Egg Droppin'

I had several folks send me facebook messages asking how I made egg drop soup. Well,  let me be very clear, that I did not come up with this on my own. I just happen to be able to follow directions. :)

I decided a few weeks ago that I would begin following the paleo diet, so the original recipe came from a paleo diet website. However, I have to be very careful of my cholesterol right now according to my doc, so I'm not following it strictly (because of all the meat). I'm eating a ton of fresh fruits and veggies, and learning about paleo is showing me how to cook with natural ingredients -- so hopefully that will help as well. I just can't do a ton of meat right now. Side note, the doc says I'm very healthy otherwise! I want to fight against some of the genes given to me and take care of myself! I don't want any heart issues later on down the road.

Anyway, what can beat a bowl of egg drop soup when your Chinese food craving kicks in?

Here is the link to the original recipe if you are interested. Then I will show you what I did.

My Recipe's Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced 
• 1 Tbs Olive Oil (I didn't have coconut oil from the original... I do now and will try it next time around)
• 8 Cups Water
• 6 Beef Boullin Cubes (to make broth -- I didn't have chicken flavored from the original)
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp balsamic vingegar
• 1/4 tbsp white wine vinegar -- not sure where all the random vinegar came from in my pantry, but I used the above two vinegars in place of coconut aminos
• 1/4 tsp flax oil (I had flax oil <for heart health> and Matt is allergic to sesame and the original called for sesame oil)
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch + 4 Tbsp water (I didn't have arrowroot powder, and cornstarch IS NOT paleo, but I needed a thickener)
• 6 eggs (Next time, I will use egg beaters. I know, gross (and NOT paleo/natural), but I am trying to eliminate cholesterol where I can)

Directions:

Finely dice the onion and celery, and saute in the bottom of your soup pot in the olive oil for about 15 minutes on med low heat, until the veggies are translucent-ish

While veggies are cooking, boil your water and dissolve the boillin to make broth.

When veggies are done add the broth and bring to a boil. While heating add the ginger, vinegars and flax oil.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water in a small bowl. Do this before adding into the soup to prevent clumping.

While heating the soup, whisk up eggs. After soup has boiled about 5 minutes, start adding the whisked eggs a little at a time. I did mine in three sets about 3 to 5 minutes apart. Megan and I were setting the table and such while the eggs cooked.

After the last of the eggs were added I left it about 3 more minutes then put it on the table with a ladle.

Hopefully that was clear as mud. You can probably change any of the oils to another flavor. You can also use chicken broth rather than beef. I'm all about using what I have on hand. Like I said before, this wasn't truly paleo, but it was a start. You can see the original recipe at the link at the top of this entry. Mine was really tasty and it was even good reheated as leftovers the next day.