Saturday, February 19, 2011

SAINTLY SOUP




Jacqueline over at Tinned Tomatoes has challenged us to create a soup or dressing which is luxurious and creamy for this months No Croutons Required.  I have to admit that I was more in a frugal and low fat humour when the time came to make my soup - so here goes ... my attempt at a creamy, luxurious, frugal, low fat/carb soup ...... oxymoron, you might think - but just try it and I think you'll be convinced!!

Although I try to keep most of our food local and seasonal - sometimes I yearn for the fresh flavours of summer.  When I found asparagus for 89c in my local Aldi, I had to leave my principles at the door and buy an obscene amount of the stuff!!!!  As I had so much I felt that I could be extravagant when snapping the stems, then when I saw the amount of asparagus going in the compost, I realized that I had to do something with it (well most of it - I discarded the very woody ends) and this soup is the result.  That was the luxurious and the frugal parts of the equation, now for the creamy and low fat/carb part! Cream cheese was the answer the very low fat type - I have used it before in soups and it always does the business, so here is my contribution to this month's No Croutons Required.


Asparagus Soup

1         Large Onion
           The stem part (minus the very woody ends) from 4 bunches of asparagus - I kept the first 4"/10cm for another recipe and used the rest of the stem for this soup.
            Vegetable Stock - enough to just cover the vegetables in the pot
1tbsp   Extra low fat cream cheese


Chop the onion and the asparagus spears, put in a pot and cover with vegetable stock (I used Marigold).
Bring to a simmer and cook until tender.
When tender remove from the heat and add the cheese.
Blitz until smooth.
Serve with a dollop of low fat yogurt and freshly milled pepper.

Enjoy.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a great recipe! I bet it's tasty!

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

Hmm, I agree with the low fat cream cheese. I make a squash soup with similar ingredients and get great results also. Good price for the fresh asparagus.

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said...

I like the idea of using the low fat cream cheese to boost the soup up. Great price on the asparagus. Have a wonderful week!

Rhyleysgranny said...

What a good idea using cream cheese. I prefer it to cream but never thought of using it in soup. Sounds lovely and a great way to use asparagus stems. Yay and other goodie from BVG

Laura said...

Simple and delicious - just the way I love my soup. Thanks for sharing this one!

Angela said...

Sounds excellent - creamy, fresh, and delicious.

Unknown said...

lovely soup recipe BVG... bet it tastes great... I love anything with asparagus because it does feel so luxurious!... soup's such a good healthy, cheap alternative for this time of year... which is why i'm about to make chocolate muffins... fabulous

Maria♥ said...

Looks and sounds delish!

Maria
x

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

wow...that looks wonderful...thanks for taking the time to stop by and wish Teddy a Happy Birthday...so nice of you ...and i have a cream puff here waiting for you in the kitchen,my friend...

kary and teddy
xxx

teresa said...

mmm, it looks so warming and delicious.

chow and chatter said...

oh love this soup :-) look forward to tweeting with you

Jacqueline said...

What a great idea! I have never used the low fat cream cheese in a soup before, that would sure make it creamy without all the fat of cream. Ok, I am trying that next time. Asparagus soup sounds fabulous!

Viv said...

same with comment above - ive never used cream cheese in soup before! looks so delicious..can imagine dipping the bread into the soup. yum! love the name...saintly soup ;)

Unknown said...

This looks really good and I agree with all the low fat cheese comments - what a great idea - all the 'mouth feel' (as the food scientists call it) without any of the fat..

scrambledhenfruit said...

What a deal you got on the asparagus! I'll wait until it's in season here (won't be too much longer) and definitely try your soup. Love it!