Spinach, leek, and fennel soup
This recipe started out as a version of "Stone Soup." Many of you may remember that children's story — the soup started out with a stone and water and everyone in the village contributed vegetables. Soon a delicious vegetable soup was ready for all.
This soup started out with chicken broth. I found spinach, leeks, and fennel at the farmers' market. The soup turned out to be very green, low fat, fluffy and tasty.
Servings: 4 as an appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 large fennel bulb, diced
- 3 to 4 medium leeks, diced
- 1 large bunch of spinach, washed and drained or about 6 cups spinach leaves, loosely packed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups chicken broth
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Sauté about 4 cups of diced fennel and leeks over low heat until softened, about 15 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer another 10 minutes until the fennel is tender.
- Add the spinach leaves. They will wilt down to a much smaller volume. Simmer a few more minutes.
- Purée the soup in batches using a blender or use an immersion blender right in the soup pot.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- If you want the soup to be thicker and richer, add more spinach, then simmer and purée again.
- Stir in the parsley just before serving. This is a great way to get a little calcium and other vitamins into your diet.