Tom Kha Soup

I originally came up with this recipe as a vegetarian recipe, but the great thing about soup is that it is so easy to modify. When I was looking for a vegetarian Tom Kha soup recipe I did a little searching through my cookbooks and found in "The Carb Conscious Vegetarian" a recipe for Tom Yumm - close, but not quite, so I modified.

The first time I made it my husband said it was yummy and there were absolutely no leftovers. I think he went back for fourths!

And without further ado the recipe:

1 T of lemon grass (I used pre-sliced)

1 T of crushed ginger

4 cups of organic vegetable broth

1 can of organic coconut milk

1 T chili paste ( or less if you don't like spice)

2 T lime juice (or to taste)

1 T cilantro 

1 bunch of asparagus (remove the tough stems)

8 oz of mushrooms

Diced chicken pieces already cooked

Add the vegetable broth, lemon grass, and ginger to a stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low 15 minutes to infuse the broth.

Remove from heat and strain through a sieve to remove the pieces of lemongrass. Return to pot.

Add the coconut milk, chili paste, lime juice, and cilantro and simmer until coconut milk is thoroughly dispersed in the broth (you don't want clumps).

Add the asparagus, mushrooms and chicken and simmer 10 minutes until vegetables are cooked through.