creamy asparagus soup

Creamy & delicious

This creamy asparagus soup is so easy and delicious you’ll want to make it every week while the asparagus season is on. Good thing it only takes 30 minutes. We’re going full on creamy, plant-based, nut and oil free. Great taste, uber healthy – I’ll need to pause now and go off to make another pot.

You know it’s spring when…

If I had one word to describe the asparagus season it would be ‘intense’. We go from having none, frozen, or super expensive until we start approaching the month of April or the month of asparagus as I like to call it. Suddenly, asparagus is everywhere. We have it here in all sorts of sizes and shapes and even some in white.

Soup, stat!

Despite the asparagus plethora, asparagus is still frightfully expensive compared to other vegetables. I always end up acquiescing to temptation, telling myself how it’s only readily available for a short time and it's so good for you. Besides, there is no better way to spring into Spring than some steamed asparagus. It’s particularly great smothered with mustard lovers sauce alongside chickpea cutlets. I’ve been known to do a quick steam and serve it cold with hummus or ranch dressing.

The full asparagus monty

My main issue with asparagus is that I always seem to throw out more than I use once I’ve cut the tender tips off. The other day when my husband came home with his bounty of asparagus, I decided that it was time to not be so wasteful with this reminder of spring. The challenge was on. How to use the entire asparagus stalk in an uncomplicated way, with uncompromised taste? And it hit me right between the eyes (or stomach). Soup. And not just any old soup – creamy asparagus soup. Given that charge, I decided to rely on another not-so-seasonal favorite – the potato.

Potatoes have experienced a renaissance in my diet for the past few years. I used to consider them as one of the bad foods. The kind that derailed my good diet ambitions. Deep fried devils doused in ketchup. And then, well, I took a closer look. It wasn’t the potato at all – it was all about the way it was prepared. This means that chips are back on my menu and I’ve returned to using potatoes stews or just mashed, (because what is better than mashed potatoes?).

No tip off

Because potatoes have a subtle taste and a creamy texture when they are simmered, they are also a perfect healthy thickener for soups. It doesn’t take much but they bring a lovely creaminess to this soup and turn it from a bisque to a hearty meal with some substance. That’s our kind of eating. Besides, it allowed me to use all of those expensive, sometimes elusive asparagus stalks. Jobs a good one.

Get fully immersed

I like making blended soups because I really like my immersion blender. It’s one of my favorites. Easy to clean and not messy unless I forget and lift it out of the pot while it’s still running. And yes, I do that more often than I like to admit. Of course, if you don’t have an immersion, don’t rush out to get one. You’ll still get a marvelous creamy asparagus soup using your blender or food processor. It’s just a quick step to transfer it, blend it and put it back in your soup pot to add the plant milk and reheat.

This last step is also the perfect time to add salt and pepper. I always wait until the end of the cooking process to add salt. There is always a risk of adding too much, especially if you’re using ingredients with added salt such as some vegetable broths or canned beans and tomatoes. You can’t reverse once you’ve over salted. Nothing will mask it. Better to just have it available for any of your salt hounds sitting at the table.

Final thoughts

When asparagus shows up in the stores, I have at least a moment of whoop-whoop. Spring is coming, warmer days ahead. We’ll soon be inundated with flowers that will surely brighten our days. I know that when I take the train to Amsterdam, I'll be treated to endless, multi-colored fields of tulips. Hope springs eternal. Hold on tight. Peace.

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