Cream of Asparagus Soup

How could I have gone through almost 30 years of my life without knowing that I LOVE asparagus???  I blame it on broccoli…  of course there’s a story behind that one.

So, as a kid, I hated broccoli.  Unfortunately, my mom loved it, so we’d have it pretty often.  She’d try to make it more appealing by adding cheese, but there is nothing in this world that could have made this vile veggie palatable.  One day at dinner when I was about 12 years old, I was trying to ingest my one required tablespoon full of broccoli when I got the dry heaves.  My dad looked at me and said, “Sharon, for as long as you live in this house, you never have to eat broccoli again.”

<cue the celestial angelic music>

Enlightenment!!!  So, my mom didn’t ever make asparagus and when I was younger I believed that it tasted like broccoli.  I finally went to a get-together where they were serving grilled asparagus.  By age 30, I could tolerate eating broccoli, so I figured I’d give the asparagus a chance.   WOW!  Seriously?  All this time I was avoiding this awesome veggie???

Nowadays, we go to Costco pretty often and I have to admit that they have a good price on asparagus, but you get over two pounds of it.  Even for an asparagus lover, two pounds is a lot.  So, I bake or have my husband grill it and I put the leftovers in the freezer.  Now, I know what you’re thinking.  Frozen/thawed asparagus spears do the best imitation of a limp noodle.  But, if you’re going to blend it up for a soup, it’s perfect!  It even helps to freeze it since it becomes soft and more easily blendable.

Here’s one of my favorite kitchen gadgets!  It’s basically five pairs of scissors in one.  It’s perfect for cutting up green onions and fresh herbs!  Click here to find out where I got them.   Disclaimer:  All products I recommend are items I have purchased myself and have now come to love.  You’ll see links to sites like Amazon, which are called affiliate links.  This means that I will receive a small commission on purchases at no cost to my readers.

Garnish with green onion.  Serve with a hearty bread or these Amazing Buttered Onion Rolls.

Here are links to some of the less common ingredients in this recipe:

Pearl Couscous is much larger than standard couscous
Gourmet Garden garlic paste – pick up at your local grocery store
Better than Bouillon Chicken Base – pick up at your local grocery store
Better than Bouillon Ham Base – hard to find at my local grocery store
Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil – my favorite brand

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Cream of Asparagus Soup

Rating  5 from 1 reviews

Prep time:  20 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 pound asparagus spears (baked or grilled)
• 1 tablespoon garlic extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons garlic puree (Gourmet Gardens)
• salt to taste
• 1 small onion, diced
• ½ cup pearl couscous (Substitute with orzo or other small pasta)
• 2½ cups chicken broth (divided use)
• 2 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
• ½ teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Ham base
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 2 tablespoons low fat sour cream
• Cornstarch slurry
• Sliced green onion

Instructions

1. Saute onion in olive oil.
2. When translucent, place onion in blender.
3. Add asparagus and 1 cup broth to the blender.
4. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
5. Bring 1½ cup broth and the two bouillons to boil and add couscous.
6. Cook for length of time on package instructions and stir as needed.
7. When couscous is done, add the asparagus blend to the pan.
8. Add milk and sour cream to blender (this helps get the remaining asparagus out)
9. Blend, then and add it to the soup.
10. Heat to a low boil. Add more chicken bouillon to taste.
11. For a thicker soup, see note below.
12. Garnish with sliced green onion.

Notes

Instructions for baking the asparagus:
Cut off woody ends of asparagus spears and discard
Cut spears into one inch pieces
Place the asparagus in an appropriate-sized baking dish (make sure asparagus is dry if you recently rinsed it)
Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of garlic extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze in two teaspoons of garlic puree (Gourmet Gardens)
Salt the asparagus lightly
Use a pair of tongs to toss and coat the asparagus
Bake in 400F oven for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on how thick the spears are
If you're not making the soup right away, freeze the asparagus and thaw it when you're ready to make soup.

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