This is one of my favorite comfort foods. Healthy and easy to make.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Spaghetti squash.
1 Bag of Medium sized shrimp.
1 Medium head of Bok Choy.
A Large hand full fresh cilantro.
4 to 5 cloves of garlic
6 to 7 cups home made stock or broth.
3 Tablespoons of Olive oil.
FIRST: COOKING THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH
NOTE: Cooked Spaghetti squash will have al dente taste to it, meaning it will have some crunch to it, this is perfectly fine. & It's ok to let the spaghetti squash cool as your preparing the other food.
Very carefully cut the squash in half and clean out the seeds. Place both pieces in the double boiler face down. Pour about 4 to 5 cups of water in the bottom or more depending the size of your double boiler.
Bring the water to a boil with the lid on and let boil. Keep an close eye because this will cook quite fast. But take into consideration the bigger your squash the slower the smaller the faster. Use a sharp knife to pierce the skin, if it goes right through and comes out nicely it's done. If you pull the squash up with the knife it's not done. What you are looking for in the finish squash is that when you take the fork to it and start pulling at the flesh that it come apart nicely and looked like it's name sake spaghetti. If you notice that your cook squash is not coming apart, put it back in the steamer, replenish the water, bring to a boil then steam for 5 to 6 minutes longer.
SECOND: SHRIMP & MINCE
Get a large bowl and pour all the shrimp into it and fill with water as the shrimp are defrosting. Get out a pan large enough to accommodate all the shrimp set aside.
Now I love a lot of cilantro in my soup so I put about a cup and a half. I suggest a big hand full which is about a cup or less. Wash the cilantro and pat dry with a clean towel then pinch off the leaves set in a pile in the middle of your cutting board. Next peel your garlic and then mince the garlic and cilantro. Put in pan with olive oil. Do not turn on yet.
1. Note: If you want you can cook the shrimp ahead of time.
2. Note: If you are using precooked shrimp skip this part.
3. Note: After the shrimp are done cooking and removed from the pan, add a to ladle spoon fulls of hot broth to the pan and swish it around with a spoon and add back to the soup.
Now time to fiddle with the shrimp. Place a clean dish towel or some paper towel in a bowl, because you want to soak up as much of the water as possible. Gently peel the shrimp and devein them if need be, some time they are already devein. Basically hold the little shrimpy level so the body curls hangs downward. Take a knife and parallel to the back gently slice it. Sense the body is transparent you see the little dark line that is the vein, just pull it out the best you can. After you have clean all your shrimp let the paper towel soak up the water as much as possible. If their a little bit in their that ok.
Turn the stove top to Medium and start to saute the garlic and cilantro and as soon as you start to smell the aroma of the garlic, turn down to low and put in the shrimp. Shrimp like to be cooked on low, if you cook them at a higher temperature they will be come rubbery.
Keep your eye on the shrimp and watch how they react as they cook they will start to curl up, this also depends on the size of your shrimp. Try to evenly space out the shrimp, so they are all face down. As they cook they will also start to lose their transparency and look more whitish, turn them over according to doneness. Yes it takes a bit of patients, but it is so worth it for taste and texture. Here is a little trick I like to do. Have a bowl set aside, and place all the cooked shrimp in their until their all in the bowl, them return them all and cover the pan with a lid for about 2 to 3 minutes on low, this way you'll be doubly sure their cook all the way thought. Careful look over the shrimp to judge how much longer you want to cook it.
THIRD: STOCK/BROTH & BOK CHOY
Put the stock or broth into a medium pot turn on high heat. Wash and coarsely chop the bok choy ( Cabbage, Kale, Chard or any thick leafy greens) add to broth to cook leaves. As soon as the broth come to a boil turn down to low and simmer for about 5 to 6 minutes. Were just cooking the greens and heating up the soup broth.
FOURTH: ASSEMBLING YOUR SOUP BOWLS.
Have your soup bowl out. Take your spaghetti squash and scrap it and add a little bit to each bowl, remove the cooked greens and add some to each bowl, next add as much shrimp to each bowl as you desire and fill up with broth.
FIFTH: DEALING WITH LEFT OVER BROTH OR STOCK (if theirs any left).
Remove all the bok choy and let broth cool, a half hour to a hour is ok. But check it anyway. Either put in a ice cube tray and freeze or put in larger plastic container and freeze for a later time.
Note: Do not put hot soup in to plastic containers it will affect the flavor and you'll taste plastic.
Sit Back in your favorite comfy chair and enjoy.
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