This week we decided to add our vegan jerky to this easy vegetable noodle soup! This soup is easily customizable and our jerky makes a great addition for an extra kick of flavour and protein.

Makes 3-4 servings

What you need:

Broth ingredients:

• one onion chopped
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1” piece of ginger sliced
• 3 whole star anise
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 cups of vegetable broth
• 2T Braggs liquid aminos (for gluten free) or soy sauce

Soup ingredients:

• noodles of your choice

*I use Lotus foods Organic millet and brown rice ramen. It's gluten free and cooks in less than 5 minutes, comes in pack of 4x individual 70g noodle cakes, use 2 per 4 servings.

• 2 cups of veggies of your choice (suggestions: quick cooking veggies like mushrooms, sliced carrot, peppers, broccoli, bok choy)
• 1/2 block of soft, medium or firm tofu cubed (optional)
• generous handful of jerky per serving

Method:

• Sauté onion, garlic, ginger for 3-5 minutes until golden, add star anise and cinnamon sticks stirring until fragrant.
• add vegetable broth and Braggs liquid or soy sauce, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• While broth is simmering (minimum 10 minutes, up to 30+ minutes the flavours will intensify), chop veggies and tofu and place in a separate pot with ramen noodles *if using noodles that require longer cooking time, cook according to directions in a separate pot, drain and rinse with cold water and add to soup just before eating.
• remove star anise and cinnamon sticks (strain if desired).
• Pour enough broth over the mixture to cover and cook for 5 min or until desired tenderness.

After cooking:

• top with a generous handful of your favorite flavour of jerky (they all taste great!)
• other topping suggestions: sesame or Chili oil, green onions, Sriracha, Cashews/peanuts, bean sprouts, fresh herbs such as such as basil, mint, cilantro
• you may have some extra broth to keep for another soup!