Crack open a hot bowl of egg drop soup

Egg drop soup is a restaurant favorite for our families. When a friend told us how easy it is to make egg drop soup for a meal at home, we couldn't believe it. And we couldn't quite believe that serving an appetizer for dinner would fly with our hungry husbands and teenagers.

But what if we pumped up the soup with some extra ingredients to make it more substantial?

A morning of experimenting with the soup in our test kitchen made us both believers. If you add some cooked chicken, fresh spinach, mushrooms and red bell pepper, what is ordinarily a fairly bland soup turns into a colorful experience of textures and tastes. (Speaking of colors, our testing has led us to believe that the reason egg drop soup is so yellow in restaurants must be due to the addition of food coloring. Our Hearty Egg Drop Soup is the more natural color of chicken broth.)

Our families were thrilled with the new-and-improved Egg Drop Soup that's hearty enough to star as dinner's main event. And since it's so easy and quick, desperate cooks will be thrilled as well.

Menu: Hearty Egg Drop Soup

Store-bought mini egg rolls

Orange slices

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HEARTY EGG DROP SOUP

Start to finish: 18 minutes

Cook's note: Lots of companies now sell packages of already-cooked chicken in several flavors. Choose a plain, unseasoned, oven-roasted type for this recipe. The exact weight of the package doesn't matter, but a 6-ounce package will yield about 1 cup. If you happen to have leftover cooked chicken or turkey, you can use that, too. Reduced-sodium chicken broth is widely available. If you can't find it, omit 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce.

1 large egg

2 cups pre-washed fresh baby spinach leaves, packed

1 cup (about 6 ounces) already-cooked chicken pieces (see Cook's note)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 cans (14 ounces each) reduced-sodium, fat-free chicken broth (see Cook's note)

2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon hoisin sauce (available in most large supermarkets)

1 small red bell pepper (for about 1 cup chopped)

1 bunch green onions (for 1/2 cup sliced)

1 1/2 cups already-sliced fresh mushrooms

1 teaspoon Asian (dark) sesame oil

1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

Break the egg into a small bowl; beat it with a whisk or fork until foamy. Set aside. Divide the spinach evenly among 4 large soup bowls. Set aside. Cut the chicken into bite-size chunks (if necessary) and set aside. Mix the cornstarch with 4 tablespoons cold tap water in a small jar that has a lid. Shake until well combined and no lumps remain. Set aside.