Thai Chicken Soup with Baby Spinach and Lemongrass (serves 4)
Man (woman) cannot live by bread alone (especially if gluten intolerant!) but I could live by soup alone. This soup has a depth of Thai flavors without being too spicy. It is worth going the extra mile to find lemongrass as you can’t get the same taste from mere lemon juice. I minced the lemongrass in a food processor and added some of the soup liquid to make it easier to mince (lemongrass can be quite tough). To prepare the lemongrass, take off the outer layer and top and tail the stalk, then thinly slice (I looked up how to prepare lemongrass on the Internet). I used a mixture of Thai Green Curry Paste and curry powder for the spices. You could also serve this with rice as a main course and maybe thicken the soup a bit first.
3 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 x can lite coconut milk
3/4 cup chopped scallions/spring onions
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 1/2 tbsp. Thai Green Curry Paste
4 stalks lemongrass – minced
1 tbsp. fresh ginger – finely grated
4 x chicken thighs – fat removed
6 oz baby spinach
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
Chopped cilantro for sprinkling on top of soup
Place chicken broth, coconut milk, chopped scallions, curry powder, Thai Green Curry paste, grated ginger and chicken thighs in a cast iron casserole dish and bring to a boil.
Turn heat down and simmer for 25 minutes.
Remove chicken and cut into small pieces.
Add spinach to casserole dish and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
Add lime juice.
Add back the chopped chicken.
Serve imediately with chopped cilantro sprinkled on top of the soup.
