from instant to pho

i took an unexpected break from the blog
back with one less job (i quit), and no additional free time (upped the hours in the work i LOVE)

so...on those days when i have no time to conjure up a feast for myself, i try to improve something in an instant.

in the case of instant soups, i buy them in chinatown. i buy rice noodle versions, and a bit of chili paste, and whatever leftover meat to make it into a pho-style soup (i try to have bean sprouts on hand, but didn't this time.

so for this version, i had a chicken/rice noodle instant soup, added 1/2tsp of red chili paste and 1/2 leftover chicken breast from the bbq, sliced thinly. prepped the soup (boiled water...tough, eh?!), added chicken slices and done

tasty, easy and pho-like

potato squash soup - with an asian spin

will have to add a photo later for this simple - simply delicious really - soup

ingredients
6 white potatoes - boiled, peeled and broken into pieces
1 small-ish acorn squash - first baked whole in the oven at 350 for about 50min then seeds scooped out and just scoop out every bit of squash goodness.
1/2c green onions
8-10c water
2tbsp chicken base
2 pho bo bouillon cubes
1tbsp garlic powder
1tsp onion powder
1.5tbsp cumin
.5tsp mexican chili
.5tsp paprika

i used a pot that holds 6L - about 1.5 gallons)
10-12c water (lost count...bad recipe writing...bad)
then all the spices and base and bouillon cubes in the boiling water until nicely dissolved
add the other ingredients
keep on medium for 10min or so
then break out the hand blender to blend it all (i left a few chunks unblended for that home-ier feel - at least it is to me, perhaps chunks annoy others - don't know - but going with home-ier feel)
another 5 minutes

done!

oh, i love homemade soup and this was a cheap and easy soup that lasted for 3 full meals for all 4 of us (i just added 1.5-2c water each time i reheated) - the pho bo cubes added that lovely asian flair but am sure subbing a bit of garlic powder, cumin, lemongrass powder and some pepper would have done the trick too. it could also be easily adapted to have more of a mexican spin, or none at all - the heartiness of the potato and squash make spices belt out in song! ugh, a bit over the top as i write this at 341am - not able to fall back to sleep after the 1yr old's late night waking.

the boys loved this soup - but they love a bit of asian flavours to begin with. the 3.5yr old had a full adult serving bowl of it...success!

thai/vietnamese inspired fish stew

oh i just wanted some soup today. i paid for having a bit of delicious pizza from our fave pizza place and was crampy and had hearburn for hours after (i know this when i indulge but it is really that good). so soup seemed like a perfect cure...and it was.

i think i have mentioned i live in chinatown and often end up trying lots of new ingredients. so i knew i had fish in the freezer and coconut milk in the cupboards and some vietnamese pho bouillon cubes kicking around - good start...here's what i decided to use (and had on hand)...

400g (just under a lb, a lb is 454g) mahi mahi from frozen
3 vietnamese pho bouillon cubes
1 can coconut milk
dash all spice
1tsp frozen chopped lemongrass
1c frozen corn kernels
1/2c chopped green onion
1/2c chopped cilantro
6-7c water
1/8 package thai rice vermicelli noodles

optional to add to individual bowls - chili garlic

bouillon cubes and water first and stir once in a while until dissolved
add everything except the noodles and cilantro
simmer until mahi mahi is cooked and break apart into small pieces in the pot
add noodles - simmer 5 minutes
add cilantro - simmer 2 more minutes
then serve

this is where i add the chili garlic sauce (it's super spicy but i love spicy asian soups) - i tried it without and was great less spicy.

hilarious - my 3.5yr old was given a piece of leftover takeout pizza and asked to have the soup instead. soup trumps pizza...pretty amazing.

acorn squash soup

not too different from my butternut squash soup so just posting the modifications

.5 chopped sweet onion instead of green onions
2 cubes of vietnamese fish bouillon/stock instead of chicken stock
1 large acorn squash

added
1 tbsp shredded lemongrass (i have it in the freezer)

butternut squash soup

1 butternut squash - mine was about 3lbs
3 green onions chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
4.5c of stock (i used chicken stock - was out of vegetable stock - either work)
2-3c water
1tbsp cumin
1tbsp turmeric
1tsp curry powder
1tbsp minced garlic

dash of sea salt

water and stock and celery and onion in the pot on medium
bake the squash at 350 for 45min-hr - that way the skin is easy to pull off
then it is easy to chop off the narrower part of the squash and chop into pieces
the bottom half - crack open and de-seed then chop (or smoosh - mine was in the oven a bit long so i smooshed - may not be a culinary term but it is descriptive!)

add to the pot
10min in i take the hand blender and blend what i can, then add the spices and garlic

simmer for at least another 10min on medium for flavours to blend and for liquid to reduce to your preferred thickness.

what i love about butternut squash is you don't need any oil, any butter, any cream (unless you want to) because it has such a rich flavour.

i have a scratchy throat so this goes down like a dream. my boys love soup and this one is great, cheap, and easy ;)