A Vegetarian Recipe for a Rainy Day

I have been a vegetarian for over three years now. I went vegetarian for a few months in college, but then suffered a major setback when I went on a family trip to Italy.  In Sicily, it seems everything is served with anchovies and veal. A couple years later, I toyed with the idea once again. I made the final decision in October of 2007. I remember I was at the Green Festival, and I realized that the food industry had come far enough so as to produce mock meats that satisfy me.  Believe me, my decision was in no way influenced by childish propaganda such as this:
 

I haven’t really looked back since. I was able to find good meat substitutions for most of my dishes. There was one lingering recipe that was missing from my vegetarian Rolodex: chicken noodle soup.

There really isn’t a good commercial vegetarian chicken noodle soup on the market, and I flubbed up many a dinner on trying to come up with a good homemade substitute. However, I was able to crack the code about two months ago. Not only is it vegetarian, it’s vegan! And here it is:

Organic Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1-2 Tb. olive oil
1 32 oz package of Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth
1 medium organic onion, chopped
3 stalks organic celery, chopped
2 medium-sized organic carrots, chopped
1 package Morningstar Farms Chik’n Strips
1.5 cups pasta (I prefer bowtie pasta)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
salt

Directions:
1) In a large pot, saute onions under medium heat with olive oil until they are translucent, about a few minutes.
2) Add the broth and bring to a gentle boil.
3) Add celery and carrots to the pot and let cook for 5 minutes.
4) Add Chik’n Strips and let cook for 5 more minutes.
5) Add pasta and herbs and cook until pasta is tender.
6) Salt to taste and serve. If thicker broth is desired, add two spoonfuls of Earth Balance before serving.
(Fresh herbs may be substituted for dried at the rate of 1 tsp. dried to 1 Tb. fresh.)