A Thai Twist on boring old Chicken Soup

It is firmly winter in Minnesota which means lots of slush, bitter cold wind and on-again-off-again head colds. There's lots of evidence floating around that chicken soup helps with colds, but I've never been able to get excited about chicken soup. Childhood scars may also have something to do with it.

I was tainted against all forms of chicken soup/broth/stock as a 17 year-old kid when I came down with a violent case of mono that lasted for about 5 months. My throat swelled nearly shut at one point such that the only thing I could consume was chicken stock through a straw. My grandma literally kept a chicken boiling for days and would bring me a "sippy" bottle of clear warm poultry juice every 3 or 4 hours which would be my only sustenance. I couldn't stand the smell of chicken broth for most of my 20s.

16 years later, I believe in using lots of chicken stocks in my cooking (usually store bought boxed broths - Progresso and Kitchen Basics are my favorites). I also love making soup this time of year but that had not extended to making chicken soup until I discovered this version from the folks at Cooking Light. It's a Coconut Curry Chicken Soup that has a light coconut milk base loaded with gentle curry spice, hearty chunks of chicken, tender rice noodles and crunchy snow peas. It gives you a great warm feeling all over and does help fight back those ugly colds. I cut time by using a rotisserie chicken for the meat (I prefer the thigh/leg meat), but you could easily poach a couple of chicken breast fillets with some stock and a bay leaf if you must and shred/chop well before adding to the soup.

J the BF and his assistant loved the left-overs. Be warned - the noodles are slurp worthy and splatter a bit. Don't enjoy while wearing that new over-priced top or over your laptop.