Asparagus Soup

I found this recipe on the 'net and of course, modified it a bit to suit... well, in this case, to suit my lack of certain ingredients.

http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/vegetablesandvegetarian/r/asparagussoup.htm

INGREDIENTS:

    * 2 tsp olive oil

    * 1 1/2 pounds asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces

    * 1 medium onion, chopped

    * 1 celery stalk, chopped

    * 2 leeks, chopped (white part only)

    * 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

    * 3 1/2 cups fat-free reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth

    * 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

PREPARATION:

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Add asparagus, onion, celery, leeks and potato, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth and simmer for 20 minutes, until vegetables are softened.

Transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth.

You may need to do this in two stages. Return soup to Dutch oven, add sour cream and stir on low heat until blended.

My version:

more than 2 tsp olive oil (enough to coat bottom of Dutch Oven, which to me is a really big pot with a handle on each side)

Two bunches of asparagus with the 2 inch pieces consisting of the top flowery thingies; then I went a bit more than half way down and cut to about 1/4" pieces, discarding the rest 'cause I don't know when the woody part starts

A couple little potatoes

The rest of the chopped onion in the fridge (1/2 c?)

The rest of the College Inn Broth from the fridge (1/2 to 1c?)

1.5 cubes of chicken bouillion

3 cups of water

oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil and some chopped cilantro that was about to wilt dramatically anyway (can't waste cilantro, it's special stuff!)

I stir-fried the onions, spices, and asparagus in the oil for 5 minutes or so, then dumped in the broth, water, and bouillion stuff.  Then I realized I'd forgotten the potato so I quickly peeled and chopped two and threw them in.  This came to a boil, then I turned it down some and let it simmer for 20 minutes, going back out now and again to sniff and stir.

At the end of the simmer, I chopped up the cilantro and dumped it in.  Stirred, put some in bowl, and added about 1/5 cup of heavy cream.

This is quite tasty with a buttered slice of potato bread.

I suspect I'll be making more soup in the near future.  It's becoming as addictive as the rice dishes, and it's often far less work...

~nv