A few hundred thousand of my contemporaries & I are furloughed. After the initial shock of the federal shutdown wore off - we are into day 14 now - I started digging deep into my freezer & garden to cook for my family. One of the recent family favs was my Furlough Pho.
This was made of leftovers and with veg from the garden. - 4 cups of chicken stock (pantry) - 1 cup of shredded carrots (leftover from fish tacos) - 1 bunch of beet greens with stems, chopped (usually compost material, not this week) - 1 cup of mushrooms, sliced (CSA) - 4 cloves of garlic (from the garden) - 5 spring onions sliced (leftover from fish tacos) - 1/2 inch of ginger, grated (a freezer staple) - 1 tsp soy sauce (a pantry staple) - 4 stalks of lemongrass - 1 leftover roasted chicken breast on the bone (leftover) - 1 bunch of cilantro (garden) - juice of one lime & wedges for anyone that wants more - Thai basil leaves (garden) - 1 box of rice noodles
Sauté all the veg in sesame or olive oil until they are soft, add soy sauce and chicken stock. Add the chicken breast & lime juice, and allow everything to warm through. Shred the chicken into the soup, taste for salt & pepper. The beet greens and mushrooms really deepen the color of the stock, as does the bone from the chicken breast.
Serve over your fav rice noodles and garnish with cilantro, thai basil and sriracha.
This week I harvested chard from the front garden, so I'm making a minestrone...trying to keep cooking organically & deliciously on the cheap!