Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Back when we lived in Boise, one of my favorite restaurants was this Thai place called (appropriately) "Thai Cuisine" lol. They have this coconut soup that I absolutely love, but I have never even considered trying it because it has ingredients like lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal. Not only would I not know where to find these ingredients here, I never would even try because I'd only use them for this one soup. So I've just been going without. Until last night. I saw someone using regular similarly-flavored ingredients in another Asian soup and I was like, "Hey, I could do that!" So I came up with the following, which was surprisingly CLOSE. It wasn't exactly the same, but the whole family loved it nonetheless and I will just keep working on the flavor balance to make it perfect.

Coconut Chicken Soup:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut-up into 1-inch pieces
2 cups chicken stock (I used homemade)
2 cups coconut milk
1 onion, cut in half and sliced into strips
3 cups button mushrooms, quartered
8 slices fresh ginger, peeled
1 tablespoon chili paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil

1) Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of a soup pot, heat over medium heat. Add the onions and cook about 2-3 minutes.
2) Add the stock, coconut milk, mushrooms, ginger, chili paste, basil and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
3) Add the chicken and simmer another 5 minutes.
4) Add the lemon juice and serve hot.

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Taco Soup

I adapted this recipe because I couldn't find some of the ingredients here. It turned out wonderful. I especially liked it with Ritz crackers dipped into it. Super easy to make.

Crock Pot Taco Soup:

1 lb. shredded chicken (I used the leftover chicken from the double batch I made for the enchiladas)
1 can pinto beans
1 can white beans
1 can corn
1 can tomato and chilies
2 can diced tomatoes (or one large can)
1 TBSP green chili paste
1 envelope of taco seasoning
1/2 bottle of your favorite Ranch dressing (I used Delightfully Light)

1) Add all ingredients to Crock Pot (for the cans of beans and corn I drained the liquid and then filled them back up with water, but you can just dump them in). Stir to combine well.
2) Cook on low for 4 hours.

Garnish with sour cream and cheddar cheese if desired. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, or drain some of the liquid off and eat it inside of a tortilla.

Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

Ok, so I am not normally a chili fan, but my husband is, so I feel bad if I don't cater meals to him sometimes. Luckily, I found (and changed, of course) this recipe so that it is now a family favorite. It is a Crock Pot recipe (so I love it), it has shredded chicken (so Kaden loves it) and it is spicy and beany enough that Stu loves it too. We all ate the leftovers for lunches and cleaned our bowls every time. Give it a try!

White Chicken Chili:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cans of Great Northern Beans (white beans)

2 cups of chicken broth (low sodium works)

1 cup chopped white onion

2 cans chopped green chilies (I couldn't find any here so I just used a few teaspoons of the paste)

red pepper flakes to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:

Sour cream

Shredded Cheddar cheese

1) Place the chicken and chicken broth in the Crock Pot and cook for 5 hours on low.

2) Shred the chicken with two forks in the Crock Pot. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 2 more hours or until the onions are softened.

3)Serve with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. We also got out the tortilla chips the next day for lunches and they were awesome too!

Enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup

Last night I made this hearty soup and it was a family hit. My son absolutely loved it and the hubby and I ate ever bite in our bowls (Stu even went back for seconds). Here it is:

Baked Potato Soup:

4-5 medium-sized baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter (I used low-fat spread… it works just fine)
2/3 cup flour
6 cups low-fat milk
A few shakes of garlic powder
Salt and pepper
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
6 green onions, chopped
8 slices bacon, cooked till crisp and crumbled (low sodium J)
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350F and bake the potatoes until fork tender, about 1 hour. (I did the potatoes in the late morning and let them cool so they were easy to handle by the time I was ready to start dinner.)
2) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly blend in the flour with a whisk until thoroughly blended. Cook the roux until a very pale golden.
3) Gradually add milk the milk, letting it thicken. Add garlic powder and season with salt and pepper to taste, whisking constantly.
4) Cut potatoes in half, scoop out the interior and set aside.
5) Chop up half the potato peels and discard the remainder.
6) When milk mixture is very hot, whisk in potato.
7) Add green onion and potato peels. Whisk well, and then add the sour cream and bacon.
8) Add cheese a little at a time, whisking until all is melted.

I served this with buttered rolls and a side salad. Enjoy!