Whether you want to admit it or not, that time of year is finally here. You can call it hibernating, hygge or hiding, but the season of getting cozy and comfy is upon us.  And who am I kidding, I LOVE it.

To help me get ready for the season of comfort, my friends at Blue Goose Pure Foods sent me a chicken noodle soup kit with all the basic ingredients including, a Blue Goose organic chicken.  They challenged to me to make chicken noodle soup with my very own twist.  For me, basic chicken noodle soup often stirs up the association of being or getting sick so I knew I had to do something a little different.

If you know me, you know that I don’t stray from spicy foods so naturally I started to think about how I could take a basic chicken noodle soup recipe and kick it up a notch.  Enter Coconut Thai Chicken noodle soup. So indulgent, so creamy and oh so comforting.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 large carrot, cut into 2” pieces or sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• kosher salt
• 2 15- oz. cans coconut milk (shaken well)
• 3 c. low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 c. shredded chicken (roasting instructions included below)
• 1/3 c. chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 1 package ramen noodles or your noodles of choice
• Lime wedges, for serving

To roast your chicken

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Line a small baking tray with parchment paper and place a wire rack on top
3. Take your whole Blue Goose chicken and rub it with either butter or olive oil and season with salt and pepper
4. Place the chicken backside down and roast for 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees
5. Remove from the oven, de-bone and shred the meat

**I didn’t use the skin in the soup just the meat both dark and white.

To make the soup:

1. In a large pot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat
2. Add the onion, bell peppers and carrots and cook until tender (6-8 minutes)

**You can really customize the ingredients to what you like.  Next time I make this I’m thinking of adding broccoli and bamboo shoots

3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, be careful not to burn it!
4. Add the curry powder and cayenne and season with salt

**You better believe I added more cayenne pepper until it was the just the level of heat I like.

5. Stir until combined
6. Pour in the coconut milk and chicken broth and bring to a simmer
7. Add the shredded chicken, cilantro and noodles and cook until the noodles are al dente

**The next time I make this I will likely substitute the ramen noodles for rice noodles

8. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime

I love love love how this soup turned out.  I probably had two bowls myself, served a friend that night with a bowl, gave another friend a bowl AND had enough to freeze for when I need it next.

What I love most about this recipe is that you can really play with the ingredients in terms of the vegetables, the spice level and the noodles.

Using Blue Goose Pure Foods organic chicken also makes me feel really good about what I’m serving because they partner with a select group of family run farms in Ontario who raise their birds on wholesome vegetable grains without the use of any antibiotics or added hormones.   Doesn’t get more comforting than that.

Would love to hear about your favourite comfort foods and if you try this recipe, let me know how it comes out!

**I was provided with free product for this post. Opinions are always my own.