Good afternoon y’all!  I’m super excited to share with you this absolutely incredible and simple asparagus bisque, which is not only scrumptious but also low fat, low carb, packed full of vitamins and nutrients, and it’s even vegetarian, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Just 6 simple ingredients, 10 minutes to prep, and about 45-50 minutes to simmer, blend, and serve.  All in all, a gorgeous easy meal in about an hour with minimal work.  Now that’s a recipe I know we can all handle.

One of the best parts of living in Scotland for me is the weather.  I know for many of my Southern friends and family who seem to be part reptile, the idea of weather consistently in the mid-50’s with a possibility of a rain shower every single day for months on end is probably horrifying, but for me it’s absolute heaven.  I noticed that it was 89-degrees in north Georgia yesterday and I thanked Jesus once again that I live here!  The idea of sweating my brains out in the middle of October just does not appeal to me, at all.

With cooler temperatures most of the year here we can easily purchase tons of what y’all in the States consider spring or winter crops, like gorgeous cabbages, Brussels sprouts (still on the stalk), dozens of different varieties of taters, all colors of carrots, parsnips, turnips, sweet rutabagas, beautiful broccoli and broccoli rabe, basketball sized cauliflowers, and emerald bunches of asparagus.

This week I found myself in possession of  two bunches of asparagus with stalks as thick as Sam’s middle finger.  Now like me, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Gross, those are going to be really woody and tough.  Why would you want to use those?”  But let me assure you, that over here, because of the cooler weather these beauties were tender and succulent.  However, if you’re in the States, or a climate where larger stalked asparagus tends to be tough and woody once the stalk reaches anything thicker than a pencil in diameter, don’t despair,  you can use those in this recipe and it’ll all work out just fine.  Trust me.

So this recipe came together really quickly, and I know you’ll be able to adjust many aspects of the basic recipe to suit your tastes.  Since I was dining alone, I quickly blended the soup to a fairly smooth texture, but there were definitely some small pieces of asparagus, chili pepper, and leek present, as you might notice in the photo.  I don’t mind a rustic bowl of soup for myself, however, if I were going to serve this to guests or Sam I would run an immersion blender through it and get it super silky and smooth, like the texture of a bisque.

So without further ado here’s the recipe.  Enjoy!

Cream(less) Asparagus Bisque

Prep: 10 minutes        Cook: 45-50 minutes       Serves: 6 (1-cup servings)

2 bunches of fresh asparagus, roughly chopped into 1/2″ pieces (approximately 1 pound)

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1/2  of a leek, finely diced (optional – if you don’t have a leek increase onion to 1 whole medium onion, finely chopped)

2 red hot chili peppers, thinly sliced into rings (or a tablespoon of crushed chili flakes)

4 cups vegetable stock

1/2 cup low fat Greek-style yogurt

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1. Place all chopped vegetables in a medium saucepan with vegetable stock and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down to a simmer and cover with a lid.  Allow to simmer until asparagus pieces are fork tender.
2. Blend soup to desired consistency using an immersion blender (if you’re using a regular blender or a food processor scoop vegetables out of broth to prevent burning yourself or overfilling your blender).
3. Remove soup from heat source and stir in Greek-style yogurt.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.