Puréed Vegetable Soup
I’ve been missing gazpacho. I love getting a hit of lots of vegetables in the afternoon - so much better than that cookie that’s always calling my name! But it’s been way too cold for gazpacho. Therefore, I present to you Puréed Vegetable Soup. This recipe was adapted from Chef Danilo Alfaro and yields six 8oz. servings at 95 calories a pop!
ingredients
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 large celery stalks
½ medium turnip
1 cup shredded cabbage
½ cup chopped leek (white part)
1 medium Russet (or other starchy) potato
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp white wine vinegar
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste
directions:
- Cut carrots, celery and turnip into (roughly) same-sized pieces, about ½ inch to 1 inch thick. Don’t worry about precision — the soup is going to be puréed anyway. We just want the pieces to be of uniform size so that they cook evenly.
- Peel the potato and cut it into pieces about the same size as the other vegetables.
- In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the butter over a low-to-medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic and veggies and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is slightly translucent, stirring more or less continuously.
- Add the wine and cook for another minute or two or until the wine seems to have reduced by about half.
- Add the vegetablestock, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the potato. Simmer another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough that they can easily be pierced with a knife. Don’t let them get mushy, though.
- Remove from heat and purée in a blender, working in batches if necessary. Tip: Use care when processing hot items in a blender as the hot steam can sometimes blow the blender lid off. Start on a slow speed with the lid slightly ajar to vent any steam, then seal the lid and increase the blending speed.
- Return puréed soup to pot and bring to a simmer again, adding more broth or stock to adjust the thickness if necessary.
- Season to taste with Kosher salt and white pepper.
- Or, after puréeing, add 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves before bringing the soup back to a simmer.
- Or, stir ¼ cup hot cream into the soup just before serving.
- Or, garnish each individual soup bowl with a dollop or swirl of hot cream just before serving.
- The soup can be thickened with rice instead of potato. Just substitute about 1/3 cup of uncooked rice for the potato, and simmer the soup until the rice is soft.
cal: 95 fat: 3.6 protein: 2 fiber: 3.5
