Sick Susie Soup

This is a really great vegan version of chicken noodle soup I found on No Face Plate's blog (http://nofaceplate.blogspot.com) a couple of years ago called Sick Hubby Soup but I can't call it that because A) I'm not married and B) the word hubby makes me very, VERY stabby. I can't stand it. In fact, if you have used that word in my presence I have shanked you with my eyes...repeatedly. Just sayin'. Anyway, I'm calling it Sick Susie Soup. It's the shit, and since I brought a cold back from vacation with me and am a huge pussy when I get even the slightest case of the sniffles, I made this last week. It was good and it made me feel better. It even makes me feel better when I'm not sick. It's awesome and easy. You can't lose. Trust, me.

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

3 medium organic* carrots, scrubbed and diced  

3 medium stalks celery, scrubbed and diced
4 scallions, minced
1/2 handful fresh parsley, minced or 1TBS dried (I sometimes add rosemary, sage and thyme too)
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1tsp white pepper (it's hot, so adjust if you don't like the spicy)
6oz (2 servings) extra firm tofu, diced
1-1/2C small noodles like quinoa elbows (my fave), ABCs or small shells
10C water
3TBSP nutritional yeast
1tsp brown or palm sugar
1TBSP sea salt (the original recipe called for 2 TBSP, which is too salty for even me!)
1/2C frozen peas
Olive oil spray

*I pretty much always use organic, but especially for veggies grown in the dirt. You should too. I'm not going to write it out for every ingredient though because I think that gets annoying.

Using a deep soup pot or dutch oven (WTF is a dutch over anyway?!), spray the bottom with a bit of olive oil
Saute the carrots and celery over med-high heat until carrots soften a bit (5-6 minutes)
Add scallions and garlic, cook another couple of minutes

Add water, salt, pepper, parsley, nootch (nutritional yeast) and sugar. Simmer 4-5 minutes until nootch has disolved

Add tofu and noodles, turning heat up to high and cook about 6-8 minutes if eating right away. The noodles go mushy if you're not careful. (An easy way to avoid this is just to cook them separately and add a few into each bowl. This is especially handy when you have a lot left over.)
Add peas at the end and serve!

I like to have some fresh, toasted bread with Earth Balance on the side with mine. Mmmmm!