Chicken Coconut Curry Soup

I made this soup a couple weeks ago and I'm STILL thinking about it.  It was seriously that good.  We ate the whole thing.  The kids whined about it but they ate it up and Steve and I couldn't help but polish it off.  It's a great thing to make when you have leftover cooked chicken and rice.  Oh and did I mention this soup is healthy?  Totally!  I want to make it again just typing about it.  Try it, you'll like it!

CHICKEN COCONUT CURRY SOUP
(found here, although it's on the Gibbs Family Recipe blog too, which I saw later--what a strange coincidence!)

What you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 onion,  chopped finely
1 red bell pepper, chopped finely
1 cup cooked chicken meat, chopped
1 cup cooked rice
2 tablespoons red curry paste (if you like it less spicy, just use 1 tablespoon) - We used just 1 T. this time and I didn't think it was spicy at all, I'll definitely add both T. next time.)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
13.5 oz can Asian coconut milk or cream (unsweetened)
21 oz chicken broth (roughly 1.5 cans of Swansons brand)
Optional:  2 tablespoons fish sauce and a few sprigs of cilantro  (I used about 1 T. fish sauce but had no cilantro)

Note:  Reserve some of the coconut milk, carrots, and red bell pepper (and cilantro) for optional garnish.  (I left some stuff out for garnish but no one wanted to use it as garnish so I'll skip this next time.)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat and cook chopped onions, carrots, and red bell pepper for approximately 5 minutes.  Add curry paste, brown sugar, chicken, rice, and fish sauce stirring and sauteing everything until curry paste is completely incorporated (approx. 2-3 minutes).  Pour chicken broth and coconut milk into the pan and give it a good stir for a half minute.  Reduce heat to medium and allow the soup to cook for 15-20 minutes.  Serve with a spoonful of coconut milk added on top with a few matchstick carrots and a slice of red bell pepper for garnish. Enjoy!