Thai Soup

My mom would make this when I was growing up, and it has always been a favorite. She got the gist of the recipe from a Thai girl named Nook, who was doing a home-stay with a family we'd met in Costa Rica... although when we met Nook they were living in Arizona, and my family had road-tripped from Colorado to their house. I know, I know, my family history makes no sense, but basically if it weren't for them we wouldn't have had this amazing Thai soup that is now one of my favorite "mom" dishes. You know how your own mom makes some things like, so much better than any other mom? This is one of those things.
Anyway, it's a soup that has so many flavors and textures that it's a soup that you can make year-round and not get tired of it! To me, that's a gold star!

Feel free to add in any other veggies or nix ones on this list that you don't like. It's delicious served over rice, or just as a soup!

Makes: 4 soup servings or 6 servings over rice


Ingredients:

• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 large carrots
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 can bamboo shoots
• 8-12 white mushrooms
• 1 cup snow peas
• Green curry paste (to taste, I use 1 tsp at a time!)

Directions:

1. Chop the carrots into 1/4" thick coins, slice the celery stalks lengthwise in half then roughly chop, and cut the mushrooms into quarters. Heat a large pot to medium-low heat, then add your chopped veggies. Add a little canola oil or butter (depending how naughty you feel), then put a lid on and let it cook for 4 minutes. 
2. Chop your chicken breasts into 1/2" cubes, then add to the pot. Turn the heat to medium, and let the chicken cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Don't worry about the chicken being cooked all the way through at this point, you want it to finish cooking in the liquid. 
3. Add the mushrooms, snow peas, bamboo shoots, coconut milk, and 2 cups of chicken stock to the pot (I start with 2 cups and go from there depending on how soupy I want my soup to be...). Turn the heat back to medium-low, and let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes. After simmering, add a teaspoon at a time of the green curry paste to taste. The more curry you add the spicier it will be! You can add more chicken stock now if you want your soup to be thinner. Simmer for 15-20 more minutes, then serve hot.

Enjoy!
Hint: this soup makes for excellent leftovers! The flavors just keep on developing, but good luck staying away from it for more than a few days, it's delicious!



P.S. Speaking of my mom, this is her b-e-a-utiful website in case you want to know more about her!