Week 22: Lemongrass Soup with Shrimp

Let me first say I love Thai food; however, I have never tried to cook it. As a general rule, I am afraid of simplified recipes of ethnic food. BUT this was awesome and I could absolutely imaging being served this soup as a starter at a legit Thai restaurant. And thanks to You Tube, I learned how to prepare the lemongrass, an unfamiliar ingredient.

The first step was to doctor up the broth. To prep the lemongrass, I cut off the woody stem and green leafy part and them removed a few outer layers. The fun part was crushing the stems with a rolling pin to release the oils and get ultimate flavor out of the stems. I added the lemongrass and sliced limes to the broth and let simmer for 10 minutes. I strained the stock and discarded the lime and lemongrass.


The rest was super easy and super fast! I added the mushrooms, red bell pepper and red pepper flakes and simmered for 5 minutes. Next step was to add shrimp, snow peas and and green onions and cook until shrimp are curled and pink, about 2-3 minutes, careful not to overcook the shrimp or let the soup sit too long on the heat. I stirred in fresh squeezed lime juice and seasoned with salt, although the broth was already quite flavorful so minimal salt was needed.

At serving I garnished with cilantro. The smell was amazing and the colors in the soup were beautiful. I can't believe how easy this was. This recipe is for only 4 servings, but it was 4 hearty servings and not a drop of leftovers. This soup is easy and quick enough to make a second day if you are craving more. I wouldn't recommend reheating the shrimp in case they get chewy. You could always prepare the veggies and broth and add the shrimp when ready to enjoy.
Ingredients:

2 lemon grass stalks / $1 / Farmers market
2 limes / from home
4 cups chicken broth / $2.49 / Smart & Final
8 ounces sliced mushrooms / $3 / Farmer's Market (sold in a carton, had a ton left over)
1 red bell pepper / $1.50 / Farmer's Market
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes / from home
1 pound uncooked shrimp / 8.99 / Safeway
1 cup snow peas / $1.00 / Farmers market
2 green onions / $1.00 / Farmers market
salt / from home
cilantro for garnish / $1.00 / Farmers market

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Taste: 5 stars
Prep: super easy
Cost: $19.98 ($4.99 per serving)


Check out this video if you would like to learn more about cooking with lemongrass!

Week 21: Watermelon Gazpacho

Oppps... It's been quite a while since I've blogged. Funny thing is, I have been making soup, just haven't found the time to write about it. There have been some really good ones, so it's about time I share.

Whats great about summertime soups is that they are cold and refreshing. They are also very easy and quick to make, except for the chill time which takes some advanced planning, but worth the time. Most weeks I've made the soup in the evenings anyway, to be eaten the next day.

The soup I couldn't wait to make once it was time for the summer recipes is the Watermelon Gazpacho. It sounded so light and delicious and also gave me a chance to grill!

The first step was to cut and drain the watermelon. After cubing the watermelon, I let it drain in a colander to remove excess liquid. ---If I make this again (which I might), I would be sure to set aside a few larger cubes for the garnish. --- I then blended the watermelon and bread crumbs together in a food processor in 3 separate batches, careful not to blend too much so that there was some texture to the soup. Once all the watermelon was blended, I combined the mixtures and stirred in the lime juice, salt and red pepper flakes. I then covered the soup and placed it in the freezer for about 1 1/2 hours or until slushy. I tasted it again when I was ready to serve and added extra lime juice and salt.

The garnish was super fun to make! I heated the grill, skewered the remaining watermelon cubes and brushed them with olive oil. (Remember to soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes before placing them on the grill.) My cubes were a little small and started to fall off the skewers while they were warming up, so I will definitely cut them larger next time. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get grill marks on the melon. I may have not had the grill hot enough or I didn't leave them on long enough because they were starting to fall off the skewers, but they were still yummy. Once grilled, I re-skewered the melon between mint leaves and added to the bowls of watermelon gazpacho.

The gazpacho was yummy and refreshing. It was a great starter to the first bbq meal of the summer, and the family ate it all up! I will definitely try this again, maybe adding mint to the gazpacho or maybe basil would be yummy too... so many options.



Ingredients
6 cups cubed watermelon, plus extra for skewers (About 5 lb watermelon) / $6.99 /Safeway
3/4 cup bread crumbs / from home
2 1/4 teaspoon fresh lime juice, more if needed / from home
salt / from home
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes / from home
Olive oil / from home
6 fresh mint leaves / $1 / Real Produce

Also needed
skewers

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes, 1 1/2 hour freezing time
Servings: 8
Taste: 4 stars
Prep: super easy
Cost: $7.99