I am a HUGE fan of soup. It's simple, versatile, easy to freeze, generally good for you... all of my essential cooking categories. And of course my first soup recipe has to be a Japanese soup. For those of you who don't know, my man is Japanese and a really cute one. That means I have a Japanese mother-in-law who is equally cute who cooks for me and takes me on a tour of the Super G and introduces me to new ingredients. So this is a recipe inspired by my new love and discovery of Asian ingredients... and a tribute to my acquired motherland.

Japanese Noodle Soup

• one bundle of udon noodles
• one cup of fresh or frozen shrimp, peeled
• one large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
• one cup of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• two or three green onions (aka scallions) chopped
• two tablespoons of soy sauce
• salt and black pepper

This recipe is freakishly easy. Basically you cook a few ingredients in a skillet, divide them between two bowls, and pour liquid over them. Don't let the pretty colors weird you out; pretty food doesn't have to be hard.

If you're working with frozen shrimp, put them in a bowl of cold water to thaw (it'll take about ten minutes) and then peel them. While you work on the shrimp, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Cut up your vegetables and have them ready to go. Once your water is boiling, add a pinch of salt to pot and add your udon noodles. Gently submerge them in the water, and cook the noodles for about five or six minutes. Leave your heat on high; your noodles shouldn't boil over. While the noodles cook, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the shrimp with salt and black pepper, and cook the shrimp in just a drizzle of oil for about a minute or so on each side. Once the shrimp curl up and turn pink, you can flip them. Don't crowd your pan though; if the shrimp are too close to each other, they'll steam instead of saute. Make sure they're not touching, and you should be okay. Take the cooked shrimp out of the pan, and then add the carrots and spinach to the hot pan. Season with a couple of pinches of salt and black pepper. Stir a couple of times, and cook for about a minute or two. Your noodles should be done by now. To drain your noodles, don't pour the pot into a strainer because you want that cooking liquid. Instead, use a pasta fork or tongs to place the noodles into two big soup bowls, leaving the water in the pot. Divide the cooked vegetables between the two bowls, and ladle enough of the cooking liquid to just cover the noodles. Add about a tablespoon of soy sauce to each bowl, and top each with green onion. This makes two big bowls of soup and takes about 20 minutes from start to finish (if your shrimp are already thawed). I hope you like it!