Asparagus Soup

A rich yet delicate soup – immediately dresses up your dinner for entertaining, but so simple to make you can throw it out as an every-day soup. And really easy to make. The original version of this soup is from Molly Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook, but here it is adapted for vegans by substituting almond milk for regular milk, and earth balance for butter.

2 lbs. fresh asparagus
1 1/2 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks
2 cups chopped onion
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 cups water
2 cups hot almond milk, (soy or rice or any combination of)
2 teaspoons dill
1 teaspoon tarragon
white pepper and salt to taste (black pepper is OK – it is just more visible)

Cut off the tough bottoms of asparagus and put into compost or soup stock bag. Cut off pretty tops for steaming and decorating soup later. Chop remaining stalks into 1/2 inch slices and saute in soup pan together with the onions in the vegan butter. When onions are translucent, sprinkle in the flour and stir for about 10 minutes.
Puree together with the liquid. I use a soup blender and if you don’t have one, you need one. (See below.)
Season blended soup with dill, tarragon, salt and pepper to taste, and top with steamed asparagus heads.

Soup blender – you will never again hold enormously heavy pans of boiling soup and slosh it into a blender, bit by bit. This is a must-have for any serious soup maker. I cannot tell you enough how amazingly easy this makes soup making! Both the soup blender and the Moosewood Cookbook have been added to Tofu Crossing Trading Post http://astore.amazon.com/rebeccacarmiw-20 if you want to see or buy them (with permission of WordPress).