Tofu Soup (aka Poor, Frozen People's Soup)

I woke up this morning to a windchill of 30 degrees and an apartment manager who is refusing to turn on the heat. He apologizes for the "inconvenience" and says that "the heat will not be turned over from AC until next week."  Thank GOD we have air conditioning for one more week! What a relief!

I pulled on my wool socks, my hoodie, and my shearling boots but I was still cold. My two thermometers agree it is 58 degrees in my apartment. I don't know if either is reliable at this temperature (one is for food, the other is a thingy that we got from Xcel for free) but I'm definitely believing them both.

Besides complaining and hating the apartment manager, what is there to do? Eat stuff to try to survive. Scarves and booze may be other options, but we'll save those for another blog to cover.  The real answer is to follow my mom's instructions for tofu soup:

TOFU SOUP! warms yer soul

That's right; just make some delicious soup and eat bowl after bowl of it! Though my mom calls this "tofu soup," I want to rename it something like "poor, frozen people's soup" because it is so cheap and it's great to eat when you're freezing.  Since it is so barebones, you barely have to take your hands out of your mittens to prepare it! There's practically nothing in it, so you don't have to feel like you're gaining 10 pounds by slurping this stuff up all day long. Also, the ingredients are pretty inexpensive, which is probably important if you're living in an apartment that refuses to keep the inhabitants at a livable temperature.

Heat about 3 quarts of water in a large pot. Cut a block of (medium or firm) tofu into bite size cubes. I cut mine into 45 cubes (3x3x5), but do as you wish. It's a free country, after all.  Add the tofu and a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes. As that comes to a gentle boil, slice and then sautee a small onion in a little bit of oil in a frying pan.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of paprika. Add the onions to the soup along with 1-2 teaspoons dried basil (or use fresh chopped basil...we neglected our basil plant so it looks like we'll be sticking to dried basil for awhile).  Finally, add fish sauce to taste. I used about 3 tablespoons, probably.  Let simmer for a few minutes so the flavors soak into the tofu, then eat. Add a few spoonfuls of (cooked) rice if you have them.

Stay warm and stay alive!