Serves: 4
Total Calories: 19

6 cups Vegetable Broth
1 yellow onion diced
1 leek thinly sliced
1/2 small fennel bulb diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 shallot diced
1 pound asparagus spears
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, stemmed and firmly packed
1 cup water
1 cup unsweetened soy milk

Put 1/4 cup of the broth and the onion, leek, fennel, garlic, and shallot in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Do not brown the vegetables.

Cut the upper tips off the asparagus stalks and set the tips aside. Cut 1 inch off the bottom of the asparagus stalks and discard the bottoms. Slice the stalks into 1-inch pieces, add them to the pot, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 53/4 cups of broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the spinach and water in a blender and process on high speed until completely smooth and even in color, with no flecks of green remaining. Strain through a coffee filter. Reserve the liquid and discard the filter and its contents. Pour the liquid into a small saucepan over mediumlow heat and bring to a simmer. Use a ladle to skim off all the green foam that forms on the surface and put the foam in a small bowl. Discard the remaining liquid.

When the soup is finished cooking, stir in the soymilk and the spinach foam. Transfer to a blender and process on high speed until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Pour into a clean pot (or rinse out the pot used earlier). Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in the asparagus tips and simmer for 1 minute. Serve hot.

Stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, Cream of Asparagus Soup will keep for 3 days. Reheat before serving.

Note: The spinach foam can be omitted from the recipe to save time. However, the soup won’t be as vibrantly green.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 4
Total Calories: 19
Calories from Fat: 0

More Recipes from the Bravo Cookbook:
Cream of Asparagus Soup
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
Creamy Sunchoke Soup with Watercress
Kabocha Squash and Yellow Curry Soup
Potato Leek Soup
Mucha Onion Soup
Tortilla Soup
Yellow Corn Chowder
Wild Mushroom Soup
Sea Vegetable and Baked Rice Soup