Thai Curry Soup

I have to admit...I have been SO bad about cooking new, original, healthy, delicious meals lately! I don't know what has gotten into me. A sampling of last week's dinners included Subway and macaroni...pitiful!

I promise this is just a temporary phase. Brett moves home FOUR weeks from today (!!) and I can't wait for "meal-planning" evenings. That basically consists of throwing on some PJs, grabbing a beer, and flipping through my magazines and recipe books to choose dinners for the next two weeks. That's my kinda night!

This is something I made a few weeks back. I was trying to clear out my pantry and I did an ingredient search on a couple random things I had, including coconut milk and rice noodles. This recipe was really, really good. I left out the shrimp and instead, used chicken (but only because I had chicken in the freezer!) If you do use chicken, ensure that its fully cooked before you add to the soup. I also left out the spinach because I haven't had the best of luck using spinach in soups...it tends to get wilt-y. Yuck!

World Market sells red curry paste, by the way. Also, I love spicy food, and I simply could not get this soup to be spicy enough. I increased the curry paste, I added red pepper flakes...and finally, I resorted to my most fool-proof SPICE enhancer...cayenne pepper. I didn't want to alter the flavor of the soup (cayenne pepper has sort of a smoky flavor) so I added as much as possible without overdoing it.

Thai Curry Soup

• 2 ounces rice noodles (pad thai noodles)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced lemon grass (I omitted b/c I couldn't find any)
  
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger (I used fresh)
  
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste (I used 3-4 TBS)
  
• 1 (32 ounce) carton chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
• 1/2 cup peeled and deveined medium shrimp
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 (10 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rice noodles and cook until al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water to stop the cooking; set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, lemon grass, and ginger; cook and stir until aromatic, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the curry paste, and cook 30 seconds more. Pour in about 1/2 cup of the chicken broth, and stir until the curry paste has dissolved, then pour in the remaining chicken stock along with the soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
3. Stir in coconut milk, shrimp, mushrooms, spinach, lime juice, and cilantro. Increase heat to medium-high, and simmer until the shrimp turn pink and are no longer translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. To serve, place some rice noodles into each serving bowl and ladle soup on top of them. Garnish each bowl with a sprinkle of sliced green onion.

Shrimp Limone

Zio's Italian Restaurant in Olathe, KS...one of my all-time favorite Italian restaurants (and even one of my first employers, from my high school days!) I always order one of two things: Spaghetti with meat sauce and alfredo (trust me, it's a-MA-zing) or a super delicious dish called "Shrimp Limone."

I am proud to say that I have artfully mastered - yes, nearly mastered! - this dish to the point of tasting nearly identical to the restaurant. My first attempt was in college and while it was good, I didn't quite understand the principle of creating good cream sauces. Practice makes perfect, right?

I guesstimated the proportions listed below, and every time it's even better and closer to the real thing. Why am I posting this today, you might wonder? Well, tomorrow night, Brett is taking me on a date at Zios - and even better, it was HIS idea! Since I just made Shrimp Limone last week, I might have to go with the spaghetti tomorrow night...we will see!

Shrimp Limone

2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 pint half & half (2% milk will work, too)
salt, pepper, oregano
2 TBS lemon juice

1-2 TBS olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
2 roma or plum tomatoes, chopped
frozen cooked shrimp, thawed
angel hair pasta

1. In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, and whisk for 1 minute. Add half & half, and raise heat until sauce is boiling. Reduce to a simmer, and continue to whisk to remove lumps. Add salt, pepper, oregano and lemon juice. Adjust/add seasonings to taste.

2. In large skillet, sautee garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Add artichoke hearts, tomatoes, shrimp, and cream sauce to pan. Cook all until heated through.

3. Boil angel hair pasta as directed. Serve shrimp mixture over angel hair.