#171: Nilagang Baka: Filipino Beef Soup

This soup reminds me of home, one of my many comfort foods. And it is also super easy to make! You can leave it simmering while working on other tasks, it will be ready and delicious after 3 hours! 

My Nilagang Baka is very simple. I do not put a lot of ingredients, I just want to taste the flavor of beef in the hot soup, definitely no msg, and of course enjoy a super tender meat...

The secret to a clear broth is tending to it during the first few minutes after it starts boiling, scum accumulates on the surface, and so you need to remove ALL of it using a laddle or a slotted spoon. 

NILAGANG BAKA

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs. chuck roast
• 5-6 cups of water, add more if needed
• 1 teaspoon salt, more if needed  
• pepper
• potatoes, peeled and sliced
• bokchoy 
• cabbage 

Directions:

1. Cut meat into 2-inch chunks.
2. In a big pot, add water and meat. Bring to boil. 
3. Remove all scum from the surface.
4. Add salt. Simmer until meat is tender. About 2 hours. Add water if needed.
5. Add potatoes, simmer until tender.
6. Turn off heat, add bokchoy and cabbage.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve hot. 

Yummy and very filling!

If you enjoyed this post, follow this blog as we will be posting 194 more recipes! 194 recipes to discover, learn to cook, take pictures and post here to complete the goal of 365!  

Will I finish this big task? Check back often to see my progress! xo Van

#154 Moringa Chicken Soup

I was extremely happy when I found Moringa, or commonly known as Malunggay or Kamunggay in the Philipppines,  at the produce section at Seafood City, a Filipino grocery store in Milpitas, California. It's been too long since I had it. I ate Moringa in the Philippines almost every day for the first 27 years of my life. When I moved to California, I didn't think this vegetable that grows into mini trees in warmer climates is available here in the Bay Area! 

I also didn't know how nutritious it was! We always cooked it back home, but I guess in some countries, it is consumed raw as a salad or mixed into a blender creating super healthy drink. It is rich in protein, beta-carotene, vitamin C, potassium and calcium. The leaves tastes somewhat like spinach, but with a stronger flavor. I also found out that Moringa offers healing benefits. Virtually all parts of the plant are used to treat inflammation, infectious disorders, and various problems of the cardiovascular and digestive organs, while improving liver function. I do know that it is used in enhancing milk flow in nursing mothers, so while I was nursing, I consumed a lot of Moringa. The uses of moringa are well documented in both the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of traditional medicine, among the most ancient healing systems in the world. No wonder, every time I was sick, a warm bowl full of Moringa Chicken Soup always helped! Moringa is rich in a variety of health-enhancing compounds, including moringine, moringinine, the potent antioxidants quercetin, kaempferol, rhamnetin, and various polyphenols. The leaves seem to be getting the most market attention, notably for their use in reducing high blood pressure, eliminating water weight, and lowering cholesterol. There are Moringa pills available in the market, I remember seeing an ad online, but I didn't know Moringa is the Malunggay/Kamunggay that I oh so love!

You will want to remove the leaves from the stems, because it remains tough even after it's cooked. Last weekend, my daughter volunteered to do it for me. She had fun, and watching her do it gave me joy, I remember how I loved this same task when I was a child. :) 

My favorite dish to make with Moringa or Malunggay is TINOLANG MANOK or Chicken Soup. It's super easy to make since I use only 3 ingredients in addition to the water and a little bit of salt. The blend of the vegetables and broth was simply delicious. 

TINOLANG MANOK (Chicken Soup with Moringa)

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts, cubed 
• Moringa leaves 
• Chayote, peeled and cubed
• Water

Directions:

1. In a pot, boil water in high heat and then add the salt and the Chicken breasts. Reduce heat and let the chicken cook, about 15 minutes.    
2. Add peeled and sliced chayote. Careful not to overcook.  
3. Turn off heat, add Moringa and cover the pot.  
4. Salt and pepper to taste. Add Chopped Jalapeno peppers for added heat. (optional)

Enjoy! :) 

