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I love this time of the year but there's one thing that makes me just a teeny bit sad ....................
.......... it's that soup season has slipped way for another four or five months. I love everything about soup from it's simplicity and versatility to the fact that it's a wonderful, delicious way to get loads of great veggies into your daily intake. I also love that, with many soups, they get even better over the next few days and they reheat beautifully, making them perfect for work lunches or meals on the run.
We've had a bit of a break in the weather here in the Carolinas and they're actually predicting a possible frost for tonight. I decided to take advantage of the coolness and make one more pot of soup. I had some fresh, local asparagus along with sweet onions, a few shallots and some lovely green spinach. I gathered a few other ingredients and set to work.
This Spring Green Vegetable Soup is literally loaded with fresh veggies (check out the ingredients!), has relatively little fat and no heavy cream or dairy products (except for a drizzle of Greek yogurt - you know, just to look pretty!). The veggies are enhanced with citrusy coriander and fresh ginger. I had some "taste-testers" for dinner tonight and they heartily agreed that if you're looking for a healthy, delicious lunch or fabulous casual dinner (I served this soup for dinner with a few pan-seared shrimp perched on the top) this soup fits the bill!
Spring Green Vegetable Soup
Ingredients for the soup:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 3-inch stalk lemongrass
1 large potato, russet or golden, peeled, halved and sliced in 1-inch slices
3 medium shallots, peeled and halved
2 stalks celery , roughly chopped
8 ounces asparagus, roughly chopped
2 cups tiny frozen peas
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh basil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons half and half
a pinch sea salt
Directions for the soup:
1. Preheat oven to 475˚F. Spray a large sheet pan with cooking spray or drizzle pan with oil and spread with a paper towel. Place onions, lemongrass, potato. shallots and celery on prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with melted butter and olive oil. Toss well to coat veggies with oil mixture. Roast for 5 minutes, remove from oven and carefully stir veggies. Return to oven and roast another 5 minutes. Add asparagus and roast another 10 minutes, stirring again after 5 minutes.
2. While veggies are roasting bring chicken broth to a low simmer. After roasting, add veggies to chicken broth along with cilantro. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add fresh spinach, fresh basil and peas. Stir until spinach is wilted. Puree soup with immersion blender or allow to cool and then puree unil smooth in a blender or food processor. Taste, and add salt and pepper, as needed.
1. Place all ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add a bit of milk or half and half if mixture is too thick to drizzle. I like to put this drizzle mixture in a small squeeze bottle and finish the soup by drizzling the soup randomly then swirling with a toothpick or wooden skewer.
Melissa says
Your posts truly are a work of art, thank you for the inspiration
The Café Sucré Farine says
I'm so glad you noticed that - I'm not sure how it got left out but I fixed it - thanks!
CLRogers12 says
I want to make this beautiful soup for a dinner party coming up - how much chicken stock? I must have missed the quantity. DO TELL! Thank you so much.
France@beyondthepeel says
The flavors in this sound amazing. I love taking advantage of cooler weather to make something I would otherwise not crave. The lemongrass is such a nice unexpected surprise here.
beti says
I always find your dishes lovely, the decoration of this soup is amazing and it looks very delicious
Pacheco Patty says
Gorgeous colors in your soup, Spring time in a beautiful bowl of soup! I love all your flavors too, it does sound delicious;-)
Lizzy says
I miss soup season, too, but a sping soup is an excellent idea! SO gorgeous with your flower garnish, Chris 🙂
Susan says
I love your use of edible flowers! This soup sounds so healthy & delicious!
Sue/the view from great island says
I love everything about this soup, from the beautiful bowl, to the drizzling of the yogurt, to those amazing flowers---you have really captured the essence of spring!
Loveforfood says
I'm going to try some of recipes for sure, and I'm going to share them with my friends.
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
What a lovely soup this is! Very spring inspired and colorful, and I bet delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Ben says
Something love about Mexico is that it's always soup and salad season. The color of this soup is just amazing! Thanks for sharing!
lena says
like that you said it's also non diary. over here, we use coriander seeds quite often to make curries and am delighted to see that you using it in your soup and also the lemongrass too!
Chatty Crone says
It looks beautiful - love the plate - and I bet it tastes great. I am going to try this.
sandie
debra says
art! pure, tasty, art.
Martha says
That is one yummy sounding and pretty looking soup! Love the little flowers! I enjoy soup season too and usually by the time fall comes around I'm very ready for the easy meals again.
Sandra says
So nice of you to make soup for us. Would love to have this with some of your 5 minute bread creations.
Kim says
I have to say, this soup is quite perfect for this time of year!!! In about 3-4 weeks, aspargus (the fresh and local one) are going to be in the markets... Then, I'm going to try this soup!
Happier Than a Pig in Mud says
Sounds like a great soup! Love the pics, the colors are beautiful:@)
Vicki Bensinger says
Nice soup. I love all the green veggies in this and that you've added yogurt. This sounds delish.
Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers says
What a beautiful soup and I love the bowl. I love soup and your right for some reason we stop making it when warmer weather hits. Why do we do that? Imagine a summer soup with all fresh summer veggies.
Claire @ Claire K Creations says
Now this looks like what I should be eating 2 weeks away from the wedding!
Ginny says
Everything about this is gorgeous and springlike. I love the pretty drizzle and that cool bowl. We eat soup all year round, it is our favorite food. Phil eats a bowl almost every night for a bedtime snack. I will make soup even if it is really hot outside, plus we have an entire cabinet full of canned soup! We're nuts for it!
Eri says
Oh Gosh, you're such an artist my dear Chris! This is the most beautiful soup I have ever seen!
Marina@Picnic at Marina says
Pretty soup! Can I eat the flowers too? 🙂