Chinese Vegetable Soup

[philinda]

Thanks to everyone for the great recipes on this site. We are new to LDL, so I have been experimenting with my own ideas of good, legal food that fills us up.

My husband loves a chinese vegetable soup that he used to get at a restaurant before we were married. Basically, it was chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and pea pods with chicken broth poured over it. He was craving some of that soup but it sounded a little too boring to me, so I created my own. Here is my recipe. I do not measure, so the amounts below are approximate. Use more or less as you wish.

Chinese Vegetable Soup

64 oz. chicken broth
1 bunch scallions
6 ribs celery
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. white pepper (we like it spicy hot)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2# fresh green beans
1 cup mushrooms
1 can bamboo shoots
1 can water chestnuts
1 bag pea pods
1 bag fresh bean sprouts
1 large head chinese cabbage, chopped

Combine chicken broth, scallions, celery, garlic, white pepper, and soy sauce, and bring to a boil. Add green beans, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and pea pods. Cook for 10 minutes on simmer. In bowls, add bean sprouts and chinese cabbage. Pour soup mixture over sprouts and cabbage. Serve.

The first time, I cooked the sprouts and cabbage in the soup. They turned out mushy, so the next time I poured the soup over them, which kept their crunch.

We like it so much that we make a huge pot and eat it for several days. It tastes so much like chop suey that I could even eat it cold for breakfast.

My husband is a pizza freak and misses it like crazy, so I made a pot of the pizza soup and he loved it. That is the other soup staple in our refrigerator. I can't wait to try some of the other recipes I've bookmarked (the squash cookies and butternut squash fries sound heavenly).

Best wishes for a long, healthy life,
Linda

[Gwennaford]

Thanks so much for the inspiration, Linda!  I'm stuck at home alone (OH NO -- a la McCauley Culkin) with a miserable stuffy upper respiratory system.  This soup is just the thing I need.  I don't have all the ingredients, so will wing it until I can get to the store.

I made chicken soup yesterday, but even that got too rich after a couple of mugs. 

I've got the stuff set out for a roasted vegetable ratatouille, (I'll post that AWESOME recipe later) but your soup sounds better for now.

Thanks again - and WELCOME TO LET'S DO LUNCH ! ! !

Loves,
Gwennaford Grippe  (HA HA HA ... it's the NYquil talking)



P.S. I made this soup today, and I could weep with gratitude.  This is the first thing that has tasted good in days.  I made it very hot & spicy (like hot & sour soup) & had to sit in front of the fan to eat it.  Talk about breaking a fever!  It opened up all my airways.  I am a very happy camper.  I'm going to take a Thermos of it to bed with me tonight.

[Saved4Life]

Thank you so much for this awesome recipe...I can't wait to try it!!  And more importantly, WELCOME to LDL 


  Gwen you crack me up!! 

Have a BEAN-utiful Day,

Doreen 

[Gwennaford]

Linda, I'm eternally grateful for this recipe!  I just can't quit raving about it.  I have made different kinds of Chinese soups for years, many with cabbage, some complicated, some simple, but none of them captured the subtle essence of a really good restaurant soup like this one does. 

I tried to stick to the recipe as closely as I could, but was low on shallots, & out of green beans & water chestnuts.  I used a medium onion cut into petals in the first part & saved my 2 little thinly sliced scallions for garnish.  Only had a med. domestic green cabbage that was kinda tough, so it took a full 5 minutes of fast simmering and was still very firm.  Used two large carrots cut into thin matchsticks & 1/4 of a large jicama cut into planks resembling bamboo shoots & waited to add them until the last two minutes.  So I didn't do anything that changed the basic flavor

Doreeen, you gotta keep a sense of humor, right?  Today someone called my cell & when I answered, she asked for Gwen & I croaked it was me.  She said my first and last names & I croaked another reply.  She said, "Sorry, I must have the wrong number." and hung up.  I guess I must sound pretty bad.  Either that, or a burglar is casing the joint!

