Last week, the kiddos had a lovely four day weekend of no school. Unfortunately, mama had no such long weekend so, when the twins begged to join me as I headed to work on Monday, I couldn’t resist. I packed some activities to keep them busy while I was teaching but my daughter wanted nothing to do with busywork in the back. She wanted in on the action so she joined me at the front of the room. My health students asked her pressing questions like … “Do you really like eating vegetables?” and, “What is in your snack drawer at home?” It was fabulous.
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| My sidekicks … enjoying their long weekend |
After classes, we went to lunch at our favorite (only) takeout place – Chipotle. After eating our weight in beans and rice, no one was too hungry for dinner, so I decided to make soup. When I am so tired and not in the mood to cook dinner, I always forget that making soup is such an easy option. This recipe is no exception. It’s like traditional Chicken Noodle Soup with a taste of Thai. It was delicious!
Ingredients:
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| Grating ginger |
2 cartons chicken broth (regular broth or Pho base) – about 6 to 8 cups
1 can lite coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce (if you have it)
1 chicken breast, cooked and sliced
1 or 2 large carrots, cut in small matchsticks
1/4 cup or so of grated ginger
1 small nest of rice noodles
Handful of snow peas
Scallions and cilantro, chopped for garnish
Directions:
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| Sliced chicken |
1. Prepare chicken and set aside.
2. Combine broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, and grated ginger in a large pot. Add the carrot. Slowly bring to a boil.
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| Rice noodles |
3. Add the rice noodles. Reduce heat. Stir over medium heat until the rice noodles are soft.
4. Ladle soup into individual bowls. Add snow peas and chicken to each bowl. Top with cilantro and scallions.
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| Cilantro and scallions |
5. If you like it spicy … add some crushed red pepper flakes! Yum.
Some notes about ingredients … You can buy rice noodles at most grocery stores and they are not very expensive. I use only one or two nests of rice noodles when I make a large pot of soup. You can follow the directions on the bag and prepare them separately or just toss them into your soup while it cooks.
This is a great time of year to get local scallions. They are so flavorful and delicious! If you toss your snow peas in at the end with your scallions and cilantro, your snow peas will stay nice and crunchy. If you want them less crunchy, put them in earlier. Enjoy!
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| Apparently, the baby can feed himself soup these days! |
