Wonton Soup and Other Delights..

Aaah, Spring.... Aaah, Calgary. Spring has not yet sprung in snowy Alberta. This calls for soup, and lots of it. Yesterday being Tuesday, and our pool day, I decided to go with chicken wonton soup. I made the wontons and chopped the veggies in the morning and all I had to do apres-swim was put the broth on to simmer and combine everything in the pot.

I love wonton soup and discovered how easy it is to make in Feb. when I got it into my head that we needed to make wontons to celebrate Chinese New Year. This time, in an effort to increase the health benefits of the meal, I opted for ground chicken instead of the traditional ground pork. Wonton wrappers tend to be in the grocery store next to the tofu- usually near the produce aisle. They are inexpensive and last for a long time in your fridge. I have tried putting the leftover wrappers in the freezer but will get back to you on how that works out.

1) Make wonton filling - You don't need tons of meat, as each wonton only has a heaping teaspon of filling. For three people I used about a pound of ground chicken; however, I only used about half of the filling and froze the rest for future use. Take the ground chicken and add whatever seasonings you want. I added aprox. 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, pepper, ground ginger, garlic, and the whites of the green onion chopped very fine. You could experiment with the seasonings.

2) Make the wontons - Take a wrapper and put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the centre. Next moisten the area around the edges of the wrapper and fold the wrapper on the diagonal. You can then bring the two bottom corners together with a dab of water, or you can just bunch all the loose ends together and dab with water. You can't go wrong as long as the filling is locked in. Cover and save until you need these. For three people I counted on Monica and I having about 6 wontons each and Mike at least 9- I made around 23 or so.

3) Chop veggies for soup. I have used various combos. The only veggie that I think is really key is lots of green onions. Yesterday I used very thinly sliced carrot, bean sprouts, and the green onion. Other things you could add include, bok choy, peas, mushrooms...

4) Get broth going - I would avoid powdered chicken broth for this soup. Go with the stuff in the carton or better yet make your own (I have only done this one time and it was a lengthy process). I heated until boiling: one carton of low sodium chicken stock and a few cups of water. I added a bit of soy sauce, freshly ground pepper, grated fresh ginger, and garlic. Oh, and a dash of sesame oil. I love sesame oil.

5)When broth is boiling add veggies and wontons. Let simmer for at least 5 minutes - the recipes say 5 minutes but due to my raw meat paranoia I let it go for 10. I also like to add some cubed tofu to the broth. When Mike is away I go really crazy and add some prawns as well.

Enjoy!

Also.. I just wanted to show off the rockin' meal that Mike made on Mon- snapper and sesame seed-coated asparagus. Mikey C takes a creative approach to cooking and will not divulge his secrets recipes, but isn't it pretty?