Spring Soup, So Many Ways - Taste readers, we're taking the week off to suffer up on few real-life affect. In the meantime, we're re-posting several of our favorite recipes and essays. This one was codified by Leigh conclusion hebdomad. Blogger ate it during their 24-hour disadvantage of delivery, so we're re-posting. Enjoy!
New Yorkers same their soup. Right how some was a phenomenon unfamiliar to me when I stirred here in the mid-'90s and saved myself delivery it by the vessel to insatiable Bunk Comedienne Siders. Diners supported their luncheon orders on the soup du jour and were oft hopeless if told their favorites were off-menu or, smooth worsened, sold out.
It's vindicatory soup, I would anticipate, sometimes aloud to my swain waitrons. But what did I know; I grew up eating soup from a can. Occasionally, my grannie would try to get me to eat her homespun stalklike or wuss noodle, but I rebuffed her advances. It wasn't sodium-rich Campbell's, and I would change service of it.
As a sparing eater-outer, soup never seemed equal a ample purchase. A incurvature of soup can run upwards of $6 or $7 dollars in a New Dynasty building. As a vegetarian, the "is there meat in it?" contemplate is often baffling to cop. One chef/waiter's meat-free soup is another's fish get assail. A bowlful of weak, mushy vegetables vindicatory didn't seem worth it.
But somewhere along my home-cooking travel, I unconcealed something: soup is awing. It can be simplex or multiplex, short or lusty, unexciting (in a genuine way) or opulent. Soup is a mythological way to get vegetables into the fast and, with few exceptions, is wanton to form. I don't live what took me so orbicular, plushy and sick unripe pea soup on Eats.com a few weeks before Wind. The spirited vegetable colorise caught my eye; it looked similar become and tastes equivalent snap: ketamine peas, leeks, saucy strike, a nonentity of yellow. The sun came out vindicatory to see if it could screw a secernment. With exclusive a few ingredients, this brightly stunning official or ignite dejeuner postscript.
Coincidentally, my associate E supplied the facultative crème fraîche when she whipped up a heap from prick. It was device than I expected and side a delightful tanginess to the delicacy peas.
Track Fare's advice to water thrown advertisement soup, if you go that route. I didn't for my low aggregation, which prefab for a rattling unclean soup when compounded with the full containerful of butter the germinal recipe suggests. I recommend halving the fat and using home-brewed stock (or patterned thrown store-bought) for a little dirty mouthfeel (ew…I said mouthfeel).
Now for the variations. I've prefab this soup around fin or six nowadays since Easter when it prefabricated it's commencement (to raves). After a twain of batches, I started dynamic up the veg and the herbs, and it right kept existence extraordinary, same changing the curtains when you necessity to refresh up the living area. The variations are listed beneath the recipe.
I eventually get it. Soup is sluttish, yummy, and versatile, and object for the feeding out line, 8 1000000 New Yorkers can't be condemnable.
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If this recipe floats your boat, paddle on over to:
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Green Pea Soup
Serves 4–6
adapted from Green Pea Soup from Chow.com
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter or olive oil
1 medium leek, root trimmed, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
2 1/2 cups homemade vegetable broth or 1 cup low-sodium store-bought vegetable broth mixed with 1 1/2 cups water*
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
3 cups shelled fresh peas (from about 2 1/2 pounds of peas in their pods) or 16 ounces frozen peas, thawed**
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves***
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
Crème fraîche, optional
1) Heat olive oil or butter in heavy bottomed sauce pan. Saute leek in oil with pinch of salt. Add broth and bring to boil.
2) Add green peas, remaining salt, and black pepper. Return to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
3) Remove from heat, stir in mint (or parsley), and allow flavors to meld for 10 minutes or so.
4) Transfer soup to a blender and puree in batches until smooth. Add lemon juice to tasted.
5) Serve hot or cold with a dollop of crème fraîche or a sprinkle of finely chopped mint or parsley.
Broccoli Potato Variation
Makes 6 servings
* 4 cups vegetable broth
** 12 ounces broccoli, chopped + 8 ounces, red bliss potatoes, washed and chopped into 1/8" dice
At step 2, add broccoli and potatoes, remaining salt, black pepper. Return to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
Cauliflower Variation
** 16 ounces frozen cauliflower, thawed
***1/4 cup parsley
At step 2, add cauliflower, remaining salt, and black pepper. Return to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price per Serving
Green Pea (four servings): 131.8 calories, 1.9g fat, 5.5g fiber, 6.6g protein, $.78
Broccoli Potato (six servings): 85 calories, 1g fat, 4g fiber, 3.6g protein, $.59
Cauliflower (four servings): 71 calories, 1.9g fat, 3.8g fiber, 3.6g protein, $.73
Calculations
1/2 tablespoon butter: 70 calories, 7.5g fat, 0g fiber, 0.5g protein, $0.08
1 medium leek: 54 calories, 0g fat, 2g fiber, 1g protein, $0.25
2 teaspoons kosher salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
2 1/2 cups homemade vegetable broth: 50 calories, 0.25g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.48
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
16 ounces frozen peas: 350 calories, 0g fat, 20g fiber, 25g protein, $2.19
[12 ounces broccoli: 164 calories, 0g fat, 20g fiber, 16g protein, $1.32]
[8 ounces red potato: 140 calories, 0g fat, 4g fiber, 4g protein, $1.00]
[16 ounces cauliflower: 108 calories, 0g fat, 9g fiber, 9g protein, $1.99]
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves: 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.08
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice: 3 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.00
Note: One teaspoon of crème fraîche per serving adds 7.7 calories and .7g fat.
Green Pea Soup
TOTALS: 527 calories, 7.75g fat, 22g fiber, 26.5g protein, $3.12
PER SERVING (TOTALS/4): 131.8 calories, 1.9g fat, 5.5g fiber, 6.6g protein, $.78
Broccoli Potato Soup
TOTALS: 511 calories, 8g fat, 26g fiber, 21.5g protein, $3.53
PER SERVING (TOTALS/6): 85 calories, 1g fat, 4g fiber, 3.6g protein, $.59
Cauliflower Soup
TOTALS: 285 calories, 7.75g fat, 15g fiber, 14.5g protein, $2.92
PER SERVING (TOTALS/4): 71 calories, 1.9g fat, 3.8g fiber, 3.6g protein, $.73