Chicken Curry Soup

Wait, who's that cupping her soup bowl? Oh right, it's our old friend and roommate KZim, traveling across the county from sunny Berkley to the frozen tundra of the Lower East Side to join us in soup night. Not so much has changed since Kate decided to run away to a place of higher education, golden prospects, and life coaches, well except Zizi cat is enormous... As I write that out I am acutely aware Alayna is going to protest that I delete that line. And I won't.

You know why I won't? Because while everyone ate their warm soup I was forced into manual labor, sanding away a spice rack until my hands bled. I have a welts on my once soft, indoor kid hands to prove it. So now I'm getting my revenge and am telling the whole world, little baby Zizi isn't so little anymore. But I love her more for it. I love fat cats. We all remember blessed Big Boy Snauffer don't we?

So hurray for this soup. Put the word "curry" in a soup title and I think it's going to be a lardy mess of goodness--fatty goodness. This is not that sort of curry soup. There isn't a dairy product to be found- just curry powder. It's tasty and super healthy. So indulge in this non-indulgence. Even Zizi can have a few licks.

Chicken Curry Soup

• roughly chop one large yellow onion and saute in olive oil
• also roughly chop one large sweet potato, three turnips and 5-7 large carrots, to add once the onion is getting translucent.
  
• sprinkle generously with garam masala and curry powder and stir until all veggies are covered
• cover in chicken or veggie broth and bring to a low boil, simmering for about 20 minutes
• add two chopped apples
• in a different pan, cook 3 chicken breasts in olive oil and set aside
• once veggies are all soft, blend then together. add in chicken, and salt, pepper and lime to taste
• serve!

Lime Soup

I first had lime soup when Alayna made it in France for a dinner party. Because we used to live in France and have dinner parties where I would shove white candles in old Champagne bottles and the guests would do all the dishes. Insert sigh here.

Either way, if you happen to have a cold, or feel a cold coming on, Lime Soup is the thing to do. Because by your third spoonful you'll notice your nose is running. And by the end of the bowl you're all cleared up.

Alayna would like to insert a tip here: "I hate doing dishes [she does, it's true], so I like to chop all the fruits/veggies/herbs first then the chicken. That way I don't have to switch knives, meaning I use my favorite knife the whole time and only one chopping board!"

Nice tip. For those of you who don't get why that's a tip it's because you don't chop raw chicken with the same knife you are going to use for the other stuff. Duh.

Okay, aprons on! Here we go:

Start by taking 3 to 4 tortillas and cutting them into strips, set aside.

Dice 6 to 8 cloves of garlic and sauttee in olive oil in your soup pot with 3 to 4 whole dried chili peppers

Chop 1 large yellow onion and add to garlic

When onion is getting translucent, dump in 1 large can of plain diced tomatoes with juice

Add 2 more cans of water and chicken bullion (or chicken broth)

Put on medium heat and allow to slowly come to a boil.

Chop a generous handful of cilantro and set aside until soup broth is hot, then add

Slice 2 small limes into wedges and set aside

Cut open another 4 limes (that's 6 limes you'll need total) for squeezing into the broth and do so immediately

Slice up 1 avocado and set it aside.

Chop 3 chicken thighs into bite size pieces and sauttee in a separate pan in olive oil until cooked through, adding a few shakes of salt and some black pepper.

Since this is all kind of happening at the same time, watch your pot! Once the broth is getting hot, add your cilantro, and then once it's really hot and the chicken is cooked through, add the chicken to the broth (Make sure you've left enough space!)

Let it all cook together on med-high for five minutes

Bring the temp down to med-low and throw in the lime slices for the last five minutes

Top: Frying the tortilla strips / Bottom: Adding fresh limes to soup

Don't wash your chicken pan! Instead, put in some more olive oil and fry up your tortilla strips (rotating once) until golden and crispy

Lay them on a paper towel to soak up extra oil, this will probably take a few batches to get enough done (and they are delicious).

Once you have all the elements of your soup, put the soup in bowls, shred pepper jack cheese in the soup, some sliced avocados on top of the cheese and the tortilla strips on top of that (so they don't get soggy fast!)

It all sounds complicated, but it isn't! I promise!

Important Note: If you're storing the soup to eat through the week, take out the extra lime rinds they can make the broth bitter when they're re-heated.

Alayna in a work outfit she was proud of, with soup, in living room.

Note: Mary Lorraine chose not to be featured in this week's soup post because she realized she wears the same orange sweatshirt every Monday night.