Thai Beef Noodle Soup

I made this for dinner tonight, even though it is June, in Arizona. It just SOUNDED good, and I had two boxes of beef stock in the cupboard that I wasn't ever going to use for anything else, so there you go.

What makes it Thai? I have no freaking clue. It's not spicy, and it doesn't have anything peanut related on the ingredient list. Maybe it's the soy sauce. Maybe it's the cilantro. Who knows? All I know is that it's pretty healthy because it's full of veggies, it's very filling thanks to the beef and soba noodles, and it's YUMMY. It's also incredibly easy to make and comes together in less than 30 minutes, for nights when you're too hungry to wait.

Thai Beef Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

2 32oz cartons beef stock/broth

3 tbsp soy sauce (use low sodium if you have it - this comes out pretty salty)

12 oz cooked roast beef, cut into strips (1 ½ cups - I buy three 1/4 inch thick slices from the deli and then cut those into strips at home)

9 oz soba (buckwheat) noodles, broken

3 large carrots, julienned

1 14 oz bag small broccoli florets

1 6 oz bag fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Bring stock and soy sauce to a boil on medium-high heat. Stir in beef and noodles. Return to boiling; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes.

Add carrots and broccoli. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes more, then stir in spinach and cilantro. Let set 5 minutes.