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This is healthy eating pho sure. Stacie Stewart's Thai poached salmon bowl

One minute i'd never heard of Stacie Stewart and the next she seems to be everywhere; on TV, in the Telegraph, online. If this recipe is an indicator then that's a good thing.
This is another spin on the tried and trusted 'Pho-like' soup and apparently comes in at under 500 calories.
I like the little twist of blitzing the paste to start the stock off. making the stock, or indeed the paste, is something you could do in advance and keep in the fridge or freezer to make this even quicker and easier.
My only changes were to make a bit more stock by adding some vegetable bouillion and to remove the beansprouts which just aren't my bag. We also used 3 salmon fillets as there were three of us.
Personally, I wouldn't consider the fish sauce as optional as Stacie suggests, If you don't like that pungent fishy-goodness of nam pla then I would suggest it definitely needs some soy sauce.
However we all loved this, you can just feel the self righteousness flooding through you as you consume this delicious soup.
Here's the recipe
Stacie Stewart Thai poached salmon bowl

Ingredients
2 shallots, chopped 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped 1 lemongrass stalk, outer leaves removed, chopped 1 tsp coconut oil (I used groundnut) 400ml fish, chicken or vegetable stock (I used a combination of 400ml of chicken and then topped it up with a bout another 250ml ofvegetable bouillion)3 salmon fillets (about 140g each), skin removed 1 bunch of pak choi (about 6 leaves) 150g beansprouts 1 carrot, julienned or very thinly sliced 1 red pepper, thinly sliced 1 courgette, 'courgettied' or thinly sliced 1 tbsp fish sauce (optional) 1 lime 1 tsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted 1 small bunch of coriander, Thai basil and/or mint, roughly chopped
In a mini chopper, whizz the shallots, ginger, garlic, chilli and lemongrass until you have a paste (add a drop of water if you need to)


Method
Heat the oil in a medium-large saucepan over a medium-low heat and fry the shallot paste for a few minutes to soften. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the lemongrass paste now, if using. Simmer for 10 minutes to infuse the flavours. If you’re in a rush this isn’t necessary.

When you’re ready to poach the salmon, simply add the fillets to the hot stock and simmer gently for 6-8 minutes. For the last 2 minutes, add the pak choi and carrots, peppers and courgettes.

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