Holidays are a lovely time to be with friends and family and enjoy all kinds of wonderful meals, parties and over-indulgence.
About a week after New Years many of us are happy to scale back, clean up the food intake and possibly lose a few extra pounds.
I am ready for that task and one sure fire way to help yourself is to cook your own food. It truly is the only method for controlling your portions and assuring the quality of your ingredients. It doesn’t have to be a big adjustment and in the winter comfort foods are more appealing so I stick with hearty soups, stews and vegetables to get back on track.
As we all know sugar, alcohol, fat and simple carbs are taxing to the liver so the goal is to cleanse these out in order for the liver to do it’s job. This is the reason so many professional healers and nutritionists recommend a cleanse after the New Year.
I recommend cutting down on animal protein and doubling your vegetable portions to help get your liver and immune system back in shape if you don’t have the discipline to start a cleanse.
Drinking plenty of water and juicing is helpful during this period and incorporating cleansing drinks such as unsweetened cranberry juice mixed with water or warm water with fresh lemon juice.
Here is a delicious and satisfying soup that is a staple in our house. You may want to leave the noodles out for a low carb version. Enjoy cooking and take the time to plan your meals ahead so you can stay on track and be able to meet your goals.
Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup with Lemongrass
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
1 Tb. vegetable oil
¼ cup peeled ginger, julienne
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 whole stalks lemongrass, white part only, sliced very thinly
2 shallots, minced
4 small bird chilies, minced
8 cups chicken stock
6 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
2 cups shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
4 oz. rice vermicelli noodles, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes
1 ¼ pounds medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined*
6 Tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup lime juice
2 Tb. brown or palm sugar
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
4 thinly sliced scallions
½ cup Thai basil, julienne
Procedure
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté the ginger, garlic, lemongrass, shallots and chilies for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken stock, lime leaves and mushrooms and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Simmer for about10 minutes until mushrooms are tender.
- Drain the rice noodles and add to the soup with the shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and coconut milk. Bring back to a simmer for 5 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into soup bowls and garnish with the scallions and Thai basil.
