Summer Leek and Lemon Noodle Soup...

I don’t know about where you live but the weather here has been weird lately. One day it’s hot, humid and sunny as the tropics and the next day it’s cool, windy, overcast and drizzly. Now since I’m a Vancouver girl a drizzly or even a full on rainy day doesn’t get me down - even if it’s in the middle of summer - because it reminds me of home. For me rainy days are days to laze on the couch and read a good book with the windows open so that you can listen to the rain splatter against the pavement. Rainy days are days to get things done that you never seem to get around to when the weather is nice - like organization or hard-core baking. Rainy days also mean soup. Now, it wasn’t exactly cold today, but it was cool and so I really felt like a bowl of soup. Really there’s nothing better then a steaming bowl of soup on a grey day, is there?

Of course even if the temperature is a little cool, it’s still the middle of summer, so I didn’t think a thick hearty soup would be appropriate. I was craving something ‘chicken-noodle’ style, with lots of broth and wholesome veggies, but I also wanted it to represent summer. I wanted a fresh and light soup that you could really eat anytime of year and feel good about. Lemon, summer savory, and tarragon all give this soup that summery feel, and they paired extremely well with the leeks I had in my fridge. The great thing about this soup is that it’s pretty quick and easy to prepare and if you really want to utilize summer’s bounty you can substitute fresh herbs for the dried.

Summer Leek and Lemon Noodle Soup

2 tsp Olive Oil
2 Large leeks cleaned and sliced
3 Stalks Celery Diced
4 Carrots Diced
10 Garlic Cloves Minced
4 C Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth
1 ½ C Water
*** 2 Bunches Soba Noodles
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 ½ tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Ground Thyme
1 tsp dried Tarragon
1 tsp dried Summer Savory
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Dried Rosemary
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1/4 C Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s

- Heat the olive oil in a medium-large sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the sliced leeks and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add in the celery and carrot and saute for 3-5 more minutes.

- Add in the vegetable broth and water and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes then add the basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon, summer savory,. Smoked paprika, ground ginger, rosemary, sea salt and black pepper. Reduce to simmer and simmer for about 10 minutes.

- Add in the Soba noodles and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes until the noodles are soft.

- Turn off the heat and stir in the Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s and the Lemon Juice. Let stand ten minutes and serve dished up into large bowls.

*** Note - Packages of Soba Noodles usually come separated into bundles. Each small package has about 3-4 bundles of noodles, and each large package has about 8 bundles of noodles. I just grabbed two bundles and didn’t exactly measure the dry weight. Though if your noodles don’t come packed in bundles I would say somewhere between 4-6oz would be appropriate for this soup. Also if you would prefer you can use a gluten-free noodle instead of the Soba to make this gluten-free***