Asparagus Soup

Asparagus Soup over Whole Wheat Pasta

We found about 2 pounds of organic asparagus on sale recently and I had no idea what to do with it until a friend posted the link to Raw Asparagus Soup: blendtec.com/recipes/raw_asparagus_soup

Unfortunately (or perhaps I should say fortunately) the original recipe has dill which I don't like, and lemon which I'm allergic to, so I decided to alter the recipe a bit. Also, I did not have raw cashews around, but I did have raw almonds. You can make this in a blender other than blendtec, but it may be thicker. The first time I made asparagus soup it came out more the texture of a green smoothie but the taste of a savory soup. I served it over   whole wheat pasta so that the pasta and almonds made a complete protein, and it was pretty good. It was good enough that we finished it even tho the texture was a bit odd. I wanted to try making it again, but this time get the texture right, and cook it because I prefer warm soups, so here is the recipe I ended up with:

Ingredients For My Version of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pasta
1 pound Asparagus Spears
Juice and rind from 1 orange
1/2 cup soaked almonds
1/2 cup almond milk
2 cups filtered water
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Instructions:
Place 1 cup of almonds in 1 cup of water and allow to soak for at least 2 hours, preferably over night. I chose to soak all my raw almonds and made the rest into almond milk. I will write a blog about that experience some other time.  Soaking them overnight had better results for the soup as well. It is amazing how much water they soaked up!.

Pick tender tops off of asparagus spears and place in a small bowl.  I placed them in a dip bowl. Squeeze the juice of one orange over the asparagus tips and allow to marinate for 30 minutes. While they are marinating, cut the woody part of the asparagus stems off. Tip: Hold each end of spear and bend until lower part snaps off. Cut the tops in half and place in blender with 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup soaked almonds, and 2 cups filtered water. Blend on high until soupy.

Slice onion and 3 cloves garlic, cook on medium in 1 tablespoon of olive oil with 1 teaspoon parsley flakes, 1/2 teaspoon celery salt, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, and the grated rind of 1 orange.

When onion becomes slightly browned, add to blender. Remove asparagus tips from the juice of 1 orange placing aside, and add juice to blender. Blend and then place in a soup pan and cook on simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over whole wheat pasta with marinated asparagus tips on top. I added the whole wheat pasta because I am working on getting complete proteins into my meat free meals and I believe the combination of whole wheat and almonds creates a complete protein. I will run the various combos I came up with by my dietitian at our next appointment to clarify.

The 2nd bowl of soup came out much more the texture I was looking for, and was very tasty! I saved the leftovers for Patch to try and will have some for lunch tomorrow. The original bowl of "soup" came out looking a bit like green glop. It was tasty, but an odd smoothie like texture. I am glad I tried again! Let me know if you try my version of the asparagus soup recipe and how you like it.