Meatless Monday: Spicy Vegan Portabella, Vegetable & Brown Rice Hot Pot

After a long walk spent meandering through the eclectic streets of the Lower East Side

in Manhattan, I often like to reward myself with a hearty, healthy, vegetarian hot pot.

At many of the Asian-inspired noodle shops in the area, it is not unusual to find long lines of

hungry locals waiting patiently for the huge, steaming bowls of noodle soup chock full of

crunchy vegetables–with a choice of noodle, protein and broth.

Believe me, when that steamy bowl of goodness is finally placed before me the flavor is definitely

worth the wait.

Lately, I have been making my own large, over-stuffed bowls of goodness with whatever fresh,

organic vegetables I have found at our neighborhood farmers market.

This savory, hot pot combination ‘just sort of came together’ this week in my tiny city kitchen.

And it was just the sort of hot, hearty, spicy blend of rich, flavors and textures I craved.

Try it. 

You’ll like it!

Spicy Portabella, Vegetable & Rice Hot Pot

Serves 1-2 people

Ingredients:

Vegetables:

1/2 cup cooked Brown Rice

1 large Portabella Mushroom (sliced)

1 large Carrot (sliced or julienned)

1 large Onion (sliced)

1/4 cup Hijiki seaweed (sliced into short strips)

1 cup Kale (sliced into thin strips)

1 cup Broccoli Rabe (sliced into shorter pieces)

Broth:

3 cups filtered Water

2 tbspns Braggs Liquid Aminos

2 tbspns Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tbspns Turmeric

1/2 tsp Cayenne

1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

2 cloves Garlic (sliced)

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

2 tbspns Nutritional Yeast

1-2  tbspns Coconut Oil or Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Scallion (sliced)

Directions

Put the water into the bottom portion of a steamer pot.

Bring to a boil.

Wash and slice the fresh vegetables.

Julienne the carrots.

Layer the ingredients in the steamer basket in the following order:

*Carrots

*Onions

*Portabella mushroom slices

*Hijiki

*Broccoli Rabe

Cover and steam for a few minutes until vegetables are tender yet still firm.

Finally, add sliced:

*Kale

*Cooked Brown Rice

Steam for 4 minutes.

Turn off the flame.

Remove the steamer basket from the pot.

Transfer the vegetables to a medium-sized ceramic bowl.

Next, make the broth:

Add the following spices and ingredients to the vegetable-infused water

in the bottom pot:

*Braggs Liquid Aminos

*Apple Cider Vinegar

*Turmeric

*Cayenne

*Garlic

*Sea Salt

*Nutritional Yeast

*Coconut or Toasted Sesame Oil

Bring the broth ingredients to a boil.

Simmer the broth for 15 minutes.

Taste and broth and adjust the ingredients as needed to satisfy your palate.

Pour the hot broth over the vegetables.

Sprinkle with Red Pepper Flakes.

I like to garnish my hot pot with raw, sliced scallions for extra crunch and zip.

Sometimes I add a splash or two of hot sauce to really ‘kick the heat up a notch’.

Add whatever you like.

Make it your own.

Enjoy!

By the way, if you love portabella mushrooms as much as I do, you’ll love this

recipe for baked marinated portabella mushrooms too!

What are your favorite, hearty, hot pot soup combinations?

Share your thoughts and comments with us.

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