Loves to all,
Gwennaford

[philinda]

Gwennaford,

I am so happy you like the soup, and more importantly, that it broke that fever. I am a lot like you - a recipe is a place to start; I am happy to improvise from there with whatever I have at the time. We don't seem to tired of it, but last week, I was out of Chinese veggies, so I made some clean-out-the-fridge soup. I softened some chopped onion, celery, about a tablespoon of peppercorns, and chopped red pepper in a little bit of olive oil. Then I added chicken broth, carrots, and 2 peeled cloves of garlic. I cooked that until the carrots softened and then threw in about 4 cups of fresh baby spinach and let it sit for about 10 minutes before I packaged it up and refrigerated it. It was so tasty the next day that we ate it all in one sitting.  So now, on my next trip to Sam's I will be buying 2 3-packs of chicken broth.

I hope you are feeling better by now and have a wonderful day!

Linda

[Gwennaford]

Thanks, Linda.  I am feeling much better, but it took three times as long as I expected.  I seldom get sick and usually recover very quickly, so this was an unwelcome surprise.

Make sure you get low sodium, fat free chicken broth at Sam's.  The fat's not hard to skim off, but you can't do that with the salt.  I have really good luck making my own stock from the carcass, scraps & drippings from roasting my own chickens.  The recipe for the roasting & making the stock is in Main Dishes.

How are you doing on Let's Do Lunch?  Hope to see you posting in your food journal soon!

[philinda]

Gwennaford,

Thank you. The only chicken broth I use is low sodium and low in fat from Sam's. We Sam's nuts Since we started LDL we have been going to Sam's all the time because their produce is really good and much less expensive than the grocery store. Their red grapes are the best too.

Last Monday was one month on LDL for us. I lost 6.5 lbs; my hubby lost 5 lbs. Although I was hoping for more, I am happy I lost that much because I have been traveling and nothing sabotages my ability to lose weight more than business travel. It is so hard to find fresh fruit and veggies. I take some with me but not enough to get me through several days because I don't have that much room (or strength) to carry a lot. I found that doing the fruit & soup flush the day after I get home helps.

I would like to journal but I just don't get to email or the web very often outside of work. That's why I am grateful that my husband is doing LDL with me. He doesn't really need it but wants to be my biggest , or shall I say greatest, cheerleader.

I wonder if you can help me. I've seen a few recipes that call for "butter" or garlic "butter." I have tried to search for both terms on this site and come up with nothing. Do you know what legal butter or garlic butter is?

Have a wonderful week!
Linda

[MissBizzyLizzy]

i see this post was made it april and i'm not sure if any of the newbies have seen it.  i was searching something and ran across this...so i wanted to bump it.  i'm going to make this...sounds yum!

[MissBizzyLizzy]

ok...oh my...if you have a hankering for chinese...this is perfect.  i didn't make it spicy only because my whole fam is eating it.  but this is sooo good.

[CodingQueen]

I bet this would be good with added snow peas and baby corn as well.

CQ

[dgottreu]

This soup sounds really good and I will be making it one day soon but I will be leaving out the mushrooms.  I guess there are three veggies that I do not like.  Oh and I will definitely decrease the pepper.  Thanks for sharing.

[dgottreu]

Roger Troy I have a question.  What in the world is ICBINB?  I am assuming it is some type of butter but what?  Thanks.

[wendysgoodnews]

It stands for I can't believe its not butter.  It comes in spray or spread and is great on popcorn and veggies.

[dgottreu]

I can see everything on this diet as good but I still have a little problem with "fake" butter.  I have heard for years that butter is much better for us than margarine.  I think I will just stick with olive oil and forget the butter.  :O)  Oh I have another question.  Does the Truvia that is made from Stevia taste like the Stevia?  I tried Stevia some time back and did not like the taste at all.  And is Splenda allowed? 

[dgottreu]

I will definitely give the Truvia a try then.  I have been using Splenda but really do not care for it for I have been concerned about the long term effect on my body.  Oh yes I got an email from a friend this morning and she had a link for a miracle noodle.  Have you heard of them?  Here is the link: http://www.miraclenoodle.com/index.html.  Sounds somewhat like another diet gimmick to me.  I will pass on these.  :O)
I noticed under your picture that you say to eat more grapefruit.  I wish I could for I love pink grapefruit but I take cholesterol medicine and grapefruit in any form is not allowed.

[wendysgoodnews]

I have used Splenda because I liked the taste but was concerned about how healthy it was.  I have since went to Truvia and I like it really well.  It has a less sweet taste from Splenda but still has no after tastes.

[dgottreu]

No aftertaste is good.  Can you use more Truvia to get things sweeter or does it start to get bitter if you use too much?