Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Soup's On!

Good evening everyone! With Tyler, I wanted to express my gratitude to our readers and followers of the blog for celebrating our three year anniversary. It started as a fun hobby to create healthy meal options and its blossomed into something much greater. It's been a great journey on becoming better cooks and seeing how far we've developed is tremendous. Of course, without our readers, this hasn't been possible. So again, a multitude of thanks goes to those who read our cooking escapades every week! It drives us to create delicious dishes, like the one I'm cooking tonight

The Recipe: Chicken Noodle Bowl
Original Recipe Found In: Cooking Light, May 2013

What You'll Need:
4 Ounces uncooked Linguine
2 Teaspoons Canola Oil, divided
2 boneless, skinless Chicken thighs
1 Cup chopped Yellow Onion
1 Tablespoon powdered Ginger, divided
2 Tablespoons minced Garlic, divided
1/4 Teaspoon crushed Red Pepper
3 1/4 Cups unsalted Chicken Stock
1 3/4 Cups Water
2 Teaspoons dark Sesame Oil
1 1/4 Cup sliced Mushrooms
1 Tablespoon lower-sodium Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
3/4 Cup Sugar Snap Peas, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces
6 Green Onions, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces

To start, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Without adding salt or oil, cook the linguine according to package directions.  Once the pasta is al dente, drain in a colander, rinse the pasta in cold water, and set aside. 

While the pasta is being prepared, you can begin to cook the chicken. In a large saucepan, heat one teaspoon of canola oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated and swirled in the pan, add the chicken. Cook the chicken for six to eight minutes on each side, or until it is cooked all the way through. Transfer the chicken to a clean plate and let stand for five minutes. After the chicken is cool to handle, shred into pieces. 

Next, return the same pan to the stovetop and heat the remaining canola oil. After the pan has returned to medium-high heat, add the onion, one teaspoon ginger, one tablespoon garlic, and crushed red pepper. Cook this mixture for four minutes, until the onions become slightly translucent. Add the chicken stock and water to the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan for any browned bits and bring the liquid to a boil. Once at a boil, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes. After this is cooked, use a sieve and pour the liquid into a bowl, discarding any solids. Pour the liquid back to the pot and return to the stovetop, keeping warm.

In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat and swirl to coat.  Add the mushrooms and cook for six minutes until they become softened.  After the mushrooms are cooked, add the remaining ginger and garlic.  Stir this mixture for one minute until everything is well incorporated.  When the mushroom mixture is done cooking, add them to the stock mixture, along with the chicken, soy sauce, and sugar and bring this mixture to a simmer.

Next, stir in the sugar snap peas and cook for four minutes.  Stir in the green onions and pasta; continue to cook the mixture for three minutes, until the pasta begins to absorb some of the stock liquid.  Ladle the soup into bowls, serve, and enjoy!

The End Result:



This soup is super refreshing, regardless of what the temperature gauge says it is outside.  I think a lot of that relies on the green onions and sugar snap peas - those two vegetables give the soup a crunch that's not in any other soups.  Most of this recipe is spent on building the depth of flavors to the broth.  In this case, it works beautifully.  Instead of a typical chicken stock, we added an onion flavor, but removed the chopped yellow onion, before the soup got overcrowded.  Also, adding the soy sauce and sugar gave the soup a uniquely different taste - and yes, sugar really did give the soup a boost, despite the soup having no sweet taste whatsoever.  If you're in the mood for a soup that is pleasing on the pallet and for something that is a little out of the norm, this dish is for you!

Thanks for joining us this week.  Check back next week when we whip up a brand new batch of recipes!  Until then,

~Cheers!

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