2 minutes reading time (426 words)

Vegetarian Spring Pho with Sweet Potato Noodles and Heirloom Beans

Vegan Recipes Cooking

Anya Kassoff

Thursday, 04 April 2019

Vegetarian Spring Pho with Sweet Potato Noodles and Heirloom Beans

As though writing a cookbook and trying to stay on top of a second grader’s homework and extracurriculars is not enough, we’re planning a long overdue and major kitchen renovation this summer. When I say long overdue, I am not exaggerating one bit, as we haven’t put a hammer or paintbrush to the kitchen in the thirteen years of living in this house. Something has always topped it on the priority list, which, I know, sounds crazy considering what I do.

Our kitchen is nicely sized and sunny, but has many questionable and outdated details from the 90s along with badly aging countertops, the layout needs improvement, and there is a low hanging ceiling in an otherwise high ceilinged house. There’s lots of unearthed potential, and we are finally coming around to letting it free. To me, this is extremely exciting – the kitchen is my office, the place where the family eats, and also happens to be the central hangout spot in the house.

Somehow, we’ve managed to put ourselves onto a very tight schedule – the book manuscript is due June 30th, and the kitchen is being knocked down July 1st, the next day!
For now, I’m planning and gathering ideas, scouting Craigslist and Pinterest, and picking up old pieces of driftwood off the beach – who knows when I’ll need them.

Hot soup has always been my ultimate comfort food, and I know I will be needing lots of it in the months to come. Vietnamese pho is king when it comes to soups that warm you from the core, and I’ve been experimenting with vegetarian pho recipes during the past couple of weeks.The main component of any pho, but especially vegetarian pho, is the broth. This pho broth is first and foremost based on toasted spices – star anise, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, peppercorn, and clove – each bringing its individual character to the flavor profile. I’m not normally the biggest fan of cinnamon in savory dishes, but in this broth it balances with tamari, brown rice vinegar and chili to create a fragrant and deeply nourishing broth.

I bought a few too many sweet potatoes from my favorite local farm and they made it into the pho in place of rice noodles, truly hitting the spot. This soup is all I want to eat right now. It’s warming, spicy and substantial, but also loaded with springy, crunchy vegetables and tons of herbs – the perfect balance, if you ask me.

Click HERE for Vegetarian Spring Pho with Sweet Potato Noodles and Heirloom Beans Recipe

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit

Tags:

soup Pho Sweet Potatoes Vegan Recipes

About the author

Anya Kassoff

Anya Kassoff is the author of The Vibrant Table - Recipes from My Always Vegetarian, Mostly Vegan and Sometimes Raw Kitchen. She was born in Russia and grew up in a family of passionate home cooks. While following several career paths, one passion remained steady: she ended every day in the kitchen, perfecting her cooking intuition and gaining strong interest in whole foods-focused recipes. In 2010, Anya started sharing her healthy culinary discoveries on her blog, Golubka Kitchen, which has since gained a worldwide following. Her recipes have appeared on Oprah.com and Guardian.com. Golubka has been a finalist for Saveur magazine's Best Food Blog awards twice and was cited by Bon Appetit magazine as one of the best vegan and gluten-free blogs.

Anya now lives in Florida with her husband and younger daughter. She works in collaboration with her older daughter, Masha Davydova, who photographs all of her recipes.