It was 11:55 AM. I had just tackled a morning full of conference calls, emails to return, and towels to fold (the benefit or curse, depending on your perspective, of working at home). All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I was beyond starving. I needed to eat something fast, but I wasn't interested in leftovers, my usual modus operandi when hunger hits like a bat out of hell. I wanted to put on my apron and make soup, comforting soup. It was just that kind of morning. But I knew it had to be quick in order to quell the monster in my belly.
Walking from my office to the kitchen, I remembered the baby spinach lurking in my produce crisper, begging to be used for something more than smoothies. Knowing that I wanted to contribute a recipe to the Fall Fest 2010 online weekly themed event, I began flipping through a pile of recipes I'd printed up in the last few weeks (honestly, this pile has truly gotten out of hand - does anyone else have this problem??!!), Thai Coconut Curry Corn Soup caught my attention The original recipe is from Vegan Express: Featuring 160 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Healthy Meals, by Nava Atlas. I own Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons, another one of this author's cookbooks. It is much-loved and much-stained and is one of my favorite cookbooks.
Using Nava's recipe as a jumping off point, I was sitting down to eat lunch in less than 20 minutes. Can't get a whole lot quicker than that and have something homemade. And I had a post to contribute to Fall Fest 2010!
Curried Coconut, Spinach and Mushroom Soup
print this recipe
1/4 cup vegetable stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
3 large baby bella mushrooms (or white button mushrooms)
2 cups baby spinach
1/2 lb. extra firm tofu, diced
8 oz. frozen corn
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp Thai red curry paste
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper
One 15 oz can light coconut milk
3/4 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
Heat the stock over medium-high heat in a saucepan. When hot, add the garlic and scallions. Saute over medium heat, adding more stock as needed to keep some liquid in the pan while the garlic and scallions are softening. This should take about 2 - 3 minutes.
Add all the remaining ingredients except for the cilantro. Use a whisk to dissolve the curry paste.
Bring to a boil, then immediately lower the heat. Cover the pan and simmer very gently for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with cilantro sprinkled on each bowl of soup.
P.S. In an effort to reduce the amount of oil in my diet, I "sauteed" the onion in vegetable stock. It worked totally fine and had no apparent effect on the end result. Saved me about 100 calories for the entire batch.
Doesn't coconut milk make for the most comforting of soups? This sounds great.
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