What I Made for Dinner Last Night

Presenting...what I made for dinner last night.  I really didn't know what to title this recipe.  It has a decidedly Thai flavor to it because of the broth and coconut milk but there really isn't anything traditionally Thai about it (at least if there is it was completely accidental).  What happened is that I had this box of Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth made by College Inn.  They started carrying this at our Commissary and although I am usually stubbornly committed to USDA organic chicken, beef, and vegetable stocks, if I'm buying boxed stock, I picked it up a couple weeks ago and it was amazing.

So I had this box of stock and I had a can of coconut milk and I thought, what can I make?  Soup.  It's winter, so I wanted something hearty (also I feed a Marine at my dinner table, so if I'm going to make a soup I better make soup, if ya' know what I mean).  I had potatoes and after that I threw in almost every leftover vegetable I had in the fridge and some cubed ham to keep the Marine happy (I think this would have been great with chopped, cooked chicken breasts or leftover, shredded rotisserie chicken as well but I didn't have any of those meat options.  It would also be fine meatless!)

My husband and I have head colds this week so I thought this soup would be perfect since it is packed full of antioxidant-rich, vitamin laden veggies, as well as having chicken stock (would be a better immune-system booster if made from scratch), and coconut milk.  Coconuts have so many amazing health benefits, one of which is that they boost the immune system!  You can read more here and here.  Coconut oil is also amazing, especially for beauty products.

Now, back to the soup.  It was really easy to whip together in 30 minutes and really yummy.

2 Tbsp.butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 leek, dark green leaves removed, cleaned and sliced thinly
Approx. 1 cup matchstick carrots
Approx. 1 cup broccoli florets (chopped into bit-size pieces)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-1 inch cubes
1 8oz. ham steak, rind removed, cubed (or chopped, cooked chicken breast, or leftover shredded rotisserie chicken)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 box College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth
1 can Coconut Milk
Dash whole cream (you can omit if you don't want dairy)
Salt to taste

*This is quite mild, with the only spices being the ones already in the broth, you could spice it up with a dash of cayenne pepper if that suits your taste.

Melt butter and olive oil in heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat.  Add leek and saute approx. 3-5 minutes.  Add carrots, broccoli, and potatoes.  Saute until vegetables begin to soften.  Add flour and stir for 1 minutes until vegetables are evenly coated.  Add ham and stir to combine.  Slowly add broth, stirring constantly.  Bring soup to a boil over medium heat, stirring, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover (venting the lid a little).  Let simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.  Add coconut milk, drizzle in a little whole cream, and salt to taste.

Serve with freshly-baked bread, we ate it with Ciabatta bread and it was sooooo good soaking the broth up with the warm Ciabatta.

I hope you enjoy this hearty, healthy, Thai-inspired winter soup!