Delicious 400-Calorie Meal in 10 Minutes: Vegetarian Spicy Kale-Noodle-Tofu Soup

If you're looking for a quick-to-make, nutritious meal that tastes great and fills you up, try this recipe for a spicy vegetarian soup. Ideal for the calorie-conscious, this fantastic lunch or dinner option has only has 400 calories. To make more than one serving, multiply the ingredient portions times the number at the table. It's a perfect choice to warm up with on a cold winter day, especially when you're in a hurry and don't have time for labor-intensive preparations. Because most of the ingredients have a long shelf-life, it's easy to keep what's needed on hand for those days when you're short on time but could use a hot, healthy repast.

Here's the scoop on the soup:

Ingredients:

1 pack of 7.22-ounce Udon brand Japanese soup noodles with soup base (original or mushroom flavor)

2 cups of frozen kale or for a variation try 15 pieces of frozen whole okra

1 7-ounce can of mushroom stems and pieces

1 block of lite tofu (measure 50-calorie serving size from the nutrition information label on the package) cut into half-inch cubes.

A few good shakes of smoked paprika

A few good shakes of crushed red pepper flakes.

Three cups of water

To make:

Combine the kale (or okra option), soup base seasoning, mushrooms, tofu, smoked paprika and crushed pepper in three cups of water and bring to a boil.

Add the noodles and simmer for three minutes.

Pour in a bowl and enjoy.

Besides being a hearty selection, this meal packs in a lot of good nutrition.

The noodles with soup base offer eight grams of protein and 15 percent of the daily recommended allowance of iron. If you're interested in knowing the specific quantities of each nutrient, read the nutrition labels posted on the packages for all the items. In general, the mushrooms provide about six more grams of protein and a little more iron. The tofu not only adds even more protein and iron, but calcium, phosphorus and vitamins D, E and B12, according to the nutrition label on Nasoya brand lite silken tofu. If you're using a different brand, be sure check the nutrition label for any variation from that source. Additional nutrients come from the kale. Kale has calcium, iron, vitamin C and vitamin A. If you're using the okra option, you'll get some calcium and vitamins C and A, but no iron. To get additional calcium and protein in the meal without adding a ton of calories, you could tack on a 50 or 100-calorie serving size of low-fat cheese slices on the side.