Still chilly where you are?

Warm up with this excellent soup!

I realize that some of you in the southern climes have already transitioned into summer, but here in Central PA, May can still bring some pretty chilly weather. Even if it's a bit warmer where you are this soup is brothy and light, not heavy like stew.

This noodle bowl is from Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats and really does cook up in 30 minutes or less, something that I usually have a hard time doing with many of her recipes. Not only is it easy, but it is packed with flavor, making you feel as if you are eating at a good Asian restaurant.

Spicy Shrimp and Bok Choy Noodle Bowl

Once you are finished chopping the bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, garlic and scallions, the rest of the recipe goes very quickly and is ready in a snap. The first time I made this it was very good, but I thought it could use a bit more broth. I have played around with the proportions a bit but haven't quite hit the perfect balance. I think that all it really needs is a bit more broth (1 or 2 cups more?) along with a proportionate amount of garlic and ginger to make sure that the flavors are not overly diluted.

I definitely recommend using shiitakes - they account for a large part of the flavor of this soup - something like a regular button mushroom wouldn't be nearly as good. I used baby bok choy the first time - 3 small heads - and it was very good (though regular bok choy works well too) and would make that substitution any time I'm able to find the baby variety.

With protein (shrimp), starch (noodles) vegetables (bok choy and scallions) and even fungi (shiitakes), this soup makes a pretty complete meal in one. Just one note on the noodles - I tried it with chinese-style wheat noodles which worked out very nicely. I wanted to try it with soba noodles but could not find any and tried whole wheat spaghetti noodles instead. The whole wheat noodles seemed to get a bit mushier than the chinese noodles did, so I don't think I'd try that again.

Fast, easy and delicious!