The ice is melting. Thank God! We are so over winter. This past weekend was warm enough to walk outside in a light jacket and no hat (ok, I did start out wearing gloves, but took them off). The ground is defrosting and the air smelled like my childhood spring; do you remember that wet mud, musty smell? I don’t know about other ladies in our hemisphere but I’ve stopped wearing socks! There I said it. My poor dogs are so sick of being all locked up and claustrophobic in socks and boots that they needed to be liberated! Yes, they may still get a bit chilled at times, but I don’t care! I’m done. And sadly the start of this week is back down to 2C (xxF) so this soup post is not entirely outside of expectation even though it was made about a month ago.
This soup was a last minute St. Paddy’s Day effort to make something green for dinner and I dare say it turned out even better than expected, so here it is on the blog for posterity and for me so I remember to make it again (it was that good)! It’s so creamy and smooth you’d never guess there is no cream in it!
It’s a nice thick vegetable soup without cream or any type of starch in it. The beautiful green colour comes from purée-ing raw baby spinach leaves into the warm broccoli soup and blitzing it for about two to three minutes to get the creamy consistency you see, I didn’t even push it through a fine sieve. There is no butter nor cream but you can add a pinch if you’d like.
The garnish is oven dried baby spinach leaves which I was hoping to make into a post on their own, but alas they were far too delicate and did not make the test! But they do make a gorgeous garnish, n’est pas?
Broccoli and Spinach Soup
Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch broccoli florets, including stems
- 1 Vidalia onion, roughly chopped
- 6-8 medium cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 3-4 cups water or stock
- salt and white pepper to taste
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves, raw
Directions:
- Sauté the onion and garlic in a quick spray of non-stock or olive oil, adding water as needed until they are translucent. Add the broccoli florets and stems and cook stirring often until they are very tender. Add a couple of cups of water or stock and simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Pour contents into a heat proof beaker and purée using your immersion blender (or you may do this step in a regular glass blender). Purée for a minute or so and then add the raw baby spinach and purée for another 2-3 minutes until very smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Add more water or stock if you feel it’s too thick.
- Serve warm garnished with dried spinach leaves*.
Notes:
- To oven dry spinach leaves: Pre-heat the oven to the lowest temperature, mine is 170°F. Take the largest leaves from the package of baby spinach and lay over a dry cooling rack making sure they do not overlap. Place in the warm oven and watch for 15-20 minutes until they are completely dry and crispy. This would also work wonderfully with basil leaves. This is a great alternative to deep frying them.
Another gorgeous coloured dish thanks to the wonderful spinach. So glad you’re getting spring finally. Isn’t it funny how it will just “stop” suddenly. Our days here are getting long and warm and finally the lawn can work on getting back to green after being encased in ice for the last few months.
Of course, the water from the lawn will have to evaporate a bit first… it’s like a mire out there!
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Thank you for your comment Charles, I couldn’t believe how creamy it tasted.
I’ve been going for an hour brusque walk in our park for the last week or so and am rather surprised that the earth isn’t wetter than it is because we did have ALL that snow. I guess it drains well and the ground has defrosted. I am starting to see buds on the trees and some bulbs have mustered courage to pop up, so I’m hoping spring has sprung too.
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This has been an unusually long winter. I’m over it too! So I’m looking for green things like this — what great flavor this soup must have. Good stuff — thanks.
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Thank you John and welcome to my blog. It was definitely a lovely soup and it certainly hit the spot for the weather we’ve been having.
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Darn it! WordPress just cut me off and deleted my comment. I’ll try again. I love the looks of your soup, which reminds me of my lean and green broccoli soup. Broccoli and spinach are so good and so flavorful together in a soup, and yours has just a few choice ingredients. The color is amazing! I’m glad that you’re now seeing some hopeful signs of Spring, even though you just had a snow. We actually had a hard freeze here last night, which is quite late and probably nipped a lot of gardens that were planted last weekend. May you be able to go sock-less from here on out! 🙂
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Hi Betsy, yes that annoying thing has happened to me before too, sometimes I just get a feeling and I select all and copy just in case but for the most part I usually forget to copy and I lose everything.
I cannot believe we had snow either, it’s rather crazy. Im really hoping easter will feel more like spring this weekend. Thank you for your kind words re my soup.
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Even though it’s been very warm for quite a long time I haven’t abandoned soups and even yesterday had a bowl of ramen. Your creamy soup suits very well the cold spring time you describe. Green is the colour of hope I think… so let’s hope you welcome Easter with warm sunny days!
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Hi Sissi, ramen sounds like the perfect lunch, I shall definitely make that today! I have my fingers crossed for better weather on the weekend.
