Spring Goes Green

There was a time I would have never considered using lettuce for anything other than a salad or sandwich topper. I use to think of celery the same way but both of them stand up to cooking really well in a variety of ways. My cousin Pat use to always ask for the leftover salad from family dinners as long as there was no dressing. Pat would use the leftover salad; tomatoes, onions and whatever else may have been in it to make soup.
There are so many varieties of lettuce ranging from the very mild iceberg to the peppery arugula and lets not forget the bitterness of endive.
Bitter, peppery and mild seem to cover the lettuce flavor range for the most part, the bulk of all lettuce varieties do tend to be very delicate and mild in flavor. So keep that in mind when choosing what lettuce you are going to use in your soup. I prefer to go with a mild variety such as Iceberg, Bibb or Romaine; it adds a more delicate backdrop for the cream, butter and nutmeg making it very comforting to the palate.

Spring Lettuce Soup

2 med. heads lettuce, shredded
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. light cream
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Dash of pepper

In 4-quart kettle, combine shredded lettuce and chicken broth; bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, covered 10 minutes or until lettuce is soft. In electric blender, place one half lettuce and liquid, cover and blend. Pour into bowl. Repeat with other half. Pour back into kettle. Add cream, butter, sugar, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring until butter is melted and soup is hot. Beat mixture with a rotary mixer to make very smooth. Serve.

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More Greens For Less Greens

Prices are going up everywhere and for everything and by huge amounts not a penny or two like in the past. Something as simple as the greens that my family and I have regularly enjoyed have hit all time highs. We had already given up purchasing most of our produce at the regular grocery store chains and have been opting for the fresher and much more affordable farmers markets but their hours tend to be limited. One of our favorite greens;” Broccoli Rabe” also known as Rapini has been close to $2.00 a pound in some of our local supermarkets. Recently we had our first Price Rite store open and we have been going crazy with their amazingly low prices. Price Rites Broccoli Rabe has only been .69 cents a pound and the quality has been terrific along with so many of their other products. I got my grandmother hooked she is going every week and I am happy to say that we have been eating Broccoli Rabe on a regular basis.

Broccoli Rabe

2 lbs. broccoli rabe
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup chicken broth
1 Teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt to taste
Grated Parmesan or Romano is optional

Wash broccoli rabe and remove stems. Heat oil and sauté garlic lightly brown, but do not burn. Add broccoli rabe and sauté until soft like spinach, 10 to 15 minutes.
Add chicken broth and cook 20 minutes longer, or until tender. Add crushed pepper and salt to taste.

photo/mekuno/flickr

Italian Penicillan

Vermilionink/flickr

I have eaten very little since I came down with this thing, it wasn’t bad the first few days but by day three my stomach rumblings were beginning to scare those around me. I really don’t have much of an appetite but I know that you can never go wrong with soup. I was just going to do plain old egg drop soup but decided to kick it up a bit and make it Italian style. Let’s hope it helps, I am still feeling pretty lousy.

Italian Egg Drop Soup

1 qt. rich chicken stock

2 eggs

1/4 c. freshly shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese

I always like greens in mine so I always add a couple good handfuls of kale, spinach or escarole to the broth.

Heat broth to boiling, beat eggs and cheese together, pour mixture into boiling broth and remove pan from heat; do not stir