Sunday, March 13, 2011

Creamy Asparagus Soup your family will LOVE-

Green Soup? Yuck!
At least that's what I thought I'd hear when I made this for my family. At my house, we make our kids to take one "courtesy bite". I mean, I've just gone to all the effort of making them a meal... the least they can do is try it once, right? So AFTER their courtesy bites, they can form an opinion about whether or not they like it. If they don't, I won't force it. But 9 times out of 10, they end up liking the new meals they try. Honestly, I only made this because I had all this asparagus in my fridge from my last two bountiful baskets and needed to use it somehow.

I really didn't think it would fly, but to my surprise (and delight), my family LOVED this greeeeeen soup!
I got the approval of 6 out of 7 of my family members,
which I consider a success!
Even my two-year old was asking for more! SCORE ONE FOR MOM!
This soup makes for a perfect first course
for a St. Patrick's Day meal!

Garnish with crisp-fried Canadian bacon (or regular bacon
if you're not watchin' calories), grated Parmesan,
and a sprig of flat-leaf parsley.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

1 tsp olive oil
1/2 a large onion
2 large garlic cloves
1 lb asparagus
Chicken stock (or broth)
1 potato
salt & pepper
1 cup fat free cottage cheese (or a package of cream cheese--I've found that I like the cream cheese better)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Canadian bacon (or regular bacon)
Parsley (optional for garnish)

Sautee' diced onions and minced garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add chopped asparagus pieces and peeled and diced potato. Fill pot with just enough chicken stock to submerge vegetables. Boil until tender. Turn down stove to medium heat. Blend soup with an emulsion blender until creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine cottage cheese (or cream cheese) and Parmesan with milk and blend until smooth. Add to soup. Garnish with crisp-fried Canadian bacon (or regular bacon), grated Parmesan, and a sprig of parsley.

Makes about 6 servings. Enjoy!

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