Thai Vegetable Soup

The authenticity of the title may be debatable but the flavour is certainly there. As with just about everything else I cook, this is vegetarian. This soup is hearty and full of so much nutrients, perfect for the winter months.

For this soup you will need:

- one stalk of lemon grass

- minced garlic

- oil

- grated ginger

- chili flakes

- salt

- pepper

- vegetarian boullion cubes

- green onion

- baby bok choy

- kale - sweet potato

- carrots

- zuchinni

- fennel

- spanish onoins

Step 1: The Base

To start the soup roughly cut up 3 medium sized spanish onions and saute them in a large pot with 2 table spoons of oil ( I used coconut ) on meduim-low until they are translucent. Add in 1 tsp of minced garlic, 3 bullion cubes and 1/4 tsp chili flakes. Grate the ginger and add in 1 heaping tsp. A tip is to freeze your ginger root before grating, it keeps it from getting that stringy texture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 2: The Vegetables

The vegetables of this soup can be substituted, but they key is to keep them sorted by what takes the longest to shortest cooking time. I cut up three carrots and one sweet potato into bite sized pieces and tossed it into the pot along with the lemon grass. Hit the lemon grass repeatedly with the dull end of a knife before putting it into the soup to bring out the flavour. Let this cook for about 5 minutes and then add in roughly 6 cups of water. Let this continue cooking until the potato and carrot are about halfway cooked. While this is happening the zucchini, bok choy and fennel can be cut into pieces the same size as the carrot and sweet potato. Cook all of this together until all of the vegetables are tender to your likeness. In the last few minutes add in the kale. This does not take long to cook so I add it once I am happy with the consistency of the rest of the vegetables. Once the kale is in, the pot can be taken off the heat, a lid put on and the kale will cook in the hot broth. Add additional salt and pepper to taste if need be. Top with some chopped up green onion and enjoy your toasty warm meal :)