Mulligatawny Soup

This morning I heard the sad news. Actor Len Lesser died yesterday. Although he had a long & varied career, I remember Lesser best as Jerry’s Uncle Leo on Seinfeld. My older daughter is addicted to the show, watching reruns over and over and over via our big refrigerator box set. So almost daily Uncle Leo graces our TV screen, whether stealing books or looking “angry” with drawn-on eyebrows. Since I was planning on making a recipe from my freecycle score today anyway, I decided to shelve the pot roast and curried chicken & rice I’d been contemplating and make Mulligatawny Soup instead. One of the famous recipes from the Seinfeld episode The Soup Nazi, Mulligatawny Soup is a delicious combination of tart apple, chicken & veg in an ultra rich, creamy curry broth. The choice seemed fitting. Though Uncle Leo never faced off with the Soup Nazi on the show, I just know if he had, he would have won. RIP, Len Lesser. You will be missed.

Recipe adapted from One Dish Meals The Easy Way.

Yields 6 servings.

SODIUM CONTENT: 135 mg per serving

INGREDIENTS:

1 T. vegetable oil
1 T. unsalted butter
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed
1 c. peeled, cored & chopped tart apple, such as Granny Smith
1 1/2 T. salt free curry powder
1 qt. (4 c.) low sodium chicken broth
2 medium carrots, peeled & thinly sliced
2 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 lg. onion, peeled and finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 c. heavy cream
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. grated lemon zest
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium stockpot, melt the butter in the oil over medium-high heat.

Add the cubed chicken, apple and curry powder and cook, stirring, 5 minutes.

Add the broth, carrot, celery, onion and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes. Just before the cooking time is over, whisk the cream with the cornstarch and lemon zest. At the end of the 20 minutes, pour the cream mixture into the soup.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the soup returns to a simmer and thickens, just a few minutes more.

Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnished with the chopped fresh cilantro.

NOTE: When making this soup, I substituted 2T. Sunny Singapore Salt Free Seasoning from The Spice House for the curry powder, black pepper & lemon zest and it was AMAZING!!!!!! If you haven’t tried this seasoning, or any of the other salt free blends from The Spice House, you really should.