Someone might have asked me yesterday "so... are you cooking this week?" and the answer is "yes, BUT..." Today, for instance, I made oatmeal, then a bowl of cereal. For lunch I picked up some chicken salad from Brown Bag Deli to eat with Sliced Apples. I also picked up a couple of chocolate chip cookies.... Later I made a pot of Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese for myself Landon and cooked a filet of salmon for her to eat tomorrow and Friday. Then I stopped cooking. Dinner... the meal that "morning" sickness is made of. Lucky for me, S got home and made chicken thighs with sauteed kale. I'm about to probably eat some over an hour later. Feeling sick during dinner cooking time is really putting a damper on the healthy cooking portion of this blog. Then when I do attempt to cook, I'm not doing the best documenting job. Here is a great example... while making one of my all time favorite cooking light recipes (and definitely the one that I have made the most) I look back to find.... 3 pictures of the entire cooking session. This post is about accepting the things I cannot change. I've just got to use what I have at the moment. Please enjoy.
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| Stock photo from recipes.com |
I first spotted this recipe in 2008 and was a little hesitant. The ingredient list was long, which for me can equal dollar signs. At certain times in the month this is not a good thing. Since then I have built up a killer spice collection so it's a cinch to throw this one together.
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups
water
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1 (5 3/4-ounce) package pad thai noodles (wide rice stick noodles)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound) $
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
7 lime wedges
PREPARATION:
1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.
2. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.
Side note: not all of these ingredients are available at your neighborhood store. HEB is pretty reliable with most of them (if you are in TX) and if you have a Central Market, I would head there instead. Whole foods will definitely have everything on hand for maybe a little more $$. I can't compare Trader Joe's since I think ours is a mini version.
In the picture below I have completed step 1 and you can see the snow pea, spinach, and noodle mixture in the bowl on the left. I had just added the coconut milk and was doing the 5 minute simmer.
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| This cook top is the bane of my cooking life. |
Here is where I veer off of the recipe path... usually (as in the photo above) I am cooking the second half in a larger pot. At some point instead of pouring the larger pot over the spinach, snow peas and noodles, I put the noodle mix back into the larger pot with step two ingredients in it and then complete with the cilantro and chiles. This is what my finished product looks like:
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| Oh, and hey S's legs in the background.... I'm really losing my edge here... acceptance. |
And finally, presented to you atop L's placemat and a 99cent special plastic target cutting board... the final portion to be served with lime wedges.
I really never dreamed I would be a person who cooks Thai at home. Whatever that means. But this soup is just TO DIE FOR. It has so much flavor and is only 315 calories per serving. I'll include the nutritional info a the bottom. Getting the ingredients together and all the steps right the very first time can be a little daunting, but once you get the hang of it this is so easy to make (especially compared to soups and stews that take HOURS) and again, I just want to stress the flavor is OUT OF THIS WORLD. The lime juice also helps this soup transition to warmer temps so you can eat it longer than just a couple months of the year (for anyone else living along the southern Gulf Coast).
While I am accepting the lackluster performance above, and overjoyed by the circumstances that have caused it, I am striving to get better. I happened to do some amazing documenting of Christmas sweets cooking, but I'm saving that one for another edition of fattening Friday. Until then, let's accept one another and get cooking in the kitchen no matter how you have to do it. Sitting on a stool stirring soup anyone? yes please.
-RT
Nutritional Info:
Amount per serving
- Calories: 315
- Calories from fat: 22%
- Fat: 7.8g
- Saturated fat: 3.7g
- Monounsaturated fat: 2.2g
- Polyunsaturated fat: 1.3g
- Protein: 29.3g
- Carbohydrate: 30.9g
- Fiber: 2.4g
- Cholesterol: 62mg
- Iron: 3.2mg
- Sodium: 841mg
- Calcium: 78mg
Your cooking sounds a lot like mine. The soup does look delicious though. I will have to try it. Hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. I'll have to try it.
ReplyDelete