Springtime Asparagus Soup
Methods This soup is delicious served warm or cold making it a year round favorite. It is best when your asparagus is fresh, and that is the spring or early summer...like, right now! I usually do not cut my asparagus because it's meant to break where it wants to, but here, because I'm pureeing the soup, it doesn't matter so much.
Additions Chives would be a yummy addition to this soup, especially if you're skipping the top the tater. You can add in spinach, or make it chunkier by adding other veg as well. For me, this one is a sipper soup and not a chewer. Perfect for summer!
Variations You can spin in some crème fraiche or plain sour cream instead of top the tater. If you're going the vegan route, drizzle some good olive oil on top instead. I use chicken broth, but a high quality and tasty vegetable broth can be used instead. Lastly, I add a lot of herbs to my soup, but you can measure this to taste.
Warnings Your broth absolutely MUST be boiling before you drop in your asparagus. If you have your asparagus floating around in cold stock, it will get grey and gross. No one wants that. Also, do not add your dairy (top the tater, crème fresh, sour cream) while the soup is hot. It will curdle, and no one wants that either.
Ingredients
1 large leek
1 lb asparagus
1-4 garlic cloves - depending on how much you love your garlic
3 Cups of chicken broth
A fist full of cilantro & dill
1T butter
1T high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Top the Tater
Lemon Wedge (for finish)
Croutons or crusty bread
Guide
With a chef's knife, slice leek thinly slice off the root end of the leek and the tough green top. Slice the remaining leek lengthwise and then slice the halves into half moons.
Also with your chef's knife cut your asparagus into 2" pieces.
Slice or mince your garlic - this will be pureed, so don't stress about it.
Roughly chop up your cilantro and dill.
Assembly
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 T butter with 1 T olive oil; add your leeks and cook until soft; about 5 minutes.
Add your garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper - toss and cook for 1-2 mins.
Add 3 Cups of broth and raise the heat to a boil.
When you've achieved a rapid boil, and not a moment before, drop in your asparagus and cook for about 5 minutes until tender (when you can effortlessly pierce the veg with a tip of your knife). Reserve several spears for garnish (if you want)
Let your soup cool, add your herbs.
Blend until smooth; season with salt & pepper and add more herbs to taste.
Spin a dollop of top-the-tater into soup.
Add a squeeze of lemon juice.
Top with croutons or serve along side crusty bread.
Serve warm or cold.
Eat UP!
Deliciously,
Jillian
#eatUP #elevateyourplate #summerveg #summersoup #studiomefitnessnutrition