Spicy Soup!

More home cooking in my new kitchen!  This weekend I whipped up a fun and fast soup, thanks to a recipe in the latest Real Simple magazine. 

Behold - Thai Curry Vegetable & Tofu Soup!

This was so quick to make!  Like, too quick even - I was still chopping veggies when the broth had boiled enough and it was time to pop them in the pot already!  (I'm not quite an organized cook.) It came out great, even with a few adjustments on my part.  Overall highly recommended!  A great vegetarian dish, that's quite filling, and can definitely carry on out of "soup season" into the spring with its light fresh tastes!  Check it out.

THAI CURRY VEGETABLE & TOFU SOUP

from Real Simple, April 2011

Serves 4*Hands-On Time: 30m*Total Time: 30m

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (My supermarket was lacking in options, and I wasn't up for a trip to Chinatown, so I used the red rooster garlic/chili sauce.  Worked well!  Although I doubled the dose - I like it spicy!)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 14-ounce can coconut milk (I used light coconut milk - worked fine!  And saved a few calories, too.)
kosher salt
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced (Used regular white mushroom here - way cheaper than shiitake!  And still tasty.)
4 ounces green beans, halved
2 carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise
14 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
4 ounces snow peas (I couldn't find these in my store.  So I skipped them, and added a few more green beans.  Still good!)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
Asian chili garlic sauce, for serving

DIRECTIONS
1.Place the curry paste and ginger in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the broth, coconut milk, and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
2.Add the mushrooms, green beans, and carrots to the saucepan and simmer until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the tofu and snow peas and simmer until the snow peas are bright green, about 1 minute more.
3.Stir in the lime juice. Sprinkle with the basil and serve with the chili garlic sauce.

Made a great lunch for work today too!  And check out my cute new bowls from Ikea.  I'm like a real grown up with dishes and everything!  Woo hoo!