Ginger Scallion Soup

As I sat down with the intent to compose a post all about the glories of soup this morning (more on that in a minute), it came to my attention that I never formally introduced our new family member on the blog.  He’s been glorified on facebook and I even dropped a shot or two of him on instagram and twitter, but the blog has been surprisingly baby free.

Well I say it’s time to change all that because honestly, who doesn’t love a “wittle bitty baby”?

Meet Benjamin James, a.k.a Benji as we in the inner circle like to refer to him.  He’s little, he’s loud and he’s extremely adorable.  Says his mother.  On days when she’s had a good’s night rest.  Which probably happens once every 30 days.  Not that I’m keeping track or anything like that.

He joined the brood on December 19th of 2012 and officially made us a family of six.  Our family is very, VERY complete which means that I am officially the only girl in the house; heaven help me.  Of course the upside to having all boys is that the clothes just keep going down, down,down to the next smallest boy as do the toys.  Holes in the knees don’t bother me because they don’t bother boys.  Matching socks?  That’s for sissy’s.  No shoe drama in this house- they have one pair of tennies and one pair of sandals and they like it that way.  Aside from the nasty bathrooms and the dirty bedrooms, I’m coming to the realization that a litter of small men isn’t half bad.

Ok, back to the soup because after all, that is what you’re here for.  My apologies on the subpar pictures today.  My camera battery was unresponsive, not able to be revived, take two tylenol and call me in the morning and I may or may not answer the phone depending on how I’m feeling, DEAD.  Despite my lack of equipment, this meal was worth documenting so I settled for my I-Touch camera which, while it works, is not always the prettiest boy in the box.  Consider yourself warned.

Start out by sizzling up a little cubed chicken for later addition into the soup.  If you want to go veggie, you can always sub a block of cubed extra firm tofu for the chicken.  Simply cook it up until browned (about 5-10 minutes) and then toss in about two tablespoons of soy sauce and cook for another minute or two more before setting to the side.

Now, for the base you’ll need a couple quarts of chicken stock (or veggie stock if you’re going meat free).  I used my homemade stock which makes it even more lip-licking fantastic.  Pour the broth into a large pot and add to it some diced garlic, ginger and, you guessed it, scallions.

Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes so that the flavors can infuse and then drop in a handful of fresh sliced fungus…err, I mean mushrooms.

After it’s had a bit of time to get all tasty and subsequently infuse a seriously heavenly scent throughout your kitchen (me and ginger are best buds in that respect), start adding the remaining flavors to the pot; your cooked chicken, some carrot, a little spinach and a handful of cilantro.

Finish the whole thing off with some cooked rice noodles or ramen noodles if you have them.  I used this bag of lovely from my good friend Trader Joe.

Super simple, super tasty.  Kind of like raising four boys, right?  Yea, not so much but it sounds good so we’ll roll with it.

Ginger Scallion Soup

Yield: Approximately 6 Adult Sized Servings

Total Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

2 Quarts Chicken Stock (Can sub veggie as well)
1 Inch Fresh Ginger, Minced
4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Green Onions, Diced
6-8 Sliced Mushrooms
1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 Pound Cubed Chicken (or 1 Block of Extra Firm Tofu for Veggie)
1 Carrot, Shaved
3 Oz. Fresh Spinach, Chopped
2 Tbsp Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
1 12 Oz. Package Cooked Rice Noodles

Directions:

Grab up a large stock pot and heat the chicken broth up to a simmer.

Add in the ginger, garlic, onion and mushrooms. Continue simmering for 10-15 minutes on medium low heat.

While the broth is cooking, track down a large saucepan and warm up the cooking oil on medium high heat.

Season your cubed chicken with salt and pepper and drop it into the hot oil. Cook until no pink remains. If using tofu, drop cubes into oil and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until browned. Add in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce if desired and cook for a minute or two more.

To finish the soup, drop in the carrot, spinach, cilantro and chicken/tofu.

Finish with the addition of the rice noodles.