Thai Chicken Soup

I'm such a fan of Thai food.  I love me some red curry, coconut milk, and lemongrass.  Yum yum yum!  So, last week, while I was flipping the pages of a food magazine, I became completely mesmerized by a photo of Thai soup.  Gone were my plans to post a recipe for delicious Southern style black-eyed peas, ham, and collard soup. Gone were my plans to try out a soup made creamy by the addition of hummus.   Every other recipe just seemed so boring by comparison.  { insert dramatic sigh here}

Fast forward a few days, and I'm happy to report that this recipe was deserving of my fixation; it's just so, so good!  We loved it, and I couldn't stop sneaking spoonfuls of the broth when I was putting the leftovers away.  Once you have the veggies and chicken sliced up, it goes together pretty quickly, so this recipe would make a great weeknight dinner.

Enjoy!






Thai Chicken Soup
adapted from Food Network Magazine


1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbps. red curry paste
6 c. low-sodium chicken broth
13-15 oz. can light coconut milk
1 Tbsp. fish sauce, plus more to taste
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced 
1 c. mushrooms, sliced
6 oz. rice noodles, broken into pieces
1 Tbsp. lemongrass *
1 medium boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 1/2 lb.), thinly sliced crosswise
juice from 1/2 a lime
1/4 c. cilantro, roughly chopped, optional

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and curry paste and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk and fish sauce; cover and bring to a boil.

Add the bell peppers, mushrooms, and noodles and simmer, uncovered, until the noodles are al dente, about 3 minutes. Add the lemongrass and chicken, and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro, and add more fish sauce, if desired**.


* Note 1:  My grocery store doesn't carry fresh lemongrass, so I bought a tube instead.  It measures tablespoon for tablespoon the same as fresh lemongrass, and it will keep in my fridge for a lot longer.


** Note 2:  When you taste the broth at this point, if it tastes like it could use more salt, try adding 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce.  I did, and it tasted just right.  My total fish sauce for the entire recipe was 1 1/2 Tbsp.


*** Note 3:  Rice noodles tend to get mushy if you leave them in broth in the fridge.  When you package up your leftovers, keep the noodles and broth in separate containers.  Add the noodles back in to reheat.

Ingredient Lineup:

(MIA: the chicken and cilantro)

Remove the noodles from the broth before storing leftovers.

Yummy in my tummy.

French Onion Soup {so good I could cry}

I love onions - really I do. But after the incident as I like to refer to this recipe: Orange Coriander Chicken with Red Onions I have yet to attempt to cook with one of my favorite foods in anything but minuscule portions since May of last year. It was that traumatic. But when I saw this recipe for French Onion Soup my taste buds told my tears to put on their big girl panties and find a way to cut up onions with out crying.

So I scoured the internet for the best tips on how to cut onions without all the water works. You could try any one or a combination of these: Use a very sharp knife. Chill onions in freezer before cutting.Cut the onion near running water or a pot of steaming water. Soak the onion in water before cutting. Breathe through your mouth when cutting. Light a candle right next to cutting board. Chew gum or bread while cutting.

Or you could just do what I did: chop fast, cry a little and get back to making a really good soup. Just tell yourself like I did that tears are like love - they make a recipe taste better.

French Onion Soup
{Elise} @ Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
6 large red or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced.
Olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups of beef stock, chicken stock, or a combination of the two.
1/2 cup of dry vermouth or dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon of dry thyme
Salt and pepper
8 slices of toasted bread
1 1/2 cups of grated Swiss Gruyere

1 In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30-40 minutes (or longer). Add the sugar about 10 minutes into the process to help with the carmelization.

2 Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, vermouth or wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf.




3 To serve you can either use individual oven-proof soup bowls or one large casserole dish. Ladle the soup into the bowls or casserole dish. Cover with the toast and sprinkle with cheese. Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.



Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed this soup but we were worried about whether the kids would even taste it. We thought kids were going to have a fit when they see that this is onion soup...but the boys ate it with encouragement while Maddy completely ignored her bowl. 

She is going though one of those eat like a bird phases.

Winter Vegetable Soup

Winter Vegetable Soup
Trisha Yearwood's Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 14-ounce cans of chicken broth
3 red potatoes, peeled and  diced in 3/4 inch pieces
1 12-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce package frozen lima beans
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 12-ounce can of cream-style corn
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, combine the broth with the potatoes, tomatoes, beans and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from the heat, stir in corn, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crackers or cornbread.

This is a great easy soup recipe for busy nights. It can be easily ready for the table in under 30 minutes and most of that time it's doing it's own thing...so you can too.

I made a few changes (white potatoes and peas) and it turned out really yummy. I think this would be a great one to experiment with - I've saw a soup recipe recently that called for white and red potatoes. The white break down when cooked and the red hold their shape. By using both you could really get the best of both worlds - a think soup with lots of yummy potato chunks!

What's your go to on a busy weeknight?

Nacho Beef Soup

Last week I got so wrapped up in reading this book. I couldn't put it down. It was an amazing and gripping tale that refused to let me go until I had read every last word. I was so completely entralled with this book that when my family started complaining of hunger - I had to find a quick and easy recipe to throw together so that they wouldn't waste away.

I was able to put this recipe together without having to put my book down too much. Unfortunately I forgot to bookmark my recipe...so I am going by memory. Thank goodness it was quick and easy.

Nacho Beef Soup

Brown 1 lb of ground beef in a large dutch oven with half an onion. Stir in 1 Tbs chili powder and cumin then season with salt and pepper. When beef is cooked through add one can of fiesta nacho cheese soup, 1 can of tomatoes with green chilies and 2/3 cup of milk. Heat stirring continuously until heated through. Top with your favorite nacho toppings: such as avocado, jalapenos. cheese and tortilla chips.

Read any good books lately?