Soup’s on at my house. Again.

What can I say? It is cold. It is rainy. This is perfect soup weather.

This soup surprised me. Other than spinach and beet tops, I have to try really hard to love dark leafy greens, and, try as I may, I  can’t love/like/tolerate kale. I’ve braised it, massaged it into salads, baked it into casseroles.   It. Is. Still. Kale.

I have come to enjoy chard, however, and I particularly enjoyed  this chard and rice soup. The flavor of the broth is mild and the chard and basmati rice complement each other nicely. The original recipe came from The New York Times kitchens. I adapted it to include garbanzo beans and a chopped tomato. I suspect this soup would be very good with white beans as well.

Recipe: Swiss Chard and Rice Soup

1 pound Swiss chard (1 bunch)

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, diced (with leaves)

Salt to taste

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 1/2 quarts vegetable broth

1 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 tomato, diced

A bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, sprigs of parsley and thyme

1/2 Cup white basmati rice

Freshly ground pepper

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Freshly grated Parmesan or Asagio cheese for serving

Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

Rinse chard carefully to remove any dirt. Trim bottoms off chard stalks. Separate leaves from stalks. Julienne chard leaves or chop and set aside. Chop chard stalks into 1/4 inch slices. Chop celery and onion. Saute chard stalks, onion and celery in heated olive oil for 3-4 minutes until vegetables begin on soften. Add salt and continue to saute mixture for another 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute for one minute.

Add vegetable broth, bouquet garni and rice to the sauteed vegetables. Bring mixture to a boil, and add salt to taste. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove and discard bouquet garni.

Stir chard into soup. Add garbanzo beans and diced tomato. Continue to simmer soup for another ten minutes. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Serve with a generous sprinkle of grated cheese and a bit of chopped parsley for garnish. Enjoy.

Cook’s Note: If the soup is refrigerated and thickens, add additional broth.

Here is the link to to the original recipe at the NY Times:

NY Times Swiss Chard and Rice Soup

The ancient Egyptians ate it. The Romans, too. Roman Emperor Augustus even coined a catchy phrase: “as quick as boiled asparagus!” to describe a quick action. (Apparently, those Romans  really knew how to kid around, although “as quick as boiled asparagus” sounds to me more like something I would expect to come out of the mouth of Mel Brooks playing Emperor Augustus for laughs.)

The other day I was at Costco and saw a 2.25 pound bag of asparagus at a reasonable price.

Costco-sized packages of food are often too large for me to use. Does ANYONE really buy those enormous bags of potatoes they sell? But I digress.  In a wild moment, I tossed the bag of asparagus into my cart not knowing what I was going to make with it. Then I got lucky and found this wonderful asparagus soup recipe.

What could be more elegant than a bowl of cream of asparagus soup? Fortunately, elegance is within easy reach with this simple soup recipe. And, if you are pressed for time, the good news is that this soup can be prepared as quick as boiled asparagus!

This is my adaptation of a recipe that appeared in Gourmet Magazine in 2001. The link to the original recipe appears at the bottom of this page.

Recipe: Cream of Asparagus Soup

2 pounds green asparagus (I used the entire 2.25 pound bag from Costco)

1 large onion (chopped)

3 T. unsalted butter

6 C. vegetable broth

1/2 C. heavy cream

1/4 t. fresh lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste, more unsalted butter to stir in at the time of serving

Directions:
Chop asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces, reserving 12 asparagus tips for garnish.

Saute onion in butter in a heavy soup pot, stirring to keep it from burning. When onion is soft, stir in asparagus pieces and salt and pepper and continue to cook and stir for 5 minutes. Add broth and simmer 15-20 minutes until asparagus is tender. (I use vegetable broth powder from Mother’s Market but stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts also carry vegetable broth powder. Those stores also frequently carry a faux chicken broth powder that works just as well. I do not recommend that you use the canned vegetable broth from Trader Joe’s. I love TJ, but think their vegetable broth is too strong and overwhelms the natural flavor of the vegetables in delicate soups.)

Puree soup until it is smooth. Return pureed soup to the pan and stir in heavy cream. Add salt and pepper to taste, fresh lemon juice and more butter if you wish. Garnish with asparagus tips (boiled in water until tender). I sprinkled a bit of cayenne pepper on the soup at the time of serving. A little cayenne goes a long way, so be careful how much you sprinkle on your guests’ soup.

Here is the link to the original recipe:

Cream of Asparagus Soup

I’m really taken by the beauty and good taste of Rancho Gordo brand heirloom dried beans.

Here is a recipe from their site–a take on the classic Tuscan soup called Ribollita.

I used Rancho Gordo’s Mother Stallard beans and substituted baby spinach for the kale in the wonderful garlicky pesto that you spoon on top of the soup just before serving. This is a hearty soup that makes a meal by itself. This soup cooks quickly but is far better on the second day when the flavors have had time to blend. The link to the recipe appears below.

Enjoy.

http://www.ranchogordo.com/pages/cranberry-bean-and-cabbage-soup-with-kale-pesto