Thai Inspired Zucchini & Waterblommetjie Soup

Sometimes recipes can be intimidating. I get it. No really, I do. But fortunately Nina at My Easy Cooking always steps up to the plate, inspiring us mere mortals with her easy-to-make-at-home recipes. And not only are they a cinch to make, I'm sure they taste just as mouthwateringly good as her spectacular photos make them look. Nina - you inspire me!

Now that I've got that bit of hero worship out of the way, when Nina announced her first blog event I didn't need much convincing to join the party. Especially when I realised that  theme was Thai food - as you know I love all things Asian. Hmmm. That didn't come out right... To sweeten the deal, Nina threw in some prizes for the best entry. Wait, did someone say "free meal"? It is ON!

I hemmed and hawed over quite a few Thai recipes (some authentic and other not so authentic ones), but eventually settled on this one, heavily adapted from a lovely summery-y soup I saw over at Cookin' Canuck. Which you really need to make just as it is - it looks divine.

Back to my quest though, I wanted to winterize the recipe seeing as we're slap bang in the middle of Freeze Town over here. So I hemmed and hawed a bit more, initially wanting to use potatoes (but I guess they're not very Thai, are they?) and eventually settling on the leftover waterblommetjies still in my freezer after making Waterblommetjie Stew a while ago. Yes, things go into my freezer to die. It's a tough life in there.* 

If you don't have waterblommetjies, or you just can't be bothered with them, you can easily substitute any green veggie of your choice. Or leave it out all together and just up the zucchini. Either way, this is a winner.

*You really should send a sympathy card to the poor freezerlings. They don't get much love.

PS: I am submitting this to My Easy Cooking Event #1 - Thai.If you want to join in the fun (and stand a chance to win a free meal at Wang Thai!), you can do so until the 31st of July 2010. Of course if you win, you will have to take me with you to Wang Thai. It's only fair. ;-)

Thai Inspired Zucchini & Waterblommetjie Soup
Loosely based on a recipe by Cookin' Canuck
Serves 4 - 6

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp thai green curry paste
450g grated zucchini (babymarrows)
2 1/2 cups cooked waterblommetjies (or substitute with green veg of your choice)
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint (plus extra, to garnish - optional)
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 cups vegetable stock
2 1/2 cups water
1 tin (410 ml) coconut milk
dried coconut flakes, to serve (optional)
fried zucchini ribbons, to serve (optional)
chopped fresh red chillies, to serve (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic and curry paste and cook for 5 - 7 minutes or until softened.
2. Add zucchini and fry another 5 minutes or until softened.
3. Add waterblommetjies (or substitute green vegetable of your choice), mint, fish sauce and vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Allow soup to cool, then puree until desired consistency in a food blender.
5. Return to pot, add water and coconut milk and re-heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, then serve, garnished with mint, coconut, zucchini strips and chillies.