Thai-inspired coconut tofu soup

Jonathan and I tried our hands at this Thai Tom Yum-like soup instead of grilling on the Fourth. Maybe that's why we didn't get to see the fireworks. This is a very flavorful soup that can withstand your personal interpretation of the ingredients.

• 5 cups vegetable stock (we ended up using only two cups stock & two cups water or so, but it turned out fine
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1-3 small Thai chili peppers, minced unseeded (small red chili or jalapeno peppers would also be good)
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• a generous amount of ginger, thinly sliced
• Enoki mushrooms (straw mushrooms would also be delicious)
• cauliflower (bell peppers would also be good)
• snow peas
  
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
  
• 2 tomatoes, cut up in large chunks
• soy sauce
  
• 1 package tofu, diced (we used firm, but soft would probably be much better)
• 1 lime (or if you have lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves)
  
• fresh cilantro and/or green onions

These ingredients make for a big soup--I've been eating it for days

Bring the stock to boil in a large pot. Toss in the chili peppers, garlic, onion, and ginger. Let boil for an additional 5 min. Add in the mushrooms, snow peas, carrots, and cauliflower and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat on low and pour in the coconut milk and tomatoes. Add soy sauce to taste--more if the broth is too sweet. Put in the tofu and squeeze in the lime juice before simmering for several minutes. Serve with a hearty garnish of cilantro & green onions. Serve with rice for a full meal.

Note about the chili peppers: I love spicy foods, so I made the mistake of adding too many chili peppers here. The peppers give the broth a really nice kick, but they really shouldn't overpower the other flavors of the soup. Two peppers for this size of soup would be fine; I would not go for more than three.