Fun with Soup

Again and again I have found that the more fun/exciting/novel a food is to prepare, the more apt R and G are to eat it. Getting your kids involved in the cooking almost always ups the possibility of their trying what they are preparing. R loves eggs. The boy can eat more eggs than his father, and sometimes I wonder where on earth he is fitting so many eggs in his little body. His favorites are deviled eggs or egg salad, but pretty much any cooked egg is eagerly accepted by R. It was this love of eggs that prompted me to try something new with R in the kitchen over the weekend. SPH and I were putting the boys to bed early so we could have “date night in.” As busy parents, the weeks are filled with deadlines, meetings, and other commitments that turn us into those proverbial ships passing in the night. So when the weekend hits, we try to reconnect and slow down. If there is no sitter available, we do a date night at our dining room table, with some great food and wine. Last Saturday we ordered some of our favorite Japanese carry-out and hurried to get R and G to bed. But before R and G were in their PJs, I decided to try a recipe I have wanted to try for years: Egg Drop Soup. This recipe is so darn easy, I was curious to see if it would live up to our standards. The best part of making this recipe is adding the egg to the super simple broth. Guess what? It was not only easy and fun to make, but really tasty, too. Egg Drop Soup 1 cup of boiling water 3 dried mushrooms* One 14.5 ounce can of broth (chicken or vegetable works best) 1 teaspoon reduced sodium soy sauce 2 egg whites 1 scallion, sliced thin (optional) In a small sauce pan, heat the water to a boil and add the dried mushrooms. Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Strain out the mushrooms and chop into small pieces. Strain the mushroom liquid (to remove any possible gritty bits from the mushrooms) and return to the pan. Add the broth and soy sauce and heat to a boil. Gently whisk the egg whites and either put into a small bottle like this: -or- pour the egg whites through a fine strainer. Gently pour the eggs into the boiling soup: Garnish with the scallion, if desired. Serves two for dinner, four for an appetizer. *Dried mushrooms can be found in many grocery stores near the fresh mushrooms. If you cannot find dried mushrooms, you can use an extra cup of broth and add a few fresh chopped mushrooms. SPC
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