A Sweet New Carrot Peeler And Some Spicy Thai Soup

A couple weeks back, I bought a sweet new carrot peeler.  What makes this little number a little unique is the fact that its got these angry little teeth that give it the ability to finely juilianne things like carrots and zucchini and anything else you can find to julianne.  Take my word for it, this thing is flippin' awesome and I don't know why anyone didn't think of this sooner.  Or maybe they did and I just didn't know about it?  Either way, it's a huge time saver.  Just a couple of swipes down the length of the carrot and you've got yourself a set of perfect little matchsticks.  It's brilliant, really.

So last night I was craving a dish with a little Far East inspiration and something warm (what is with this weather lately?  Isn't May?  And mid-May at that!) so a soup came to mind.  I had wanted to make homemade wonton soup but the evening got away from me and I ended up with this easy Thai soup that I made even easier by taking a couple of shortcuts.  (Don't worry wonton soup fans, that is so on the list and I'll be making that soon) First, I bought a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken which saved mass amounts of time.  I also used boxed chicken broth, shaving additional minutes off my prep time.  What I was left with a delicious little soup that packed a little heat courtesy of some red curry paste (my latest new little obsession and secret ingredient).  As with pretty much all of my recipes, this dish is very versatile.  If you're interested in making it vegetarian and tofu if your style, have at it.  Want to used some thinly sliced steak instead?  Go for it.  I also used rice noodles for something a little different but in a pinch, you could use angel hair pasta or a nice whole wheat fettuccine would be fantastic.  Really, the possibilities are endless here.

Spicy Thai Soup
Serves 3-4
- 1 1/2 boxes of chicken stock
- 1 rotisserie chicken with the meat pulled off and broken into bite sized pieces
- 2 carrots, julianned
- About 2-3 tbs soy sauce
- About 1 tbs red curry paste
- 1 carton of thinly sliced mushrooms
- A little bit of vegetable oil to fry the mushrooms
- The juice of 1 lime
- 3-4 servings of cooked rice or flour pasta, cooked according to package
- Cilantro and thinly sliced green onions to garnish

To start, sautee the mushrooms in a little bit of vegetable oil until they soften.  Add in the chicken stock, chicken, carrots, soy sauce, red curry paste and lime juice.  Let it all simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Serve immediately with pasta and garnishes of cilantro and green onions.