Springtime Favorites: Pea and Asparagus Soup

While we are hardly in spring anymore, particularly in DC, this soup shines most brightly at Springtime, when crops are delivering the season's high of sweet peas and tender asparagus. I had some asparagus in my freezer that I'd been planning on roasting. But given that I've been in a soup making kick, I yielded myself to inspiration upon seeing a package of petite peas from Trader Joe's next to the asparagus. And the ad hoc addition of a rind of Parmesan cheese that was bound for the trash added a creamy, yet subtle flavor that invoked a bit of Fall (my favorite season), in my opinion. I made enough soup to yield about 1 serving (maybe 1 1/2 or 2 if you're really trying to cut back, but it's vegetable soup so it's good for you). Feel free to double or triple these ingredients to yield enough for a dinner for two, or a couple of mid week lunches.

Asparagus and Pea Soup
Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
1 T unsalted butter
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely sliced or diced
2 t rice vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 C chicken stock
6 oz (petite) peas
6 oz asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
rind of Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/4 C heavy cream (optional)

Method:
Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until the onion is translucent.

Turn up the heat to high to brown the onion and garlic. When browned, add the vinegar, lower the heat to medium then add the olive oil and chicken stock.

Add the peas, asparagus and Parmesan cheese rind and cook over medium heat for 20-30 minutes.

Remove the rind. Add the soup to a blender or use an immersion blender and puree. If you are planning on freezing the soup for later, do not add the heavy cream until before eating. Otherwise, add the cream and blend for another 30 seconds.

For a thinner, silkier soup, pour the mixture through a sieve or strainer. (You don't have to reserve the mash that is left behind, but I figured the 1/2 cup that was left over plus the 1/2 cup of artichoke-mushroom soup that I still had and some homemade bread would make for a good lunch today.)

Serve, garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche (literally fresh cream) or greek yogurt or your homemade yogurt (more on that later), topped with grated Parmesan cheese or maybe some basil chiffonade (thin slices of basil). Anything to make it pretty, because as we know, appetizing food and satisfaction are about presentation as much they are about flavor.

Sunday: Bridezillas and Pizza

Bridezillas is my guilty pleasure. There is something about watching women screaming about getting a vanilla cake instead of chocolate, or a mother of the bride showing up to a wedding in a white dress that makes me smile inside and out. And tonight, the natural pairing was a pair of personal pies for Mike and myself.

Mike's pizza was a classic pepperoni pie topped with coarsely chopped garlic and roasted garlic tomato sauce from Trader Joe's (rated best red sauce by Rachel Ray, who, despite being my arch nemesis, got it right with this one).

Mine was a whole wheat pie topped with pesto sauce and mix of diced pepperoni, asparagus and portabello mushrooms, sliced red onions and an egg sunny side up to top it all off. The egg was a great added protein for the pie and could naturally make a transition to breakfast, particularly those who enjoy savory foods in the morning.

Note: Enjoying the rustic, free-form look? That's because my house is lacking a rolling pin, and thus everything is hand-shaped. Makes for a pizza with personality.

Asparagus Panzanella

I've had this frozen asparagus sitting in my freezer and diced ciabatta bread in my refrigerator waiting to make this recipe. This morning it finally happened. Panzanella is an Italian bread salad originating from the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Lazio. It features bread, tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and vinegar.  Those ingredients, however, serve simply as the foundation for a panzanella. Think of it as a fridge clearing meal, and use it to get rid of any extra ingredients, such as onion, lettuce, white/red wine, capers, garlic, bell peppers, lemon juice, cucumber, mint, etc.

My recipe for Asparagus Panzanella is adapted from a grilled asparagus panzanella recipe on Serious Eats. The difference is, I threw in some garlic paste (made it myself, instructions to come), diced basil and bacon, roasted the asparagus in the oven and left out the capers and olives. Next time I will try searing the tomatoes until they caramelize for a little added sweetness and depth.

In total, it was about 5 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cook time. How about that for a quick meal, particularly when you don't want a hot oven on. You could probably roast the asparagus in a toaster oven for even more heat/money savings. For now, here is the recipe. See what you make of it.

Of course, today was the day that the office treated me to lunch from Jetties, but I known I have a great meal for dinner now.

End of the Semester Dinner

In celebration of the re-opening of Safeway the end of the semester, I purchased some filet mignon that was on super sale. This, served broiled with onions and mushrooms and a red wine-balsamic vinaigrette reduction on the side, served as the central theme of tonight's dinner. From there I mixed together peas, onions, garlic and mushroom for Mike, roasted some asparagus and mushrooms topped with breadcrumbs and swiss-gruyere cheese for myself, made baked mac' n cheese from boxed easy mac (this will be a separate post because I'm still super impressed with myself for managing that), and then Mike picked up some Georgetown Cupcakes for dessert.

In lieu of writing, I'm just going to post pictures. But I'll have you know, the estimated cost of tonight's dinner is $13.54. Not bad for a steak dinner for two.

Enjoy.