The Personal Part
Hi all! I repeat: senior year is a lot.
Chronic stress-baking is a real issue sometimes. If you follow me on literally any social media platform, you’ve probably seen my slow descent into madness via allergen-friendly pastries. There was one week that I made close to eight dozen cookies. The good news is, I’ve been experimenting with a lot of new recipes that I cannot wait for you all to try!
To quote Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up what you love to do. Knowing me, it’s highly unlikely I’m going to slow down anytime soon. Right now, though, I’m challenging myself to devote at least an hour a week to baking, a brief reprieve from the high stress, high anxiety environment of my senior year, and I challenge all of you to devote an hour to something you love. Think we can do it?
The Hard Part
This week is a week for comfort food: ginger garlic noodle soup with bok choy. To make this, you will need…
1 1/2 heads of bok choy
10 oz Crimini mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of fresh ginger
1 bunch of green onions, green and white
3 shallots
5 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
6 oz rice noodles
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 whole star anise
Red pepper flakes to taste
Sesame seeds to garnish
- Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium to low heat.
- Cook the shallots in the oil for four to five minutes, or until soft and fragrant.
- Chop the green onions, dividing the green from the white. Set aside.
- Add the white parts of the green onions, the minced garlic, and the finely chopped ginger to the shallots.
- Cook for one to two minutes, stirring frequently.
- Carefully pour in the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the soy sauce and anise. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid. Remove and discard the anise.
- Add the sliced mushrooms, the uncooked noodles, and bok choy and let simmer for five to eight minutes, or until noodles and bok choy are tender.
- Serve soup and garnish with red pepper, sesame seeds, and green parts of green onion if desired.
- Enjoy!
The Fun Part
I had a few friends over last weekend and taught them this recipe! We had a lot of fun cooking it, and even more fun eating it.
Juwan: Oh, that’s spicy!
Cas: This is surprisingly good considering the fact that we made it.
Gwyn: Hey!
Cas: I meant us.
Sophia: I like this a lot.
Cas: Five stars!
Gwyn: It’s a scale from one to ten.
Cas: Ten stars!
Juwan: Wrong!
Sophia: Still wrong.
Final Rating: 10/10
In Summary…
This recipe is easy to follow along, so it’s perfect for those just learning how to cook. It’s a personal favorite, especially with the chilly season coming up. If you try out this recipe, feel free to email me at gwyn.petersen@pineviewtorch.com and send me your results!
Until next time!
Photo provided by www.loveandoliveoil.com