West & Rose Farm: soup

I will never forget the first date hubs took me on after having Bubba. Bubba was about 6 months old and we were desperate for a night out. We took our son to his grandparents and then drove to Newnan to try out a Thai restaurant. At the time, hubs had never tried Thai food before and I had eaten at Thai restaurants maybe 5 times, but every time I only ordered Pad Thai...which is such a cop out.

So here we were, two newbies stumbling upon a true authentic Thai restaurant down on the square in Newnan, GA with absolutely no clue what to order. I don't remember what all we ordered, I just remember it changed our lives. Thai instantly became one of our favorite food cultures. We have begun to venture into the world of Thai cooking and I have to say, some dishes are insanely easy to make. One of our favorites is the super easy and quick coconut lemongrass soup. This soup is #allaboutthatbroth. The broth is so deliciously intense...to the point where I could care less about the chicken and the rice that is also in the soup. Take a risk and try this soup, even if you have never had Thai before, this soup is the perfect introduction.

| I N G R E D I E N T S |
I was able to find all the ingredients for this soup at our local Kroger

2 chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips

3 Tbls fish sauce

Juice from 1 lime

1 box of chicken broth

3/4 Cup water

3 Tbls ginger (I used the stuff in a tube)

3 Tbls lemongrass (Again, the stuff in a tube)

1/2 Cup Jasmine Rice ( do not rinse)

1 can lite unsweetened coconut milk

Garnish with:

Cilantro

Jalapeno

red pepper flakes

lime

| M E T H O D |

Marinate the chicken strips in the fish sauce and lime juice and set aside

Bring chicken stock, water, ginger and lemongrass to a simmer.

Add rice and simmer for 15 minutes, until rice is nearly done.

Add coconut milk and bring soup to just when it is starting to boil, then lower heat to medium low

Add chicken with marinade and cook until the chicken is done, about 10 minutes

Ladle into bowls and garnish with cilantro, lime, jalapeno and red pepper flakes to taste.

The only downside to this soup is that the fish sauce can stink up your kitchen, and your house...so it may not make the best soup for entertaining if you care what your house smells like when you have guests over like I do!!! You can make this dish as mild or spicy as you like it with the jalapeno and pepper flakes, which is the beauty of this dish. Basically, just try the damn soup. It is delicious and you will thank me.

Happy Eating!

We have had nothing, but gloomy rain here in Georgia for the last two weeks. Its been hot and muggy for some of it, cold and wet the rest. According to the Weather Channel, there is no end in sight either! Rainy weather always makes me want warm soup.

Saturday night, Hubs and I had a date night in. Some of our best date nights have been when we have stayed home. Normally, we love to cook together, but we both weren't feeling doing all of that so I decided to throw a bunch of stuff in the crock-pot and call it potato soup. Lo and behold, it turned out delicious! It tasted very similar to O'Charley's Loaded Potato Soup.

INGREDIENTS

1 bag O'Brien hash brown potatoes (frozen)*
1 can of cream of chicken
32 oz box lower sodium chicken broth
8 oz low fat cream cheese, softened
1 Tbls garlic (I used pre-chopped)
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4 tsp Chipotle Chili Powder
3 slices of bacon, crumbled (optional)
green onions, chopped (optional)
black pepper (optional)

* O'Brien potatoes are just chopped potato hash browns with bell peppers and onions already chopped up in the bag with them...This is key to keeping your soup chop free!

METHOD

Put everything into the crock-pot, except for the cream cheese, and stir until combined. Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 hours. An hour before serving, stir in cream cheese and cook bacon until crisp. It is good break off cream cheese into smaller pieces before putting into the soup. Helps it melt into soup quicker.

When ready to serve, top with shredded cheddar, crumbled bacon and chopped green onions. I didn't have any green onions when I made it and missed having them on my soup.

This soup is so filling and yummy. It really hit the spot on a cold rainy night. I plan to make this as a broccoli cheddar soup next time. Will post that recipe as soon as I make it!