Thai Me Up Again

So here we go again, doing the Thai thing. It's tough to do a soup in the summer and not feel too hot, but there's something about a spicy soup that can actually cool you down. Perhaps that's why all the countries surrounding the equator prepare food far hotter than those countries closer to the poles. Hot food makes you sweat, which in turn, cools you down. This Coconut Shrimp Soup is not only super fast, it's low in calories with less than 200 calories per serving! It's not really that spicy, but you can up the heat with a hotter curry paste if you choose.  How do you like it? Is it too sour? Add something sweet. Is it to sweet? Add something tart, like lemon, lime or vinegar or a pinch of salt. I'm going to give you measurements, but unless I'm "blogging", I never really measure. I mean really, 1/3 of a cup of green onions instead of 1/4 cup?
Coconut Shrimp Soup
2 cans of chicken broth (14.5 oz)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup finely diced red bell peppers(about a half of a med. sized pepper)
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon fish sauce(if you can't find this in your grocery store, try Cost Plus World Market or your local Asian market.)
1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon red curry paste (I used Patak's Mild Red Curry Paste, which wasn't spicy at all. the orignial recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon, but didn't specifiy how hot, so if you choose a hotter paste, use less to start. You can always make it hotter)
1 cup light coconut milk (I used a half of a can of light coconut milk from Trader Joe's)
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined*
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (about 2)
2 Tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil (that would be the "chiffonade" from "Tomato, Tomahto, Let's Call The Whole Thing Off").

2 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

Kitchen Shears...snip that baby right up the spine!

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in coconut milk; cook 2 minutes or until hot. Add shrimp to pot; cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are done. Remove from heat; stir in onions, basil and lime juice.


Serves 4 (1 1/2 cups per serving) 194 calories, 5.3 grams of fat, 26.9 grams of protein, 9.9 grams of carbs*
Here's the easiest way I found to peel and devein shirmp. Snip the tails off, then snip those babies right up their spines, peel and rinse out the black vein. You can buy a shrimp deveiner, but I've found that using a pair of kitchen shears works best.(I have about 4 pairs of kitchen shears that I only use for  cooking)