Easy Thai Coconut Soup by Our Best Bites

I'm subscribed to this great cooking blog called Our Best Bites, and they have some pretty fun recipes sometimes. Their latest recipe is called, "Quick and Easy Thai Coconut Soup." I really love Thai food, so this recipe sounds great, and it's not as crazy as Thai recipes usually are. The sad thing is that even though it's "quick and easy," I still don't have ginger, lime, or jalapenos just lying around, to say nothing of rotisserie chickens. Oh, and we're fresh out of Ramen. Bleh. But maybe I'll still give it whirl sometime later when I can spare five bucks on dinner. :)

Easy Thai Coconut Soup
Recipe by Ourbestbites.com

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh minced ginger, or 1 ½ teaspoons ground dry ginger
2 14.5-ounce cans chicken broth
1 13.5 ounce can coconut milk or light coconut  milk (about —cups)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 packages ramen noodes (discard seasoning packet)
optional: ¾ cup sliced mushrooms
1 ½ tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 cup diced or shredded cooked chicken
toppings:  additional chopped cilantro, sliced green onions, and lime wedges

Procedure:
1. Heat medium sized pot to medium-high heat on stove top.  Add olive oil, jalapeno, and ginger (if using fresh.)  Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until jalapeno and ginger are softened and fragrant.  If using ground ginger, add now and stir.

2. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, and salt and increase heat to bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and add noodles (note: you will discard seasoning packet that comes with noodles.)  Simmer 3-5 minutes, until noodles are softened.

3. If using mushrooms, add them in the final 2-3 minutes of cooking the noodles.  Add chicken and simmer for about 30 seconds to heat through.

4. Remove pot from heat and stir in lime juice, chicken, and cilantro.   Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with additional chopped cilantro, green onions, and lime wedges if desired.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

Note #1:  This type of noodle absorbs liquid exceptionally fast, so you should serve the soup immediately.  If you know you need to keep the soup warm for a while before serving, wait to add the noodles until a few minutes before you’re ready to serve.

Note #2: "Light coconut milk works great, and remember you can buy coconut milk in cartons by the dairy milk as well, and it’s much cheaper per ounce there than it is for a can.  At my store it was .05 cents per ounce, which would make the equivalent can about .67 cents.  Generally a can of coconut milk $2- $3 a can so the carton is a great deal comparatively.  The cartons are lower in calories and fat and have a consistency similar to the light coconut milk (which is thinner than full fat coconut milk).  For some recipes I prefer canned coconut milk, but for this soup, either will work just fine."