#149 Vietnam's phở Sài Gòn

Saturday is here, after a crazy busy week. It's time to rechannel my energy and connect to home, where the heart is. Time to relax, and gives lots of hugs to the ones I love that's near, thoughts and prayers to a dear love who is thousands of miles away, and praise to the Almighty who makes things okay in the end. And it's the time I make my plans on what to make for the next week, do some grocery shopping and go the farmers market. Ingredient hunting has become one of my favorite things to do. Cooking so many different dishes introduced me to a new perspective in life, I feel more connected to nature. Now each ingredient is no longer viewed as just a spice, meat, or a vegetable, but each has it's own character and is special. I marvel at man's intelligence, how each of these ingredients were discovered, and I thank to God for being alive in this day and age, because everything is just so convenient to make, which makes it easy for everyone to forget how special every single living or non-living thing is, in this lifetime.

I made  phở Sài Gòn, or beef soup. And what a great dish it was. Soup brings me great comfort, and it is easy to feed to others who are hungry, especially the little ones, and simple to make too. :) I cannot get over how good this beef phở was. Unbelievable. I usually go to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, there's lots of places to enjoy a good beef pho in this area, but this time, I wanted to learn how to make it.  I was introduced to many new ingredients and a special way to make soup using the recipe I found online. I've been planning to make this soup since the inception of herglobalkitchen.com, and I am so happy I finally did! Oh my, what took me so long? This is one of the best soups I have made in my entire life. In the Philippines, we make broth based beef soup also by boiling the meat with bones for long periods of time. It's a national favorite and it's really good, but what makes this beef phở better in my opinion, is the blend of the herbs, and the spices, absolutely amazing.

I needed to make this right the first time so I made sure I also bought the  cheese cloth. It is very important, because it is what you use to wrap the spices before adding it in the water to cook with the meat. I also made sure  I bought star anise also (pictured below).  Illicium verum, commonly called Star anise, star aniseed, or Chinese star anise is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a medium-sized native evergreen tree of northeast Vietnam and southwest China. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening.Star anise is grown in four provinces in China and harvested between March and May. It is also found in the south of New South Wales. It has been used in a tea as a traditional remedy for rheumatism, and the seeds are sometimes chewed after meals to aid digestion, in traditional Chinese Medicine,  star anise, as a warm and moving herb, is used to assist in relieving cold-stagnation in the middle jiao, which refers  to the midsection of the body and includes the Spleen, Stomach, Gall Bladder and Liver organs. Read more

Cinnamon, I love it's scent, and little did I know  what great flavor it brings when added to soup. Fragrant, it is referred to as the "real cinnamon", most cinnamon in international commerce is derived from related species, which are also referred to as "cassia" to distinguish them from "true cinnamon". It was so highly prized among ancient nations that it was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs and even for a god: a fine inscription records the gift of cinnamon and cassia to the temple of Apollo at Miletus. Though its source was kept mysterious in the Mediterranean world for centuries by the middlemen who handled the spice trade, to protect their monopoly as suppliers, cinnamon is native to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malabar Coast of India and Burma.

Allspice berries are the dried fruit of the Pimenta dioica plant. The fruit are picked when green and unripe and are traditionally dried in the sun. When dry, the fruit are brown and resemble large brown peppercorns. The plant is dioecious, meaning plants are either male or female, hence male and female plants must be kept in proximity to allow fruit to develop. Read more

I read many recipes for  beef phở before I even bought the ingredients, I was confused which beef cut to use, and got all the more confused because there are so many variations and recipes you can find online! After going back and forth, and asking myself out loud at the grocery store "Why is oxtail so expensive?", my little girl said: "but Mom, the more expensive it is, the better the quality"...LOL. She's right on that, and.. there's only 1 oxtail in 1 cow, I took that long to figure it out? duh..basic economics!  I am such a natural bargain hunter, and my brain does not operate like that in stores.  I don't know if her knowing that this early is good or bad?! :) So after I bought the oxtail, I was $14 poorer, it is a highly priced commodity for making beef broth. I learned that in the past, the price for oxtails was nowhere near this expensive, it is when a chef extraordinaire like Anthony Bourdain let out secrets of whipping up great food made of oxtails that the price started soaring high. I tried not to visualize a live cow, which was hard because oxtail does not look like a regular meat, this is a body part of a cow that moves, and I always notice it when I look at cows...and  then peeled, and cut. But guess what, if I got over that stage and cooked it, and enjoyed it, you can too! :) And now I know why it's expensive. The broth was delicious, and not as fatty as the regular cuts. My best friend A came over and saw this too, and he said "holy cow, I did not think oxtail had that much meat?!" :)

Daikon radish is a great vegetable for clear broth based soups. They're  huge, so I just used half of it, and half of which I sliced thinly and snacked on it.