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What a punishing winter you’ve had, Eva. And back down to 2C? Unbelievable. We were talking about bringing out our heaters yesterday because the thermastat slipped below 20C. And I was definitely wearing socks! Your soup is the colour of Spring! It’s very pretty and smooth and it looks very good for you. I’ll get on my knees and pray it warms up for you xx
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Punishing is the perfect word to describe our winter this year, it’s been brutal. Thank you for your kind words and prayers.
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I sure do remember the smell of childhood spring Eva… we had a creek flowing in our backyard in the country… I can see, smell and even taste the melting snow, the softening ground and the warmth on my cheeks. Beautiful image; thank you. The colour of this soup is just dazzling and I like how you’ve enhanced the broccoli with spinach. This falls in line nicely with thoughts of green 🙂 — I sure hope Spring installs itself permanently to TO soon! (what a long winter it has been).
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Thank you for your lovely compliments Kelly. I hope spring installs itself soon too!
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Fresh, nutritious, and waistline friendly…I love the spinach garnish too. Nice work, Eva!
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Thanks Brooks it was rather lovely.
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Now, that is one delicious looking bowl of soup, Eva. You’ve proven that with a little ingenuity, you don’t need to add cream to make a soup thick and rich. You’re right, too, about those dried spinach leaves being used as a garnish. I will definitely try it, especially with basil. What a way to garnish a pesto dish!
So good to read that Spring has arrived in your area. I hope the snow we got yesterday stayed south of you. Although some patches remain on the ground, our temps are to rebound tomorrow and, hopefully, this will be the last of any snow around here until Christmas Eve. I hope it’s the same for you. Enough already! 🙂
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i can see how creamy it is just from the picture. It looks amazing and appealing unlike other spinach soups out there!
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Thank you kindly Jessica, your are not the first person who commented on the other spinach soups…I shall have to looking for them; I have to admit I did not do a search when I came up with this one.
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This creaminess is so obvious, not sludgy at all like the spinach soups I have seen before 😛
I love this recipe!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thanks for your lovely words CCU, always nice to see you here at my blog.
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I don’t blame you Eva, I’ve seen your updates on the weather on facebook and I can’t believe how long the cold has lasted for you! What a great sounding soup too! 😀
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Hi Lorraine, I’m really, really hoping that summer will be gorgeous and sunny and warm! We got belted with some snow last night…when will it ever end?
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Ugh, our weather is taking a turn for the worse tonight. Snow is actually in the forecast. Guess it’s soup weather down here, too, and yours looks terrific!
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Hi Liz, sorry I’ve forgotten what part of the country you’re in…it’s been a very strange winter for us indeed. We actually had snow last night and now it’s 1pm and it’s still here…might even stay the night. I had to put SOCKs on in my gum boots for the walk this morning…my feet were NOT HAPPY!
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Dear Eva, this sounds quite delicious and health giving too! Wishing you warm weather soon! xox
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Thanks so much Liz, it was darn tasty too. Wish I had some today for this very chilly and snowy day we’re having.
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You sure are into healthy eating big time, good for you. I am still under the weather and low energy. Thinking a HUGE bowl of your gorgeous green soup would give me a big boost of energy..
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Thanks Norma, last summer I passed a benchmark birthday and it’s been more and more difficult to maintain my weight so anywhere I can save a few calories and boost my exercise helps immensely. It’s always been a battle but it seems that it’s even more difficult now.
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Spring feels wonderful doesn’t it! I’ve been outside quite a bit this week and I too have given up on socks. I’m loving it. Your soup looks delicious and creamy, but I’ll confess I’m still thinking about the menu you mentioned on FB the other evening. 😉
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Thanks so much Kristy, it was a dinner for my cousin and her hubby, it worked out exceptionally well.
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I am glad you are finally thawing out Eva. Your green soup was a herald for spring. May it blossom and bloom on your side too. I am singing tralala each day I stick my head out the window, soon I will be walking in sunshine. I too love the smells, first the musty earth smells then all the smells that slowly burst through the upcoming weeks. Spring is green and as lovely as your soup.
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Thank you so much Zsuzsa, the warm spring-like temperature were short-lived because the weatherman is threatening freezing temperatures tonight and snow in the morning. We don’t even have any bulbs poking through as yet.
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Between the broccoli and spinach you’ve got one healthy and tasty soup there.
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Thanks Maria, so very kind of you to comment.
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This soup looks so brilliantly green. I think even Popeye would stand in a queue for this one.
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Thanks so much Maureen.
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It doesn’t need to be cold to enjoy a good cup of soup. Your soup was a lovely shade of green for St. Patrick’s day.
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Thanks so much Karen, it was very tasty, I’ll have to remember to make it again!
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I can see why, it sounds great.
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That’s very creamy and delicious. I love those dried spinach leaves as the garnish.
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Thank you kindly Angie.
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