After my morning cuppa and my run, I stopped by our campus store for ingredients. In America, a small supermarket like this would purvey Doritos and Pepsi. Although you can get your fair share of junk food in China, most stores also have vendors selling fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, and tofu. Only the vegetable guy has returned from the New Year holiday, but sometimes all it takes is a plump tomato or firm squash to get my culinary juices flowing. I bought all the vegetables seen above for only $2! And all were of excellent quality, better than most supermarkets in the US.
We were going to be gone for the afternoon so I turned off the burner and let all the vegetables steep until we returned (no meat there to spoil). After a cold day working in a dirty kitchen (not my own, thank you), it was comforting to come home to prepare an easy and very healthy dinner. I strained the vegetables out of the stock and added carrots and chopped tomatoes before putting it on to simmer again. After awhile the new vegetables began to soften and I added some black pepper, more salt, oregano, and basil. The zucchini, cannelloni beans, and spinach went in toward the end. Everything came together into a light, fresh soup full of vegetables. I served it with cheesy toasts and forgot my worries over a steaming bowlful.
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