Friday, April 16, 2010

Bring on the smelly pee!

Thanks for all of the kind comments on yesterday's post.....I'm feeling much better today. Except sometime between last night and this morning, I lost my voice. When I went in to get the Chicklette this morning and croaked "Good morning!," she looked at me, like, who is this prepubescent boy and what did you do to the lady with the boobs?!?

Anyway, so today's post, if the title didn't clue you in, is about asparagus. Asparagus soup, to be exact. It's one of the tasty concoctions I've been living on lately as part of my fabulous foray into Weight Watchers land.

I can't say enough good things about WW. It's the perfect plan for me -- she who likes wine and carbs and appreciates being able to eat whatever I want (although not necessarily in the quantities that I want, of course). I've lost something like 45 pounds since I had the baby -- about 20 of these on Weight Watchers. I'm now down to my pre-IVF weight, and have another 25 or so to go to get me back to where I was when I started my two year infertility self-pity binge.

Anyhoo, the soup. I make a lot of soup, and experimented with this one last weekend. I thought I'd post the recipe since it's asparagus season and it's ridonkulously easy to make. And of course there's the added smelly pee bonus.

Happy weekend!

Springtime Asparagus Soup

2 big bunches asparagus (or two bags of frozen from Trader Joe's)
6 cups chicken or veg broth
1 TBSP butter
1 large onion
1/4 cup fat free half-and-half (or fat free sour cream, if that's more your thing)
salt and pepper to taste

Chop onion and asparagus into manageable chunks (you'll be pureeing later, so no need to be too fussy). Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat, and add onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes, then add asparagus and broth. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 20-25 minutes or until asparagus is very tender. Puree soup with a hand blender* (or in a blender in batches), add half-and-half, and salt and pepper to taste.

This soup is awesome with a sprinkling of croutons and parmesan cheese on top, and keeps in the fridge for a few days. I didn't try to freeze it, but I'm sure it would be just fine. I'm planning to try this recipe with a bunch of other veggies in the coming weeks.

* One annoying thing about this soup is that the strands from the asparagus can get wound around your blender blade. Be prepared for a few extra minutes of asparagus extraction during the otherwise very low-maintenance cleanup.

6 comments:

Amber said...

Way to go on the weight loss!! I loved WW when I did it a couple years ago, and I think I'll need to get back on it soon.

K said...

Awesome on the weight loss. I've never done WW. Might have to check it out. Lord knows I've got enough baby weight tacked on to my own years of IVF and IF self pity weight. Oh man do I hear ya on that one. Our asparagus is going bonkers in the garden right now. Unfortunately it's fallen into the detestable tastes category for me. Hopefully on temporarily.

Oh, and my word verification? Sadists. Nice.

Brooke said...

"what did you do to the lady with the boobs" seriously cracked me up. Thats what my kid would think too! I swear sometimes he stares at them like they are going to talk to him!!

Brooke said...

By the way good job on the weight loss. I have heard allot of people have great success on WW. If you are looking for a simple but kick butt workout routine you should check out Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred. I am on day 18 and I LOVE it. It causes serious pain but in a good way and the workout is only 20 minutes a day!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this - I started WW a couple of weeks ago after slowly getting down to my pre-IVF weight over the past 4 months. I wanted something to help shed another 5kg or so, but have been a little slack of late...and your success is just the incentive I need - well done!

Mo said...

You inspired me! I made your asparagus soup tonight and it was delish! We cut out most of the chicken broth and made a much thicker puree and used fat free fage instead of sour cream or half and half. we have a vitamix, so we just lightly cooked the asparagus and onions. thank you for the great recipe! We will definitely have it again!

Mo