Chinese New Year’s Soup

The traditional Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year in February, officially welcoming spring. Celebrate with our new take on a rich soup, which is chock-full of flavorful early spring produce.

Photo: Maya Visnyei

By Lisa Howard

Serves: 4
Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 oz whole-grain spaghetti or fettuccine pasta
• 1 lb bok choy, root end removed, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 lb carrots, sliced into rounds
• 3/4 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup shredded green cabbage
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 4 green onions

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large stockpot, bring broth and 2 cups water to a boil. Add pasta, reduce heat to medium-high and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Stir in bok choy, carrots, pork, cabbage, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and 1 cup water and simmer for 5 minutes, until pork is opaque throughout. Remove from heat and stir in green onions.

Nutrients per serving (2 cups New Year’s soup): Calories: 294, Total Fat: 3 g, Sat. Fat: 1 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 39 g, Fiber: 6 g, Sugars: 8 g, Protein: 27 g, Sodium: 399 mg, Cholesterol: 39 mg

 Nutritional Bonus: Juicy, biter  and crisp, bok choy speeds up the metabolism of estrogen, which eliminates excess amounts of the hormone in the body and may help lower your risk of certain types of cancer.

COST PER RECIPE: $6.90
COST PER PLATE: $1.7
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