The 50 Mile Diet

From Dirt to Soup

I do like asparagus. And it is in season. Part of eating local means eating what is in abundance and in season. Now it’s asparagus. However, there may be such a thing as too much asparagus.

I picked a basket full of asparagus on Wednesday evening at my friend C’s house. I took a sharp pair of scissors and walked along the patch snipping away. It was gleeful. I don’t know why I expected the shoots to come up like a hosta plant, all in clump. But no, there are a couple here and a couple there, different heights, different thicknesses — even different colors (check out the purple asparagus in the basket!). I snipped away. In no time, the basket was filled. Green onions were growing like crazy too, so I got some of that too.

Okay, now what?

I pulled out my St. Paul Farmers Market produce cookbook to see if there was a good recipe for a lot of asparagus. Here is the cream of asparagus soup recipe — that uses 2% milk, rather than cream!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

2 lbs asparagus
3 C. water
1 chicken bouillon cube
3 T. butter
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 T. chopped parsley (optional)
3 T. flour
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 C. 2% milk

Blanch the asparagus in boiling water until tender. Keep the liquid for later use. Add bouillon cube into it.

Cut off the asparagus tips and save. Cut the remaining stems into 1″ pieces. Put them in a blender with 1 cup of the broth and process about a minute until smooth. Set aside.

In saucepan, melt the melt and saute the onions and parsley until soft. Add flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook a minute and then add milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and cook until thickened — then stir in the asparagus puree, the tips and some of the broth. Heat through. Season!

My only issue was the color of this soup. Very green. It’s not exactly a problem — but it did take on a very grass-like color. My son (age 17) wasn’t sure this was something that should be eaten. His point is well taken, but it happens to be delicious.

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