Cream of Spinach Soup

I know what you're thinking. Oh no, not more soup. We're so tired of soup. You're probably also wondering why my counter tops match my soup. I'll tell you why: the 70s, that's why.

Anyway, I love soup. I made this very soup twice last week. The exact same soup. Twice in one week. It's strange, I know. But if I still had some left, I'd gobble it up right now. This is good soup. It is soup that Popeye would approve of.

And it has a secret ingredient. I love secret ingredients, although I am usually disappointed. I'm always strangely let down when the secret ingredient in recipes turns out to be some kind of food. I always want it to be nuclear waste or pencil erasers or something totally shocking. So, basically what I've done here is build up my own big reveal, only to spoil it. Because, as usual, the secret ingredient is not nuclear waste. It's cream of coconut, okay? But still, it's a little bit unexpected, right?

You'd be surprised though. The coconut cream and the spinach work really well together. The sweet, slightly nutty coconut cream thickens up the soup and makes it taste and smell really, well, the only word I can think of is cozy. And warm. How surprising, soup that tastes cozy and warm! I'll try to think of some better adjectives. And the bright green color reminds you that you are totally eating your vegetables.

Because I am silly, I spent about 30 minutes carefully cutting the stems off of eleventy billion little spinach leaves, only to later realize that it's infinitely faster to just snap off the stems with your fingers. I don't know what I was thinking.

Through the magic of photography, I have documented the magic of spinach wilting. (I know! I can't believe it either! I took some cooking shots!) Look how in the first picture the pot is overflowing with spinach. Fast forward 10 minutes and look! it's just a teeny bit of spinach sitting there on the bottom. Magical.



Cream of Spinach Soup
Adapted from The Ultimate Soup Bible. I'm noticing that a lot of my cookbooks have crazy superlative titles. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs. (about 2 bunches) fresh spinach, stems removed, chopped
5 c. vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup cream of coconut (available in most Asian grocery stores)
sprinkle of nutmeg
1 cup half and half
salt and pepper, to taste

In large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft. Add spinach to the pot. Cover and reduce heat. Allow to cook about 10 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and reduced.

Pour the spinach and onions into a blender or food processor. Add a little bit of the stock to help it blend. (You could also use an emulsion blender and just keep it all in the pot.) Blend until smooth.

Return the mixture to the pot along with the rest of the stock and the cream of coconut. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes to thicken. Stir in half and half. Heat through, but don't let it boil. Serve!

Quickest Chicken Salad

So, does it count as stealing if you work at a restaurant and, through no fault of your own, you remember a few of their recipes long after you quit?

Good. I didn't think so either.

This recipe is the result of working at a sandwich shop many summers ago. I always volunteered to be the one to mix up a giant vat of it, mainly because it meant I got to sample it multiple times. You know, to make sure the quantities were right. It often took me quite a few tries (and tastes) to get it juuuuust right. Strangely, I'm not nearly as fussy about when I make it at home. I can't imagine why that could be.

For me, chicken salad is one of those things that should be simple. It's one of the laws of the universe. Which is why this is my go-to recipe. There are really 4 main ingredients and then a few seasonings.

Chicken Salad
There aren't a lot of exact measurements in this recipe I'm afraid. It really varies according to what you like. I like mine pretty crunchy, so I go for a lot of celery. Luckily, there aren't many ingredients, so it's not hard to adjust for your taste.

cooked chicken, shredded
celery, chopped
green onions, chopped
mayonnaise
garlic salt
salt and pepper

In a large bowl, combine chicken, green onions, and celery. Slowly add and mix in mayo until it reaches your desired consistency.

Season with garlic salt until it's garlicky enough for you. Then add pepper and taste to see if you need salt. Often, the garlic salt is enough for me.

Spotted and Noted

A few places I've been clicking this week:

Some great ideas to avoid wasting produce.

Five ways to eat 22 healthy ingredients.

Mmmm, vegetarian chili. I've never been interested in veggie chili. Why mess with a good thing? I thought. But I was recently proved very wrong at a potluck. Perhaps I shall try this little number? Or maybe turkey chili would be good.

I've been seeing Molly Wizenberg's spaghetti with braised kale absolutely everywhere. Must try.

Have I mentioned my little crush on Nigella Lawson? I love anyone whose winter advice is "Indulge yourself, darling" and who gives out recipes for donut french toast and cheddar cheese risotto.

It's soup time, folks. I'm thinking minestrone. Or maybe creamy cauliflower.

Simple Tomato Basil Bisque

Last week, winter burst in with wind and rain and a deep chill. It was a most unwelcome surprise. I knew that this situation called for some tomato soup. There's something very therapeutic about combining ingredients in a big pot and bringing it to a simmer. What's not therapeutic is waiting hours to eat a hot meal after a long, cold day. Which is why this soup is perfect. In about 30 minutes (only about 10 of which was spent actually cooking), there were bowls of soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches on the table. My kind of comfort food.

Simple Tomato Basil Bisque

3 T. butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. flour
4 c. chicken stock
2 (14.5-oz.) cans stewed tomatoes, or about 1.5 pounds fresh
2 T. tomato paste
1 t. sugar
2 bay leaves
1/3 c. cream or half and half
salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic. Sauteé a few minutes.

Turn heat to low and stir in flour. Add stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, bay leaves, and basil. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil about 10 minutes, and then fish out the bay leaves.

In a blender, puree the soup thoroughly. Return to the saucepan. Stir in cream and season with salt and pepper. A drizzle of cream to garnish each bowl is especially fancy.