It is cold and miserable outside today so I made a soup to warm me up. I decided to make Caribbean Chicken Soup, something I tried on a recent trip to Miami.
The soup has cassava in it, one of my favorite root vegetables. (More on cassava- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava). Cassava is very common in Uganda, where I was born. We were served boiled cassava as a snack at recess when I was in school. Cassava can be cooked in many different ways: curried, boiled or fried among others.
Cassava is also known as Mogo, and Yucca.
I first tried Caribbean Chicken Soup at a restaurant called Pollo Tropicana, a chain restaurant in Florida. I found a version of the soup in Martha Stewart Living. Hope you enjoy it!
Ingredients
- 1 Chicken Breast boneless and skinless
- 4 cups water
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 medium onions thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece fresh Ginger
- 4 fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 jalapeño chilly thinly sliced
- 4 medium carrots, thinly sliced
- 4 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 8 oz Cassava (Mogo or Yucca) peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 lime
Directions
- In a saucepan heat oil and add the onions. Fry the onions till they are soft and transparant.
- In a blender blend, garlic, ginger and tomatoes. Add this to the onions, and cook stirring it for 2 minutes. Slice the chicken into thin slices and add this to the tomato mix. Add the water, carrots, and celery and Cassava (Mogo, Yucca). When the water starts to boil add the salt and black pepper, lime rind, lime juice and cilantro. Turn the heat to med and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- Serve it hot.
Note:
You can make this into a Vegetarian soup by omitting the chicken.
You can substitute yams for Yucca.