Purple stemmed basil? Yes and with flowers too! This is Thai basil, tastes very much like the regular basil, but it's prettier don't you think? Also called  Asian basil (húng quế in Vietnamese) is a type of sweet basil native to Southeast Asia that has been cultivated to provide distinctive traits. Its flavor is more stable under high or extended cooking temperatures than that of sweet basil. Thai basil exhibits small, narrow leaves and purple stems, with a mauve (pink-purple) flower. One cultivar commonly grown in the United States is 'Queen of Siam'. Read more

I bought this mint from the Asian market, and not only did I notice the bigger leaves compared to ones sold at whole foods, trader joes or nob hill, the packets are also much bigger! for a fraction of the price!

So can you imagine this soup's flavor with all the spices and herbs pictured above? Hard to explain, but once you taste it...you will know what I am trying to say. And that beautiful blend of flavor? Fresh cilantro ties them all together. When I ate it without Cilantro, it was great. But a generous amount of it added to the soup, made it perfect!

And beef  phở is not perfect without mung bean sprouts as part of the garnish. Great flavor! You see,  making this soup was not just plain cooking for me, it was a discovery, a great adventure to the unknown, and a great joy.

Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, linguine-shaped rice noodles, a few herbs, and meat. It is a popular street food in Vietnam and the specialty of a number of restaurant chains around the world. Pho is primarily served with either beef or chicken. The Hanoi and Saigon styles of pho differ by noodle width, sweetness of broth, and choice of herbs. The origin of pho and its name is a subject of scholarly debate.  The style in which we made ours is called, phở Sài Gòn,  a variation of pho that originated from the Southern part of vietnam. The several regional variants of pho in Vietnam, particularly divided between northern (Hanoi, are called phở bắc or "northern pho"), and southern pho (Saigon, called phở Sài Gòn). Northern pho tends to use somewhat wider noodles and much more green onion, and garnishes offered generally include only vinegar, fish sauce and chili sauce. On the other hand, southern Vietnamese pho broth is slightly sweeter and has bean sprouts and a greater variety of fresh herbs. The variations in meat, broth, and additional garnishes such as lime, bean sprouts, ngò gai (Eryngium foetidum), húng quế (Thai/Asian basil), and tương đen (bean sauce/hoisin sauce), tương ớt (hot chili garlic sauce, e.g., Rooster Sauce) appear to be innovations made by or introduced to the south,also called Pho Sai Gon ("Saigon Style" Pho). read more from source.

Are you ready to make yours? Here's how:

Yield: serves 6

phở Sài Gòn 

Ingredients:

5 pounds beef knuckle, with meat

2 pounds beef oxtail

1 white (daikon) radish, sliced

2 onions, chopped

2 ounces whole star anise pods

2 cinnamon sticks

2 whole cloves

1 teaspoon allspice berries

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 slice fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 1/2 pounds dried flat rice noodles

1/2 pound frozen beef sirloin

TOPPINGS:

chili pepper sauce or chili pepper paste

hoisin sauce

thinly sliced onion

chopped fresh cilantro

bean sprouts (mung beans)

sweet Thai basil

thinly sliced green onion

limes, quartered

Directions:

1. Place the beef knuckle in a very large (9 quart or more) pot. Season with salt, and fill pot with 2 gallons of water. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 2 hours.
2. Skim the fat from the surface of the soup, and add the oxtail, radish and onions. Tie the anise pods, cinnamon stick, cloves, allspice berries, peppercorns and ginger in a cheesecloth or place in a spice bad; add to the soup. Stir in sugar, salt and fish sauce. Simmer over medium-low hear for atleast 4 more hours (the longer, the better). At the end of cooking, taste, and add salt as need. Strain broth, and return to the pot to keep at a simmer. Discard spices and bones. Reserve meat from the beef knuckle for other uses if desired.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Soak the rice noodles in water for about 20 minutes, then cook in boiling water until soft, but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Slice the frozen beef paper thin. The meat must be thin enough to cook instantly.
4. Ladle soup and meat in a bowl, and add toppings to your desired amount. Squeeze limes in soup before serving. 

