Thai Chicken Soup

Here is my spicy Thai Chicken Soup recipe I just made tonight.  If you love spicy things, you will love this soup.  Of course, you have to like Thai flavors in general and coconut milk.  This really is an easy recipe to make, especially if you use some of my short cuts.

Ingredients:

• 4 small cans of lite or regular coconut milk
• 3 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth
• 3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces (or if you are in a hurry buy a small roasted chicken already cooked from the store and pull the meat off into small pieces)
• 4 to 5 scallions, chopped
• 2 cups julienned carrots (you can buy in a package already done in the salad section)
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped or sliced into bite size pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 cups mushrooms, chopped
• 3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger (or get the fresh tube of ginger in the salad section)
• 2 to 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 stick of lemongrass, finely sliced (or get the fresh tube of it in the salad section which may be easier to find)
• cilantro to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 to 2 cups coconut flakes (optional)
• hot chili paste/sauce to taste to make it as spicy as you want
• juice of one lime (optional)

Directions:

1. Bake 3 chicken breasts at 350 for approximately 20-30 minutes with a light coat of olive oil and pepper.  Once done, let cool before cutting.  If you bought a roasted chicken from the store, just pull the meat off and set aside.
2. In a large pot place the fresh ginger, garlic and mushrooms with a small amount of olive oil and cook on medium high heat for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Add the chicken broth and coconut mile as well as all the other ingredients except for the cilantro and simmer for at least 20 minutes.
4. Add cilantro once it’s almost done cooking.
5. Garnish with cilantro, scallion greens or even mint leaves.

This dish could also be served over white rice.  I thought about putting udon noodles in the soup which I think would be great, but I was trying to keep it healthy and low-carb!