Hello out there!
Crikey! It's been awhile. I would first of all like to address my absence in brief, so that everyone knows that I'm not a slacker and I've just been blowing everyone off. I will describe my adventures in this past week in detail in my Tuesday Weight Loss blog entry. But for now I will let it leak that I went on Mardi Gras break and behaved very badly. All right sickos...I'm not talking about showing my tatas at Mardi Gras parades, I'm talking about bad eating habits. I took a week and a half off to spend time with my family and there was a lot of...restaurant food...and very little cooking going on so there really wasn't much for me to write about. And THEN when I got back from Mardi Gras break I started...seeing someone. And when one is newly in a relationship, we tend to forget our duties and responsibilities and go frolicking in the fields of new found love. So while I have been hanging out on Cloud 9, my blog has been suffering. Badly. And I sincerely apologize for that. But hey, I have to live a LITTLE. If I spent my life in front of this computer screen I'd be pale and antisocial. But all that aside, I am BACK and excited to share with you some more Health Nut cooking adventures.
So in this recipe we're going to be talking about asparagus, a food demon that I'm still not 100% with. I'm not particularly in love with this vegetable and I have to admit that when I see it on my plate I don't get very excited. I usually save it for last, or push it around my plate a bit before I actually consume it. It's got all the wrong things going for it. There's only so many ways you can cook an asparagus. Blanched and drizzled with salt and olive oil...I've seen people put it in the oven to tender up...chopped in salads...the Japanese food industry makes good use of it by putting it in some sushi rolls...but honestly, asparagus isn't very creative. And it's not a particularly good flavor either. It's got that real....green flavor to it. There isn't much you CAN do to trick yourself. You know you're eating a think, crunchy, green vegetable and there isn't much you can do about it. So apart from having it served to me as an unexpected side dish at restaurants or having it in sushi rolls, I don't have much experience with the vegetable. And to be honest, I haven't really cooked with it before.
Many a time have I been strolling down the produce aisle at my grocery store and passed by the asparagus. A few times I have gotten a bit too bold and actually purchased this asparagus, only to later let it die and rot in my refrigerator for I honestly know not what to do with it. I have come to grips with the idea that I do this because I WANT to like asparagus. I WANT to like green vegetables and be healthy, but when the time comes to prepare the dish, I chicken out. Well those days are over. I SHALL NOT waste another cent on asparagus for I have been given the recipe to solve all my asparagus problems. This recipe was handed off to me by a Turkish friend of mine. She and I were discussing Mediterranean food and she had mentioned this asparagus soup. At first I didn't think too much of it because as I've said, I'm not a fan of this vegetable at all. But then I remembered the bunch of asparagus that I had very stupidly purchased a week previous, which were now going slightly soft and rotten under my irresponsible care. So I retrieved this Mediterranean recipe from her in order to make the best of my foolish purchase.
Soup is a great way to get in your servings of vegetables. I find that getting my fruit servings in is a lot easier than getting in my vegetables. Whipping up a nice soup is a quick and easy way to feed your cells and your soul AND to sneak in a few servings of green without having to sacrifice that taste or texture problem. I have tried this soup both hot and cold and it works well either way. So it is nice for the winter or the summer months. Personally I eat hot soup all year round even though I am ridiculously hot blooded and like to run up my energy bill with overages every time the weather even THINKS about getting hot.
Let's just throw out the recipe now shall we? I give full credit to my dear friend Crystal for this one! I am going to copy her recipe verbatim except I am going to change the measurements from metric measurements to US standard.
Ingredients (serves 6):
2 lb asparagus
2 oz butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 slightly rounded tablespoon plain flour
4 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup double cream or creme fraiche
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Prepare the asparagus by cutting away and discarding the tough, stringy white ends of the stalks, reserve 12 asparagus tips to garnish the soup, then chop the green parts of the rest of the asparagus into 1 inch lengths. Next, melt the butter in a large saucepan over a gentle heat and cook the chopped onion in it for 5 minutes, keeping the heat low to prevent the onion from coloring. Stir the asparagus into the melted butter and onion, then put a lid on and let it sweat for about 10 minutes, giving it a stir now and then. Sprinkle in the tablespoon of flour, stir again to soak up the juices and add the hot chicken stock, a little at a time, stirring after each addition.
When all the stock is in, bring to simmering point, season with salt and freshly milled black pepper and keeping the heat low, let the soup barely simmer, partially covered, for 20-25 minutes. Now you need to let the soup cool a little, then pour it into a blender and blend in batches (a large bowl is helpful here). Taste to check the seasoning. Finally, stir in the double cream or creme fraiche and the reserved asparagus tips. Re-heat gently for 3-4 minutes and serve very hot in warm soup bowls or alternatively, cool and chill thoroughly before serving in chilled bowls.
Katie's Edits:
I want to say that I didn't really change much to this recipe. I was nervous making it since I have never worked with asparagus before and I didn't want to mess it up or screw up the flavor. The only real edit that I did was I used milk instead of cream. I'm sure the soup would be much tastier with the cream or creme fraiche, but not having either of those on hand, I went with milk. I would assume that the soup would be thicker had I used the cream, but for me it was just right. For those that are trying to watch the calories, it is probably healthier to use milk rather than cream, however, you're eating a vegetable soup...you can only calorie grub so much before it becomes ridiculous so you may use what you think is best for your taste.
Another thing I did that was a huge mistake, and now that I'm looking back on it, very stupid of me, was that I added salt. A lot...of salt. To be honest I wasn't even really thinking about it and I threw it in there almost habitually with the pepper not realizing that the chicken stock...has A LOT of salt. Please PLEASE if you're going to make this...DO NOT SALT THE SOUP. My soup came out very VERY salty. I tried cutting it with a bit more milk but it was pretty much ruined. I of course will still eat it because I do not mind such salt, but for those people who need to watch their sodium and can't tolerate salty foods should really REALLY avoid doing something as stupid as this. Who DOESN'T know that chicken stock is salty? Apparently I had a brain fart and destroyed my soup. So this is your fair warning.
Putting the salt issue aside, after trying this, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it tasted A LOT like broccoli cheese soup. But the funny thing is that I didn't add in any cheese. It just TASTES like it has cheese in it. Maybe asparagus isn't such a bad vegetable after all! It is a very delicious soup and can be served with a crusty bread if you're into that kind of thing. I am definitely planning on bringing this as my lunch to campus one day, maybe with a half of sandwich or like I said, a piece of bread. A very simple and delicious dish that I hope you try!
Thanks, MANY thanks, to my friend Crystal for passing this on to me!
Best Wishes,
The Hungry Hungry Health Nut
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