Creole Style Vegetable Soup

 This soup has been taste tested. Real ginger can be strong. I liked it with 2 tablespoons in the pot, but my other tester said it was too much. If you are not a big fan of ginger, you can use less or omit from the recipe and add it as a garnish instead.

1 can (15 oz) petite diced tomatoes, drained

1 can (15 oz) blacked eyed peas, drained

2 diced carrots

1 head of diced garlic

1 tbsp diced onion

1 tbsp picked pickled ginger

1 tbsp Vegeta seasoning (it's a vegetarian seasoning available at Cost Plus World Mart.)

enough water to cover the pot 1/2 full

4-5 cups of coarsely chopped baby spinach. I think that's one regular-sized bag.

I wanted to make this soup a little more substantial, so I added one serving of pre-made udon noodles that were diced.

Dump it all in your favorite soup pot except for the chopped spinach and noodles. Cook the soup on high for 15 minutes, then turn off the stovetop and add the spinach and the noodles. It will be ready to eat after 5 minutes.

You can also garnish it with your favorite hot sauce to give it a kick. I like Louisiana hot sauce, but Tabasco would be good, too.