Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Despite the fact that we had perfectly blue skies and warm weather this past weekend in the Philadelphia area, the recent rainy, damp weather had me wanting to run to Au Bon Pain for soup nearly everyday. And even though the weather is supposed to get better, I just felt like making a nice pot of warm and comforting soup. Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup is spicy, creamy, and hearty – just what you want from a soup.

Don’t be freaked out by the coconut in the name of this soup. It comes from light coconut milk which is mild in flavor and provides a silky creaminess. Chopped mushrooms and red peppers provide some rustic bulk while ginger, garlic, and chile paste provide some hefty flavor. Precooked chicken is thrown in at the end which helps save time, making this soup a perfect use of leftover chicken you might have on hand. Toppings of scallions and cilantro add a fresh brightness at the end so don’t skimp on them. I omitted the lemongrass, substituted ground ginger for fresh ginger and used soy sauce instead of fish sauce. These changes seemed to work because I loved this soup. This recipe wasn’t even the reason why I tore out the page it was on from the magazine it was in but what an amazingly pleasant surprise! This just goes to show – pay attention to every recipe you see. You just might end up making it.

The ingredients:

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and add in mushrooms, bell pepper, ginger, garlic, and lemongrass (I omitted this). Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.