leftover from the last time i ordered this soup.

just before the whole concoction came to a boil - 7 or 8 minutes - i added the noodles. they came to life in the hot broth and began dancing among the emerging bubbles. i let everything hang out for another 5 minutes - that was how long i could resist having a taste. and it did not disappoint! i went the route of putting some of the soup 'innards' into a bowl and then ladeling in some of the broth over top. the noodles had the chewy texture i was looking for, with all the wholesome goodness of whole wheat. one that was missing was the protein, so what i might do next time is drop in some quickly scrambled egg whites or grill up a naked quorn cutlet and shred it into the bottom of my bowl before pouring on the soup.

more udon fun (with pictures!) to come...