Faux Pho

After last year’s epic winter, I’m bracing myself. Turning the corner into November signals the oncoming fun of the holidays, but also the time of lost mittens, being stuck inside for too many days and… duh duh duuuuuh: cold and flu season. And I’m scared, people. Just writing that gives the back of my throat a scratchy feeling. Last year it felt like someone in our household was sick at all times. It can be challenging enough trudging through a Canadian winter without dragging sick people behind you. (And by dragging, you know I mean cuddling and spoiling with extra screen time, right?)

So this time around I’m preemptively force feeding everyone immunity boosters from the get-go. Kale for breakfast! Citrus at every meal! And, of course, there will be chicken soup. Science has confirmed what grandmothers have known for generations, that a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup really does help fight illness. The combination of the heat, along with the protein and vitamins, really does your body good. I wanted to come up with a new twist on the classic and also get some traction on my kids’ new sense of adventure with food. So I came up with this Faux Pho. Traditional pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, is often made with broth, rice noodles, herbs and rare meat. But in Toronto, where there are many fantastic Vietnamese restaurants, you can get pho just about anyway you’d like it – not-so-rare beef, chicken, vegetarian. I decided to keep mine very simple with a creamy base, crunch from fresh veggies and with no heat at all. But you could absolutely add some chilis if your crew is up for it. It’s a very slurpy soup, which my kids loved. It makes a great, quick weeknight dinner but could be packed up in a thermos for school, too.

photos by Maya Visnyei