Chicken Curry Soup

I'm all about seasons,

but Summer has worn on my last nerve.

As the temperatures seemed to be showing signs of lowering, I begin thinking about soup.
 
It kind of drives me crazy to hear,

"Soup is just so hot."

Well -- I kind of laugh because I'm thinking most  meals are hot

and it doesn't keep me from eating them during the Summer months.
 
For me, though, soup is a comfort food.

Usually not heavy, but certainly filling.

I get a ton of daily emails with recipes and so many of them I just ignore.

But a few weeks ago I received an email with a subject line of "Five Easy Soups."

Of course, I took a peak and I liked what I saw!

Not only were there five easy soups, but I believe all of the soups had only five ingredients.

Sometimes, that can leave you with a bland recipe,

but I have high hopes for these soups listed!

One of the recipes was for this curry soup.

Now!  Before you say, "I don't like curry,"

I say, "Have an open mind."

Look at the list of spices and see if they are flavors you like.

If so, give this a try!

While the original recipe was easy, we did think it needed a few additions, which I have listed here.

Chicken Curry Soup

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (can use more chicken if desired)
3 cups chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
5-6 carrots, peeled and chopped (add in more, if you wish)
5 oz spinach (this is a lot of spinach; reduce if you please) 
1 Tbsp ground cumin*
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric 
1/2 tsp ground ginger 
1/2 tsp dry mustard 
1/4 tsp ground black pepper 
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or ground chilies
1/2 tsp salt 


additional add ins:

1 small onion, chopped
5-6 yukon gold potatoes, cleaned and quartered
1 small red bell pepper, chopped

In a crock pot, add the chicken stock and chicken.  Cook on high for 2 hours.  Add the dry spices and the carrots and any of the add in veggies, if using.  Cook an additional 2 hours or until the carrots and potatoes are tender.  30 minutes before serving, add in the coconut milk and the spinach.  Return the crock pot lid and allow the spinach to wilt and the coconut milk to heat.

Serve with rice, if desired.

* If you prefer, you can easily double the curry spice mix, which will provide a stronger flavor.  We decided next time to double the curry spices.  The original recipe used "curry spice," but I didn't have curry spice, but I had the spices to make curry spice!