For today’s Tasty Recipe, Erika sent me a link to a delicious sounding soup submitted by thekitchenpixie last September. The name was enough to rope me in: “Thai Chicken Soup with Cilantro-Infused Rice“. Who could possibly resist that?
The ingredients were simple (and I happened to have them all on hand), so yesterday I whipped up a batch.
I’ll give my verdict below. Meantime, here’s how you make it.
Here’s what you need.
Mushrooms, too. Forgot to put ‘em in there.
Begin by dicing up some chicken breast. I made the pieces a little on the small side.
Next, roughly chop an onion…
And a few stalks of celery. Mince up some garlic, too, while you’re at it.
Now heat some olive oil in a large pot.
Throw in the chicken, onions, celery, and garlic…
And stir them around for a minute or two.
Next, pour in 7 cups of water.
Then bring it to a nice simmer and leave it cooking for about 20 minutes.
Now comes the secret ingredient: lime juice! Who’d a thunk it? Pour it right on in there.
Also add the cherry (or grape, in my case) tomatoes…
Next, thinly slice the mushrooms…
And throw them into the pot.
Next comes a whole buncha cilantro…
Stir it around and add 2 teaspoons of salt.
Next, add a good teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
*Note that this quantity does result in a nice, spicy (but not overpoweringly so) soup. If you’re a little frightened of the heat factor, add 1/2 teaspoon at first, then work your way up.
Stir it all together and allow this to cook for an additional ten minutes.
While that’s cooking, let’s make the rice! Pour 1 cup of rice into a saucepan…
Add 2 cups of water and a dash of salt.
Bring it to a slow boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and place on the lid. Leave for about 8 minutes.
With a couple minutes of cooking time remaining, throw in a couple of sprigs of cilantro…
…Then place the lid back on and cook for a couple more minutes.
Serve the soup in a bowl…
With the cilantro-infused rice on the side.
The idea is that you take a little rice…
And dump it into the soup.
Then, as you’re eating the soup, if you find it’s too spicy you can just dump in a little more rice to offset the heat.
Perfect!
THE VERDICT:
I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious this soup was. I loved the ingredient list, but I wondered how flavorful it could be, cooking for such a short time. But honestly, the salt content is perfect…and the lime juice is absolutely delicious! It adds just a tiny bit of tang and dimension. The tomatoes are delicious, too—though they’re awfully hot right out of the pot.
The spice factor is all there—I think I’d back up to 1 teaspoon if I were serving it to kids or company whose spice tolerance was lower. But it was perfect for me.
This really was a treat, and it couldn’t have been easier!
20 Comments
Comments are closed for this recipe.
Lauren Haughain on 5.4.2010
Wow, I can’t wait to try this!
sallyk on 3.8.2010
I’m going to try this, but change it up a bit to make it more Mediterranean — lemon juice instead of lime and flat leaf parsley instead of cilantro. Those are the ingredients I (always) have on hand.
Sacha on 3.7.2010
Yum! This looks like the perfect thing to make when you have a big bag of cilantro in the fridge (I can almost never finish all of it before it goes bad!). Perfect!
KaronM on 3.2.2010
Jessica – what part of the country were you in when you had this pie?? If you still live in that area check library for local cookbooks ,write to that towns newspaper and ask if any one remembers recipe or bakery family. hope this helps
Carrie on 2.27.2010
Jessicaleigh…..you might want to try this link…
http://southernfood.about.com/od/cranberries/r/bl30207i.htm
lynn @LynnATL on 2.26.2010
this soup sounds (and looks) fabulous! Can’t wait to make it.
Lindie on 2.25.2010
I love thai soups. But I have a problem with tomato skins since my stomach surgery. I think I will try it with some canned diced tomatoes.
jessicaleigh on 2.24.2010
Thanks so much Liz! I’m going to try it! I’ll post the recipe if it works!
Liz on 2.24.2010
To: jessicaleigh
This pie sounds a little bit like Strawberry Bavarian – a dessert that combines strawberry gelatin and whipped topping. I don’t have a recipe for it, but when I did a quick internet search a while back, I was able to find a variety of ways to make it, including adding whole strawberries. I haven’t had it in pie form, but I’m sure it could go into graham cracker or precooked crust very nicely.
I know the pie you’re looking for is cranberry and has nuts, but maybe the Strawberry Bavarian could be a good place to start in recreating it.
Good luck!
mdvshutterbug on 2.24.2010
I must try this.
Lisa on 2.23.2010
Saw this and got up and made it – didn’t have celery in my fridge, but did have lemongrass which is perfect in this soup – thanks for the tip to add cilantro to the rice. – love it!
genevabear on 2.23.2010
yum looks wonderful! and i have leftover rice. could do alittle substitutions and have a great soup!
2noelle on 2.23.2010
This sounds and looks delish, if I make it, I think I’d add some fresh ginger along with the other ingredients.
sarahh on 2.23.2010
It’s a pretty soup! Can’t wait to try it!
Rachel Baddorf on 2.23.2010
Yum! I love the idea of adding cilantro to the rice while cooking. Just did it with the pot of rice I am currently cooking.
Bethany on 2.23.2010
Yay! I’m a terrible soup-maker, but this looks totally do-able and very yummy! Thanks a million!
jessicaleigh on 2.23.2010
Hi! I posted this on my wire FOREVER ago, but received no comments, so I thought I’d try posting it here!
CHALLENGE – PLEASE HELP!!! I’m searching for a recipe for a pie I ate a long time ago. It was sold in a bakery I worked at when I was 13/14, and I cannot forget how delicious it was. The pie had some sort of whipped cream, lots of cranberries, and nuts. It had a firmness that made me think some sort of gelatin was used, but you could not taste it. On the inside, you could see the whole cranberries (I think they were canned) and the nuts, mixed in with the whipped topping. I think there must have been gelatin because of the texture. I have tried to find and recreate this pie with no luck! Does anyone know of a recipe, or could you try to come up with one?
Carly on 2.23.2010
Yum! That looks delicious and I already have most of the ingredients! I’m definitely saving this recipe for my meal menu next week.
Janet Bridge on 2.23.2010
I’m making this right away… It looks soooooo good!
Jill on 2.23.2010
Looks delicious!