A Fast and Simple Cure for Starvation

Here is a fast and simple cure for starvation. I like to cook from scratch and I am a wizard at making simple foods taste wonderful with herbs and spices. I promised one of my clients that I would put together a soup recipe for people who don't cook. Here I am, fulfilling that promise.

A Meal in an Instant

There are those times when I am starving and I have no creativity or patience in me. I still want clean and healthy food.  I still want flavour. The Thai Kitchen Soup Bowls are my top pics, and you will always find one of these stashed away in my cupboard.

Warm and Nourishing Fast Food

When you open the package you will find three things:

• Rice noodles (yay...wheat free)
• 1 dry flavour packet
• 1 flavoured oil packet

If you are going to be on the road or at work all day, the easiest thing to do is to put all the ingredients in your thermos and pour boiling water on top. Cap it and take it with you. You can add precooked meat or vegetables to your thermos. When lunchtime comes, you just open and voila! Soup. Yum. If you want to get extra fancy you can have some scallions, cilantro or parsley in Tupperware to put on top.

Feeding a Crowd

This can be a good base to create a restaurant quality soup that will feed up to 4 people quickly and easily. I start out with a simple and fast stir fry

• Stir fry one carrot, thinly cut into diagonal slices.
• Add a large onion cut lengthwise into slices.
• Add a handful of mushrooms (I use fresh shiitake mushrooms when I can get them)
• Throw in any left over cooked meat, tofu or vegetable you have
• Add the flavour ingredient package, the oil flavour package and the rice noodles
• Pour 6 cups of boiling water into the wok and add 4 or 5 bullion cubes.

Bouillon Cubes are Instant Flavour

The ratio for soup is usually it is one bouillon cube per every cup of water. I am careful with using excess salt, so I use 2 salt free vegetable bouillon cubes along with 3 salted. Any time you question whether something tastes ok, remember that bouillon cubes give you the opportunity to bump up the flavour of any dish with absolute control. Just make sure it is dissolved well either before adding it to your recipe or stir well afterwards. I actually chop the cubes up into little bits so they will dissolve faster.

Soup Packages are a Head Start

There are lots of flavours to choose from:

• Roasted Garlic
• Lemongrass and Chili
• Thai Ginger
• Spring Onion
• Bangkok Curry
• Mushroom

Toppings make the Soup

Layer everything in:

• Noodles on the bottom
• Add the vegetables
• Add your broth
• Add your toppings

Get creative with your toppings

Chop peanuts or pistachio nuts to put on top of each bowl. I love green foods, so I chop parsley, cilantro, mint leaves, spinach, lettuce, what ever I have on hand. I use a Mandolin slicer to shave thin slices of lemon or lime to float on top of the soup. This is the fastest and simplest meal I know of for the fall and winter. Stash a few of these babies away for emergency and I promise you ~ You will never starve.

PS: The word 'starve' means cold and hungry.