The new cookbook to be released on April 20th from Eating Well
EatingWell in Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook, just keeps on giving. It talks about asparagus growing 10 inches in a single day if the conditions are right. The conditions must be right near Monterey as we are blessed to have big bunches of organic asparagus grown near there every Friday at our hospital's farmers' market. The farmer says he will be there until early June. I will be there with him and hopefully so will many others. The first spring recipe in the cookbook is for a wonderful asparagus soup. It used ingredients I never would have considered in the soup like lite coconut milk and red potatoes. But these additions made for a creamy and tasty soup. It's the season ---- try this one.
Directions
Melt the butter in a large soup pot, add the oil, and heat it. Add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the onions are golden stirring often---- this takes about 5 minutes. Stirin the curry powder, ginger, lemon zest and potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the broth, coconut milk and asparagus. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, partially cover, and continue to cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Puree the soup with the hand held immersion blender or in bathces in your regular blender. Remember to remove the central cap in the top of a blender to let the steam escape so the lid doesn't blow off. I learned to just cover the hole with a bunched up towel loosely. Also it's advisable to do this step in batches so the blender is never more than about half full. Season with remaining salt and pepper.
Whisk the nonfat sour cream, lemon juice, and chopped greens and garnish the soup with an artistic swirl. Enjoy.