Egg drop Soup

As I have alluded multiple times on this blog, I am on a constant quest to find new ways to feed my kids vegetables. Soups are always a good way to do that. This particular recipe ends up being bland enough that the kids can eat and you can spice it up with the pepper and chilies for the adults.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 15-20 min
Makes: 5-6 servings

Ingredients:


Vegetable/ Chicken stock: 4 cups
Mixed vegetables: 3/4 cup
Sweet corn: 1/4 cup
Egg: 1, beaten
Cornflour/ cornstarch: 1 tbsp+ 1 tsp
Salt, pepper: to taste

Bring the stock to a boil. Add the veggies and cook as per the package instructions (usually 6-8 min). In the meantime, beat the egg well  in another bowl. On a high flame, add the beaten egg in a thin stream and allow to cook for 2-3 min (so as to cook the egg completely). Dissolve the cornflour in 1/4 cup of cold water, stirring well so that no lumps are formed. Add this to the soup mixture and allow to cook until slightly thick, adding enough salt. Serve hot with pepper, soy sauce and green chillies in vinegar.

Cream of Broccoli

Most kids don't like to eat vegetables. I try to find creative ways for my kids to eat vegetables, sometimes with more success than others. Interestingly, what works one day will totally fail another day and then work again a few days later. I guess this is something every mother knows and is not limited to eating!!

I got the original recipe from a very popular website www.allrecipes.com. The only change I have made from the original recipe is that I have replaced some milk with cream to make the soup thicker.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 25 min

Ingredients

Broccoli florets-  8 cups
Chicken broth(or vegetable broth)-  3 cups
Butter-  2 tbsp + 3 tbsp
All-purpose flour-  3 tbsp
Milk-  1 cup
Heavy or light cream- 1 cup
Onion- 1, chopped
Celery- 1 stalk, chopped

Melt 2 tbsp butter in medium-sized stock pot, and saute the onion and celery until tender. Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 10 min. I used the hand-blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Alternately, pour the soup into the blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree it in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot.

In a medium-sized pan, melt 3 tbsp butter  and stir in the flour and add milk. Keep stirring making sure there are no lumps, until thick and bubbly and add to the soup. Add in the cream and stir well. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, topped with cheese.

Sweet corn chicken soup

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup may be the most popular dish in the Indo-Chinese genre. For those who don't know, Indo-Chinese cooking is an assimilation of Chinese cooking with Indian spices. Most of the dishes won't resemble the original Chinese versions but are much better suited to the Indian palatte that is used to spicy food.

My husband orders a bowl of sweet corn chicken soup at every restaurant that offers it with out fail. Usually though he laments at how poor the soup is and how he has had better. I have also tried different versions at home and this recipe from Tarla Dalal comes closest to the idealized version that he remembers.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 5min
Cooking time: 20 min

Ingredients:
Chicken stock (or vegetable stock, for the vegetarian version) - 4 cups
Whole sweet corn kernels- 2/3 cup
Whole sweet corn kernels, crushed or grated- 2/3 cup
Chicken- 1/2 cup, cooked and shredded
Egg- 1, beaten slightly
Cornflour (cornstarch,as it is called in this part of the world)- 2 tbsp dissolved in 1/4 cup water
Sugar- 1 tsp(optional)
Salt to taste

Add the stock to a saucepan and add the whole sweet corn kernels. Cook on medium flame until the corn is cooked and tender (about 10 min). Add the crushed or grated corn and chicken and simmer for another 5 minutes. Make sure your cornflour paste has no lumps and add that in, stirring continuously until it is mixed uniformly. Allow to simmer for some time. On a high flame, add the slightly beaten egg as a steady thin stream (the thinner the stream, the more lacy you get it in the soup) while stirring continuously. Switch off the flame and keep stirring for about 2-3 min, just to make sure the egg laces are cooked through. Add the salt and sugar and serve.

You can serve it with chillies in vinegar (if you can make this a few hours ahead of time, it would taste nice and spicy), soy sauce, chilli sauce etc,.

You can just skip the chicken and egg, and you have the vegetarian version. Also, if you want the colourless/ almost creamish colour (like what you get in restaurants), you have to start with clear stock (I have used Swanson's organic chicken broth here).