Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Coming Clean

Listen, you guys, I have to to get something off my chest. Let's treat this like confession and maybe I can still go to heaven.

Forgive me, Father, I have told a lie: I keep telling my friends and family that I hate soup.

I say "I hate soup", but in my head it goes: “I hate soup. Well, except for phô. And tom yum soup. And Liz’s french onion soup with the cheese on top. Oh, and when Val makes beef stew. Does stew count as soup?” It goes for days. 

Mags’s Stupid-Easy Coconut Chicken Soup
4 cups chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1 jalapeno, diced (I seeded mine)
2” piece of ginger, minced
like 6 cloves of garlic, minced
zest of 1 lime
juice of that same lime
1 stalk of lemongrass, cut into 2” pieces and bruised
1-2 lbs chicken breast, cooked and sliced
1 red pepper, chopped
¾ bag of snow peas, cut in half
Mushrooms, cut in half
Sriracha
Sambal
Salt
Cilantro (if you’re in to that)

I’m not kidding, this is the friggin’ easiest soup ever. Put the broth, coconut milk, jalapeno, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and lime zest in a big pot and bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Simmer-y.
Stir in lime juice, then add the chicken (left-over chicken works really well) and veggies, and simmer for 10 more minutes. (You could add onions or like par-cooked potatoes or zucchini or broccoli or whatever sounds good. I just used what I had.)



Just before service add sriracha, sambal and/or salt to taste. I usually put a fair amount of spicy stuff in it because the coconut milk tends to cancel some of it out. I am also kind of a masochist when it comes to spicy things.







Serve over rice.

I put a shitload of cilantro on it before I eat it, but that’s not required.
AND YOU’RE DONE. Take a damn bow.

Another thing about this recipe is how simple it would be to make it vegetarian. Just substitute the chicken broth for veggie broth and throw in some tofu for protein instead of chicken.
Mmm... soup.

If you’re cooking for one (I feel you, bro) this keeps pretty well in the fridge for a few days. It might separate, but just mix it up before you dish it out and you’ll be golden.


Tuneage:
Holy butts am I addicted to this song:


I could just listen to it on repeat for days. I hope the album is this good all the way through.

2 comments:

  1. "If you're cooking for one (I feel you, bro)" is like the greatest thing ever.

    I'd invite you over for kitty snuggles and dinner, but we're tiling tonight so the kitchen is going to be a GD warzone.

    Not that it isn't already.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We should change the title of this blog to "Cooking for one (I feel you, bro')"

    Mags, can you just come be my wife in New York?

    ReplyDelete