necessity is the mother of invention, no?
i had surgery about 2 weeks ago, and i am pretty restricted on what i can eat currently. while my husband pines for pizza this evening, i am pining for coconut milk. why coconut milk? because a can has been staring at me for the past month. i have also been craving thai food. specifically tom yum soup. considering i don’t eat chicken or shellfish, it’s a weird ass craving i know. but i love the balance of flavors in thai cuisine. the sweet, salty, sour and spicy all calls to me on a whole other level. i don’t have half the ingredients in my pantry to make tom yum soup, so with a thorough raid of my pantry and my ice box, i came up with this soup. slightly sweet from the coconut milk, sour from the limes, salty from the broth, and spicy from the curry powder and crushed chilies. yum indeed.
yum soup
1 tbsp neutral oil (vegetable or grape seed, do not use olive oil)
1 (32 oz) carton of organic vegetable stock (or organic chicken broth if you prefer)
1 13.2 oz can of organic light coconut milk (shake it up before you open)
1 small package of frozen spinach
2 cloves fresh minced garlic
juice from 1 small lime (or more if you like)
1/8 tsp red curry powder
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
pinch or more of crushed dried red chilies (optional)
cilantro for garnish (optional)
salt to taste
in a medium stock pot on low to med heat, add oil and garlic and heat until you can just smell the garlic. add curry powder and dried chilies (if using) stir until the curry powder darkens the oil and your kitchen smells like curry and chilies (love that smell!). add stock and coconut milk and crank up the heat to medium high. add frozen spinach (no need to thaw), grated ginger and heat until the soup starts to thicken. let simmer to give all the flavors time to mingle in the pot, about 4-5 min depending on the speed of your burners. when well heated and mingled, add lime juice and cilantro if using. taste and add salt if warranted.
slurp and enjoy!!
Eat Run Lose 