Hard day’s work; easy night’s meal

by Marjan

Cool winter nights beg for hot soup! If your holiday work and social calendar is like mine, who has time to cook? My schedule at work is tough the last couple of months of the year. When the clock strikes five, I just want to fly home; but then there is holiday traffic, shopping, and the natural chaos of the season. By the time I’m home, I just want to kick my shoes off and relax. Weekend holiday parties surpass my desire to maintain a 1,500 daily calorie count. Therefore during the week, I attempt to have a more disciplined healthy culinary experience. For me, healthy does not abdicate taste!
A hot soup composed of exotic flavors such as Kaffir lime leaves and tamarind, filled with heartwarming flavors of shiitake mushrooms and jalapeños to warm the soul, is the perfect balance of flavors and taste! This soup can be prepared on the weekend and enjoyed throughout the work week; however, it is easy enough that it can be prepared in 30 minutes after work! It is light, filling and delicious! Best part of all, it is low in calories, so when the weekend comes around with another decadent holiday dinner party, you can feast knowing during the week, your soup helped balance your week’s calorie count!


Tamarind tofu soup ingredients:
4-5 cups organic chicken stock
4-5 washed Kaffir lime leaves
1 heaping spoon of tamarind paste
1 package of extra firm tofu-chopped into bite size cubes
1 package of Ramen Noodles (or any noodle of your choice such as vermicelli)
1 celery stock-sliced into bite size pieces
1 cup of sliced dry shiitake mushrooms- rehydrated with 2 cups of hot water
2 cups of heirloom tomatoes
1 green onion diced
**optional: 1 red jalapeno-remove seeds and diced into small pieces
**optional: 1 tablespoon chili sesame oil


Boil two cups of hot water. In a medium size bowl, add hot water to the shitake mushrooms for 15 minutes until slices are well hydrated. Save rehydrated mushroom juices/water.

Over medium low heat, in a large sauce pan, bring to boil chicken stock with Kaffir lime leaves. Add Tamarind paste. Then add the tofu, mushrooms, and its rehydrated water. Once a nice boil is reached, add celery and tomatoes. Five minutes later, add the noodles until cooked (another 3-4 minutes). Prior to serving, remove the Kaffir lime leaves, add green onions, jalapenos, chili oil. Serve immediately!

From our partner: LO+JUNE

From our partner: LO+JUNE
Artisanal French products in our Swiss fine food boutique