Recipe adapted from here

Add freshly squeezed juice of lime, it's heaven on Earth!

#137 Irish Potato and Parsley Soup

I discovered a green soup, that's also Irish, so perfect for St. Patrick's Day next year! :) I love this soup. I just happened to have so much Parsley and a quick search for "parsley soups" led me to the discovery of this delicious recipe, which I tweaked a little bit. What I love about it? It is very simple, it requires a blender after cooking to liquefy the potatoes, so the soup comes out really smooth and filling as well. Parsley is very inexpensive and has a unique delicious taste, it's nutritious and it comes in bunches when you buy it; since I love it's flavor, I used A LOT of fresh parsley for this traditional Irish soup. It is usually added with bacon, potatoes, milk, cream and chicken stock. I omitted the bacon, it still came out so tasty. What I learned about blending soups that just came out of the stove top? DO NOT fill the blender, or it will overflow, and hold the lid down very firmly! The heat of the soup creates a steam that will send the blender's lid to the ceiling and will paint it green! Best to cool it a little bit before blending, or add soup half a blender at a time.

Yield: Serves 4

IRISH POTATO and PARSLEY SOUP

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Irish butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
3 potatoes, washed, peeled and chopped
2 cups chicken broth, OR 2 teaspoons chicken base + 2 cups water
2 cups of milk
3 cups of chopped fresh parsley
1 cup of chopped fresh celery
salt and pepper to taste
cream

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat butter and then add onions, and then garlic, don't let it brown.
2. Add potatoes, cover to let it cook, don't let it burn.
3. Add broth, parsley and celery, and then let it boil once then reduce heat. Add milk and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Then, add soup in a blender to liquefy. It is best  (based on my experience!) to do it half a blender at a time.
5. Return the blended soup in the pot, simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Salt and pepper to taste, serve with cream on top.

Delicious Irish Potato and Parsley Soup

#136 Mung Bean and Spinach Soup

I ate a lot of Mung beans growing up in the Philippines, we call this dish  Ginisang Monggo or Munggus (Mung Bean Soup), it is cooked with vegetables like malunggay, yellow squash, bittermelon and  meat or dried fish. Here in the US, I learned how to make and  eat it with just very few vegetables and I like it better. The flavor of the Mung  bean is delicious enough, it is high in protein and so I feel that adding meat is unnecessary. I make this simple dish with just garlic, onions and spinach. Very simple yet delicious and highly nutritious! 

Yield: Serves 6 or more

MUNG BEAN and SPINACH SOUP

Ingredients: 

3 cups of Mung Beans

6 cups of water, or more

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 stalk green onions, chopped

1/2 tsp ginger powder

3 cups of chopped fresh spinach leaves

2 teaspoons vegetable or chicken base

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Boil and then simmer 3 cups of Mung beans in six cups of water, adding more water when needed until cooked. Cooked mung beans will crack and has a soft texture. (see pic below) It should absorb most of the water when cooked, make sure you turn the heat off as soon as it is done.
2. In a separate large saucepan, heat olive oil, then add garlic until brown, add onions.
3. Add the cooked beans (undrained).  Add the vegetable base, ginger powder and let it boil at once. Reduce heat, stir in the spinach, until it is well mixed in with the beans. Turn the heat off and cover.
4. Serve warm, salt and pepper to taste.

The mung or moong bean (also known as green gram or golden gram or pesalu in Telugu) is the seed of Vigna radiata, has been grown in India since the ancient times, and mainly cultivated in India, China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Burma, Bangladesh, Laos and Cambodia, but also in hot and dry regions of Australia, Africa and Southern America. Mung beans are commonly used in Chinese cuisine, as well as in the cuisines of Burma, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Read more about Mung beans from Wikipedia

How healthy is Mung Bean? It is very low in fat, high in dietary fibers, protein, iron and magnesium. It also contains vitamin C, calcium and vitamin B6. This is why it is one of my favorite foods. It can be used for desserts too! Will post a sweet dish made of Mung bean soon.

