Thai Red Curry Soup

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion
chopped 2 large cloves of garlic
minced 1 tablespoon peeled and finely minced ginger
1 tablespoon thai red curry paste (or more if you like it really spicy!)
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 pound green beans
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons thai fish sauce
salt and pepper
1 to 1-1/2 cups coconut milk
2 limes a good handful of fresh basil, cut into thin slivers

Cooking Instructions
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. When hot, add the onions. Cook the onions for about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, without letting the onions brown. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds longer. Mix the red curry paste with about 1/4 cup of the vegetable stock (you may need to use a fork to mash the curry paste into the stock depending on how stiff the paste is). Add this mixture to the pot along with the remaining stock, green beans, sugar, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 to 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper as necessary.
Add the coconut milk, the juice from one of the limes and the fresh basil to the pot and allow the soup to heat through. Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Cut the remaining lime into wedges and serve alongside the soup.
Makes 4 to 6 servings