What is comfort food for you? I’m full blooded American of English, German, Scottish descent and this definitely isn’t my definition of comfort food! If I was pregnant I probably wouldn’t even want to eat it! We do eat a lot of Asian foods around here, but they still definitely don’t qualify as comfort food.

For dear hubby that is a totally different answer though. He actually made dinner tonight and he said this was perfect comfort food for him! I was so blessed to not have to cook I probably would have eaten anything… but I do have to say I LOVE just about anything that he makes. I can only think of one meal that I didn’t like and it was a chicken rice soup with a raw egg in it for breakfast. Not really my cup of tea for breakfast… or any part of the day for that matter!

This really turned out great and the whole family really enjoyed it. I copied this recipe from the epicurious website, but dear hubby did change it a bit to make it fit our diets a little better, but I’m sure it tasted better too! Below is the original and the “variations” sections lists the changes we made to it. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have a husband that cooks. Not only cooks, but cooks AMAZING foods! Give this a try and let me know what you think of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thai Chicken-Coconut Soup

Ingredients:
4 ounces cellophane noodles
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1–2 red Thai (or jalapeño) peppers, seeded and finely chopped (plus slices for garnish)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, divided
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced (3 cups)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each), cut into 2 1/2-inch-long by 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 cup light coconut milk
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (plus sprigs for garnish)

Instructions:
Place noodles in a bowl; add enough warm water to cover and let sit until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain.
Combine broth, pepper, garlic, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice and 3 tablespoon fish sauce in a medium saucepan.
Season with salt.
Bring to a simmer, add noodles and cook 3 minutes more.
Using tongs, transfer noodles to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.
Add mushrooms to broth; season with salt, if desired; simmer 3 minutes more.
Add chicken and coconut milk and simmer, stirring, until chicken is just cooked, about 3 minutes.
Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt, about 1 minute.
Add chopped cilantro and season with remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce.
Using tongs, divide noodles among 4 bowls.
Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sprigs of cilantro and slices of pepper.

Variations:

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We had never used these before, but I found then at Wegmans and got them to give them a try.  We LOVED them!  They are similar to asian rice noodles, but a little more chewey and were perfect for this soup.

We also used 4 fish fillets instead of the chicken and it turned out great and had a fantastic texture and flavor.

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We also added hot sauce to it.  Brian said he didn’t add the pepper since we didn’t have one and Koa, #2 son doesn’t really like hot foods.  It tasted a bit bland, but after adding Sriracha to it, it was much better!

We also didn’t have the spinach so we just left it out!  Would definitely like to try adding it the next time.  I’m sure it would add flavor and loads of vitamins!