Thai-style lemongrass shrimp soup

Are you tired of the heavy hearty winter stews, but you feel it is still too cold to enjoy a crisp, healthy salad?

How about a (very) low-cal hot soup option?

A while back, I made myself this Thai style lemongrass and shrimp soup taken from Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom, and let me tell you, I was very impressed and will be going back to this recipe this spring!

Try it, you won't be disappointed :) It has just the right amount of heat and tang, it really warms you up, but it absolutely figure-friendly :D


INGREDIENTS (for 2)
- 3 cups of chicken broth (or fish/veggie broth for vegetarian options)
- 1lb deveined raw shrimp (peel the shrimp and reserve the shells in a separate bowl)
- 3 tbsp pureed lemongrass (I only had pureed lemongrass in a tube, but if you have fresh stalks on hand, use three sliced very finely)
- 1 pack of frozen snow peas, in chunks (preferable to use fresh snow peas, but I only had frozen on hand)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 lime, finely sliced
- juice of 1/2 lime (or to taste)
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 8oz fresh cremini mushrooms, finely sliced
- a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (not in the ingredients pictures, but I added them as I went along)


RECIPE:
- prepare the broth: in a deep pot, bring the chicken broth, shrimp shells, lemongrass and half of the lime slices to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let infuse for at least 15 minutes.

- Strain the shells and lime slices, and reserve the boiling liquid. You can try to extract as much flavor as possible from the shells by crushing them into a sieve.

- Bring the shrimp-lemongrass broth back to a boil and add the pepper, shrimp, snow peas, pepper flakes and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes on high heat.
Note: be careful not to overcook: you don't want the mushrooms to get mushy!

- Turn off the heat, and add the cilantro and lime juice.

- Serve piping hot, sprinkle with fresh cilantro and squeeze fresh lime juice on top. Decorate with sliced limes.

- Enjoy!