Hot Pot

I got knocked off my feet by a killer cold this week and spent the last four days in bed, getting up only to do the most minimal of human functions, one of which is eating. My boyfriend, bless his heart, made me as many bowls of soup as I wanted. Unfortunately, they all came from cans. Nothing will motivate you more to get better and back in the kitchen than four days of canned soup. First thing I made, soup. Duh.

Serves 4
45 minutes

4 cups Vegetable broth
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Tbsp Sesame oil
1 Red onion, diced
1 Red bell pepper, diced
3 Garlic cloves
2 Tbsp Lemongrass, minced
1 Tbsp Ginger, minced
1/2 tsp Red chili pepper flakes (more, depending on how congested you are)
2 Star anise
1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp Tamari sauce (soy sauce if you're okay with Gluten)
1 Tomato, chopped
1/2 oz Fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
Salt and Pepper
15 oz can Coconut milk
1/2 Lime, juiced

Optional: cooked rice, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, cashews, basil, cilantro, snow peas, water chestnuts, really just about anything you have left over in your frigidaire. Remember to add them in at the appropriate time. I hope I didn't jinx you by saying that.

1. Put a big soup pot on medium-high heat with your sesame oil in the bottom. Saute your onion and pepper with a pinch of salt for a few minutes. Add garlic, lemon grass, ginger and chili flakes.
2. Take a cup of your veggie broth and mix in cornstarch to dissolve than add to saute, along with the remaining veggie broth. Add star anise, cinnamon, tamari, black pepper and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Add in shittake and tomatoes, countiue to simmer for another 20 minutes. Add coconut milk, lime, heat and serve.

Sometimes I'd be making a shopping list for a new recipes and come across something I had never seen/used/heard of before. I would methodically search produce shelves for labels and look for what I had imagined the said vegetable would look like (i.e. Leek: I bet it looks like a beet, yeah, totally a beet-esque vegetable) When I wised up a bit I'd print pictures to take with me.

Shiitake mushrooms, lemongrass (the riding crop lookin thing) and bok choy. 

I hope I saved you some research.

Original recipe from The PPK