Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup - Mi Ga

To say Shaun and I love Vietnamese food is an understatement.  We would happily eat Vietnamese food for almost ever meal.  We almost always have a supply of home made Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) broth on hand and have an entire drawer in the freezer devoted to the supplies for making it.  But man (and woman!) cannot live on Pho alone so when I saw The Ravenous Couple's recipe for Mi Ga (a Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) I knew I'd have to try it.  Mi Ga is different from Pho (and even Pho Ga) in that the broth is flavoured with dried squid rather than aromatic spices and it used egg noodles rather than rice noodles.  Steaming bowls are then topped with fresh bean sprouts, and crisp onion.  Try this soup as a break from the usual chicken noodle!

I found dried squid easily at a large Asian supermarket.  If you cannot find it, you can substitute a few tbsp fish sauce or leave it out.  The variety of egg noodles is up to you.  I found egg based chow mein noodles and simmered them briefly before adding to bowls.  If you visit The Ravenous Couple's blog you will see they've used a different variety.  Check your local Asian, or well-stocked supermarket for different types and find one you like!

Thai Green Curry Soup

 

This Thai inspired soup is flavoured with green curry, coconut milk, and fish sauce.  Simmered gently, chicken then vegetables are added in the last few minutes of cooking to retain freshness and colour. You can easily make a vegetarian version with a few substitutions!  Soft tofu for the chicken and vegetable broth for the chicken.  If you don't want to use the fish sauce, leave it out - it will turn out just fine!

I used the green Thai curry paste in this recipe.  Here is the brand I used.  You can find it at most grocery stores nowadays in the Asian section or at your local grocery stores.  If you like, you can substitute the red curry for the green - there seems to be much debate online over which is the hotter, I'll leave it up to you to decide!

Shaun loves this soup served over warm jasmine or basmati rice - but rice noodles will work just as well.  This soup comes together quickly and easily while the rice cooks, a good option for a weeknight meal! 

Slow Cooker Beef Phở

Phở is a delicious, long simmering Vietnamese beef soup with a rich, flavourful broth and light rice noodles.  Often garnished with fresh herbs, onions, and crisp bean sprouts, the complex but light broth is flavoured with cinnamon, star anise, cloves and cardamom

The slow cooker makes the process of simmering this soup much easier.  Simply add all ingredients to the slow cooker and allow it to do all the work for you!  

Top your bowl with thin sliced beef, meatballs, fresh herbs and onions before serving and enjoy a warm bowl of traditional Vietnamese comfort food!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

This is a very easy soup with few ingredients. Check your local farmers market in the fall for butternut squash or the versitile squash is generally available in most grocery stores nearly all year round!

Top with soup cream, yogurt or tzatziki!

Date Night Cioppino

Perfect for a special occasion or any night you feel like indulging in a delicious bowl of seafood.  Simmered in a rich broth mussels, shrimp, lobster and flaking white fish are served with crisp French baguette toast for dipping.