This soup is great for a family or a group of friends to work on together.  Gather everyone on a cold night and enjoy the fellowship while you are all slicing and dicing. Cutting wedges of cabbage is hard to mess up, and kids can use a butter knife on this sturdy vegetable.  For older kids, kitchen shears can be used to cut the bok choy leaves and the cilantro.  I use Gourmet Garden herbs in the winter when the fresh herbs are more difficult to find.  This soup is best with a Tamarind base.  Order online or even through Walmart if you don’t have a local grocery store with a wide range of Asian products.  This recipe takes a lot of chopping, but it is a great way to use the bok choy and greens from your Plant it Forward farm share.

Ingredients

• 1 envelope (40g) Knorr Tamarind Soup base
• 8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 large onion
• 1 tablespoon oil (any kind)
• 2-8 dried red chilies (less for young families, more for adult palates)
• 1 small head regular green cabbage or 1 package angel hair cabbage slaw
• 1 bunch Chinese cabbage or 1 package chopped coleslaw with carrots (no dressing)
• 3 limes, juiced
• 2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Gourmet Garden Basil Herb Blend or 2 Tablespoons minced fresh basil
• 2 Tablespoons Gourmet Garden Lemongrass Herb Blend
• 2 Tablespoons Gourmet Garden Garlic Blend or 6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 medium to large head bok choy cabbage (dark green leaves on thick, white stems)
• optional: 1 – 2 bunches fresh greens – any kind – leaves and stems chopped into 1/-2 inch or bite-size pieces
• 1 box sliced fresh white or baby bella mushrooms (don’t use canned mushrooms, leave out if can’t find fresh)
• 1 bunch cilantro
• Optional: leftover fried chicken tenders, chopped to small bite-size pieces – crust and all

Dissolve the dry tamarind soup base into the soup stock in a very large soup pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer on low while you are chopping everything.

Remove cilantro leaves from stems; discard stems and chop or cut leaves into pieces that easily fit in the bowl of a soup or cereal spoon.

If you use 1 head of green cabbage, discard the innermost core and toughest parts of the leaf stems, then slice into 1-inch x ½-inch pieces. If you use Chinese cabbage, cut the curly leaf away from the toughest part of the leaf stem and discard the stem. Slice the leaves into 1-inch x ½-inch pieces.

Cut the dark green bok choy leaves away from the white leaf stem or stalk, similar to the preparation of the Chinese cabbage. Cut the leaves into 1-inch x ½-inch pieces and set aside. Discard most of the stalks but save a few to slice into bite-sized pieces.

Cut all remaining vegetables into bite-size or 1/2-inch wide pieces.

Rinse mushrooms and set aside.

Juice limes.

In a large non-stick skillet, fry up onions and garlic in oil until nicely browned.

Add onions, garlic and rest of vegetables except cilantro to tamarind soup base.  Simmer on medium heat 15 minutes.  Add cilantro and lime juice and cook 3 more minutes. If you use the left-over fried chicken tenders, add with the lime juice and cilantro.

Serve hot. Makes about 3 gallons of soup.

Carlyn Foshee Chatfield