Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

Since buying a jar of fish sauce and a bottle of Thai red curry paste, I've been looking for ways to use them. This soup recipe uses both ingredients and tastes great, especially on a cold, rainy day like today. I started off with the following recipe for coconut curry soup. However, I modified the recipe to use red curry paste, which gives the soup more of a Thai flavor. So if you like Thai food, you should really try this soup. The coconut milk gives it a creamy taste, something that I miss since going mostly dairy-free. I also like the fact that the soup does not call for all that many ingredients, and it's really quite easy to make. Even better than that is the fact that Michael and the girls all think it's great.

Coconut Curry Chicken Soup
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 "rice-cooker" cup of long-grain white rice, like Thai jasmine, to make about 2 cups of cooked rice
  
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 lb. (to 1.25 lb.) boneless skinless chicken breasts that are organic or kosher
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 to 3 medium carrots (to make 1/2 cup chopped carrots)
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp. red curry paste. I use Thai Kitchen brand because it's gluten-free.
  
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce. I use Thai Kitchen brand because it's gluten-free.
  
• 2 cups Imagine Organic chicken broth OR Trader Joe's Organic free-range chicken broth
• 1 can light coconut milk. A can with guar gum is okay, but avoid any other additives.
  
• 2 broccoli crowns or 1 small bag of baby spinach
• 1/2 cup frozen peas

Instructions:

Place 1 "rice-cooker" cup of uncooked rice in the rice cooker with the appropriate amount of water and start the rice cooker. Chop the onion and carrots and set aside.

Place a 4-quart pot over medium-high heat. Thoroughly rinse the chicken breasts and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Pour 1 tablespoon of canola oil into the pot and let the oil heat up. Then add the chicken to the pot. Let one side of the chicken brown before turning the cubes so that another side browns. Toss the chicken pieces until all of the sides have browned, about 2 minutes in total. The chicken should not be fully cooked inside since it will cook some more later on. Transfer the chicken and any chicken juices to a bowl.

Pour another tablespoon of canola oil into the pot and lower the heat to medium. Add the onions and carrot to the pot and saute until they have softened, stirring occasionally. When they are soft, add the coriander, red curry paste, and cayenne pepper to the pot. Stir for 1 minute. Then pour the lime juice, fish sauce, chicken broth, and coconut milk into the pot, and stir. Increase the heat to medium-high to bring the liquid to a simmer.

While the liquid is heating, cut the broccoli crown into approximately 4 cups of bite-size florets. If using baby spinach instead of broccoli, measure about 4 packed cups of spinach and chop the spinach into bite-size pieces. When the liquid has come to a simmer, add the chicken with its cooking juices and the broccoli florets to the pot, cover the pot with a lid, and reduce the heat to low. Let the soup barely simmer for 15 minutes. (If using spinach, just add the chicken to the pot.) After the 15 minutes, add the spinach, if using, the cooked rice, and the peas. Stir and serve.