Something Comforting

As some may have guessed, I spent Sunday recuperating. By 9pm, I was HUNGRY! And I felt like a nice light Asian soup.

On to the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards I went. I ended up with a fantastic, light recipe that took about 40 minutes from getting out the ingredients to eating. I had all the ingredients on hand (OK, fine, you caught me, I made a couple of substitutions) and it was super simple.

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup
Cooking Light, MARCH 2001

Vietnamese cooking often calls for adding herbs and sauces to a dish at the end. More than just a garnish, these ingredients allow you to tailor the final product to your taste. Additional chili oil and fish sauce will, though, increase the fat and sodium.

4 cups water
1/2 cup sliced shallots (I used a 1/4 of an onion, thinly sliced)
1/4 cup minced peeled fresh ginger (I used about 2 tablespoons ginger powder)
5 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 (15.75-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/4 pound uncooked rice sticks (rice-flour noodles) or vermicelli
1 cup fresh bean sprouts (omitted)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (thought I had, but didn't, so used parsley)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil (from my back yard
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint (used all my non-dead mint from the front yard, from the summer)
4 lime wedges (forgot to add)
Chopped hot red or Thai chile (optional) (didn't)
Fish sauce (optional) (didn't)
Chili oil (optional) (used sesame chili oil drizzled on top)





Combine the first 9 ingredients in a large Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan; cool slightly. Cut into bite-size pieces.
Cook rice sticks in boiling water 5 minutes; drain.
Divide chicken and noodles evenly among 4 large bowls. Ladle 2 cups soup into each bowl. Top each serving with 1/4 cup sprouts and 1 1/2 teaspoons each of onions, cilantro, basil, and mint. Serve with lime wedges; garnish with chopped chile, fish sauce, or chili oil, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 346 (18% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 1.7g,mono 2.1g,poly 1.7g); IRON 2.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 141mg; CALCIUM 61mg; CARBOHYDRATE 29.1g; SODIUM 1279mg; PROTEIN 40.4g; FIBER 1.1g



I'm not the best photographer, but I think it it looks pretty good!