Food Friday: Asparagus Soup

I have been eating like total crap lately. Don't let this blog fool you... there are plenty of days (moreso lately than ever) that I just don't have time or energy to make something. We've been so busy moving and unpacking, and trying to fix our house, that I seriously have not been to do a major grocery run in like 2 months. So, I've been eating a LOT of beans and rice, popcorn, frozen Boca burgers, frozen vegetables, and pizza (YES with pepperoni... leave me alone.) Luckily for you, I was cooking like a fiend before all this house stuff happened, and so I have some recipes saved up to last you until I get my freaking act together.

Asparagus is one of those vegetables that I think people love to hate. Like broccoli, or brussels sprouts. So many people just don't even give it a chance, you know? Like even the sound of the word makes them lose their appetite. But I honestly think that asparagus gets a bad rep for no real reason (other than the whole pee thing). About that... did you know that it makes everyone's pee smell, but some people don't have the ability to smell it? You know how they found that out? 2 people ate some asparagus, one person said their pee smelled funny and the other one said their pee didn't smell funny. So they took the first person's pee, and held it under the nose of the second person, and the second person still couldn't smell it. I actually looked this up a long time ago... I don't know why this is so fascinating to me, other than the idea that someone would willingly smell another person's pee for the sake of science.

Anyway, asparagus is yet another vegetable that used to make me turn up my nose, but I have really grown to like it. Roasted asparagus is my favorite, but when I saw this recipe for asparagus soup, I thought it might be a nice variation. Incidentally, roasting asparagus is a fantastic quick side veggie, and it is super easy. Just wash and trim the bottoms, drizzle with lots of olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and roast at 400 for about 15-2o minutes. It's THAT easy. Seriously. And, again, the benefits: asparagus is a low-calorie, fat-free, cholesterol-free, low sodium veggie. It's also a good source of vitamin K, fiber, folic acid, and potassium. By the way, I only eat green asparagus. I've never had white asparagus and I don't want to . Something about it just... doesn't... seem... right.

Anyway, the soup. I read a ton of food blogs every day, one of which is use real butter. She makes some amazing food, and her pictures are waaayyy better than mine. She even put her asparagus soup in shot glasses and served them with mini-grilled cheese sandwiches which was super cute. And, I personally LOVE grilled cheese sandwiches, but that's a whole different topic. Anyway, I'm no Martha Stewart, and am the first to admit it, so I served my soup in a regular bowl with other regular food like the regular gal that I am. Remember the Sesame-Ginger Rice I made for you a few weeks ago? Perfect side for the soup. Add a scrumptiously roasted acorn squash (again, super easy, tasty, and amazingly cheap) and you've got yourself a colorful, well-balanced meal.

Asparagus Soup
from use real butter

Ingredients:
1 lb. asparagus spears, bottoms trimmed
2 tbsps vegetable oil
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup yellow onion, diced
salt
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsps flour
1 quart chicken broth (remember what I told you about chicken broth??)
1-2 tsps lemon juice
pepper

Directions:
1. Cut the asparagus spears into 2-inch pieces. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan or pot (you'll end up putting all the soup back in this pot, so make sure it's big enough). When the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions. Sauté until fragrant. Add the asparagus to the pot, season with salt (don't be shy here), and stir-fry until the spears turn a deep green. Do not overcook!

2. Remove from heat and empty the vegetables into a food processor or blender or food mill. (I used a blender, and the consistency was a little coarse, but not bad at all.) Purée the asparagus with about a cup of the chicken broth.

3. In the same pot you used before, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir until it foams. Pour the chicken broth into the pan a little at a time and stir to incorporate (so you avoid chunks of flour-butter floating around in the broth). Pour in the remaining chicken broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the purée. Add lemon juice (the more, the better, IMHO) and pepper to taste. Serve hot.