Vegetable soups can be simple and nutritious fare. Creamy soups are known for their smoothness and flavor. Soups made of pureed vegetables combine the best of both worlds where soup is both enriched and thickened with cooked vegetables.
Asparagus and potatoes team up in this recipe to make a creamy soup with little fat. Celery, onion and thyme are added with diced asparagus, potatoes and defatted chicken stock. The vegetables are simmered together until the tender then pureed. Fat free half and half is added at the end to enrich and lighten the puree mixture.
This soup makes about 6 servings.
Cream of Asparagus and Potato Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed (see recipe below)
- 1 medium potato, peeled and diced (about 1 rounded cup)
- 1/3 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 3 cups well seasoned defatted chicken stock
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard
- 1/8 tsp white pepper (use a dash for less spice)
- 1/2 cup fat free half and half
- Salt or nutmeg if desired, for seasoning
Procedure:
- Wash then trim the asparagus by first cutting off the tips about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length. Reserve for later use. Cut snap off the woody sections of the asparagus spears and discard. Cut up the remaining asparagus in about 1 inch pieces. Place in a small soup pot.
- Add in the diced potato, chopped onion and celery.
- Cover with the defatted chicken stock and stir in the dried thyme, dry mustard and white pepper.
- Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking, steam the asparagus tips until cooked to desired tenderness. Alternately, place in a microwave safe dish with a couple of tablespoons of water, and microwave until the tips are cooked until desired tenderness, about 3-7 minutes on high, depending on microwave's power. Drain off any water or remove tips from steam. Reserve until later.
- Puree the soup when vegetables are tender in a blender. Do this in 3 batches, venting the top to allow steam to escape, and puree until the soup is very smooth. Pour into a fine mesh strainer into a separate saucepan.
- Stir in the fat free half and half. Adjust seasonings if desired with salt or nutmeg to taste.
- Serve the soup in bowls. The tips can be used for the top of the soup for garnish when served, or stirred into the soup right before serving.
For other creamy-style soup recipes, try Creamy Curry Potato and Broccoli Soup with nonfat evaporated milk or Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Madeira wine.
Renee Shelton - Renee Shelton is a classically trained culinarian frequently writing about baking, healthy cooking, fishing & sewing.
