Lemony Egg Drop Soup

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As this soup cools slightly, it thickens. Perfect dish to liven up any rainy spring day. Also great when feeding a cold or needing a big bowl of comfort. Delicious way to get in your vegetables and whole grains.

What’s extra special about this soup is that it calls for amaranth. Amaranth contains different amino acids than other grains; so when it’s combined with millet here you actually are getting a complete protein source (in addition to the egg) in every savory bowl. How convenient!

Want to make this soup vegetarian? Simply use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock.

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INGREDIENTS
12 cups         Chicken or Vegetable stock, no sodium added
1 tablespoon  Olive oil
1 large          Onion, peeled, thinly sliced, slices halved
1 large          Garlic clove, peeled and chopped
2 large          Celery stalks, chopped
3 large          Carrots, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup         White wine
1/2 cup         Amaranth, whole grain
1/2 cup         Millet, whole grain
1 tablespoon   Chili garlic sauce
2 teaspoons   Mustard, prepared, whole grain
1 tablespoon White wine vinegar
1 tablespoon  Tamari, low-sodium, gluten-free
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Black pepper, fresh ground
1 cup            Zucchini, shredded in a food processor
2 large          Eggs, whole, cracked into a bowl, then beaten
1/2 cup         Lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/2 cup         Cilantro, fresh, chopped
16 leaves       Cilantro,fresh, for garnish (optional)

PREPARATION
In a medium pot, warm the chicken stock over medium heat, but do not bring to a boil.

In a large sauce pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add celery and saute another 2 minutes. Add carrots and saute another two minutes.

Add the white wine to vegetables, and cook several minutes to reduce wine, stirring often.

Add a 1/2 cup of the heated stock to vegetables. Cook several minutes to reduce.

Add the rest of the stock to the vegetables, along with the amaranth and millet grains, chili sauce, mustard, vinegar, tamari, salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to simmer and partially cover. Simmer until grains are fully cooked, about 25 minutes.

Add shredded zucchini to soup. Drizzle in the beaten eggs, stirring constantly, until eggs are cooked, which should only take a matter of seconds.

Stir in lemon juice. Remove soup from heat, and allow to sit and cool slightly for 10-15 minutes so that it can thicken a bit. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with cilantro leaves (optional) and serve.

Tips: If your stock has sodium already added, omit adding the sea salt… If preparing this gluten-free, but want to use a store bought stock, make sure to check the label first as many processed stocks contain gluten…When using a large onion, it is best to cut the onion slices in half so that their length is short enough to fit on your soup spoon… If you do not like cilantro, fresh parsley works nicely as a substitute.

Yield: About 8 servings

Serving size: 2 cups