5 Ingredients: Coconut Soup With Noodles & Mushrooms
Tired of sandwiches for lunch or the same pasta dish for dinner? A warm bowl of this Thai-inspired, nutrient-rich soup will hit the spot.
Broth gives a low-calorie base flavor to this simple soup. Make a batch of your own over the weekend or get the low-sodium canned or boxed version. Use vegetable broth to make the recipe vegetarian.
Bring broth to a simmer over medium high heat. NOTE: if you’ve got a piece of ginger root or lemongrass in the fridge, toss it in to infuse the broth with even more flavor.
Coconut milk offers up the silky texture and is the star flavor in this dish. The light version has half the fat and calories and is still “coconutty.” Coconut is one of the few plant sources of less-healthy saturated fat, but it’s also chocked full of minerals such as iron and magnesium for healthy red blood cells and bones. Feel free to enjoy it, but in moderation.
Many Thai-style soups call for a long list of ingredients such as fish sauce, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. Prepared hoisin sauce contains many of these for an easy all-in-one substitute -- look for it where you buy soy sauce in the grocery store.
Mushrooms give a hearty bite and earthy flavor that compliments the coconut broth; they’re also one of the only plant sources of vitamin D.
Tender rice noodles make this soup a meal (and they’re fun to eat with chopsticks!) -- they’re also fat-, cholesterol- and gluten-free.
Cook the noodles ahead of time in boiling water for 4 to 6 minutes.
Add coconut milk, hoisin, mushrooms and noodles; mix well to combine flavors and dissolve hoisin sauce. Return to a simmer, cook for 10 to 12 minutes and serve.
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Recipe Variations:
- Replace mushrooms with baby spinach or bean sprouts.
- Add cooked shredded chicken or shrimp and scallions for a more substantial meal.