This super healthy dish made of mung beans, spinach, olive oil and garlic. Delicious too!

#105 Tangy Chicken Soup

This soup is so delicious.. We love it! I love tangy food, especially soups,  so this dish is perfect anytime for me. I put butter in my clear soup for the first time, and it tastes great.   I planned to serve this dish to a group of friends for lunch, but because we did not have enough time to cook the chicken (they had to leave within 30 minutes for a tee time that was scheduled too soon!),  we opted for vegetable soup instead. Too bad, they would have loved this! Next time!

TANGY CHICKEN SOUP

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 quarts of water
2 quarts of chicken broth
2 bone-in chicken breast
1/3 cup butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoon lemon rind
crackers for garnishing, such as oyster or saltine
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, melt the butter, then add the garlic and stir until brown. Add onions and cook until soft.  Add the 2 quarts of water and the chicken breasts, boil and then simmer until the skin starts to fall off from the bone. Be sure to skim off foam while it cooks.
2. Remove the chicken from the pot, and pick the meat off the bones. Then add the broth in the pot. 
3. Then put the chicken meat back, add the celery, carrots, lemon rind and lemon juice. Cook until the vegetables are done. ( I like undercooked vegetables so I turned the heat off once my vegetables start to cook, then I cover the pot, the heat in the covered pot cooks my veggies perfectly).
4. Serve warm, garnish with a slice of lemon and crackers.
5. Salt and pepper to taste.

#96 Tunisia's Leb Lebi

This soup is so simple and delicious, it's healthy because it's low in fat yet high in protein. Leb Lebi is a clear soup made with onion, garlic, garbanzo beans, herbs and spices. It has a nice flavor that comes from the mix of the beans, caraway seeds and cumin. I was introduced to caraway seeds was when I first made Goulash, and I immediately noticed the seeds' pungent taste. I did not expect that the same taste can add a wonderful flavor to a clear soup. In Tunisia where this dish originated, they eat this soup for breakfast, and I did too the following morning. Healthy, inexpensive, for under $2 we made a wonderful dish.

Yield: Serves 4

LEB LEBI

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Dump the chickpeas into a colander. Rinse and drain.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and light brown around the edges, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the caraway seeds and cumin. Cook, stirring, about 1 minute.
4. Stir in the chickpeas, broth, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover with a lid. Simmer until the chickpeas are very tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Using the back of the spoon, crush some of the chickpeas against the side of the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm in bowls.

Recipe adapted from Abigail Johnson Dodge.

We learned that Tunisia is the smallest country in North Africa, it is situated on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. Tunisian cuisine is a blend of Mediterranean,  of their neighbors' in the desert and of the influences left by their conquerors. Most of their dishes are spicy. An interesting old wives' tale made me giggle. It is said that in Tunisia, the more hot peppers the wife puts in the food, the more affection the husband feels. When the food turns bland, it means the wife does not love the husband anymore. I wonder how many hot peppers the wife puts in the food when they have a lovers' quarrel?! :)

We love Leb Lebi!

#92 Corn Chowder

Another favorite of ours, is Corn Chowder, a milk or cream based vegetable soup. This dish is very good for kids and well loved by grown-ups too. Corn chowder is an easy dish to make, a little bit sweet, light but filling. I remember this is what we made at one of our home economics classes in high school back in PI, our teacher Mrs. Olandria loved it, I still remember that day, it was a simple recipe that I found in a recipe book that my mom bought and I remember using alpine evaporated milk as a substitute for fresh milk, which was hard to come by back in the days. Chowders are not widely consumed back then also because we like clear soups made with fresh seafood or other meats. It took me a while to develop a liking for cream based soups, and this is one of the very first ones I fell hard with. It is thick and just delicious. She loves helping out in the kitchen so I let her make most of the soup, with my help of course. We had a lot of fun and loved having it for our weekend lunch :)

Yield: Serves 4

CORN CHOWDER 

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

1 small clove garlic

2 medium potatoes

1 tbsp. butter

3 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup milk

1 can of corn, about 7 ounces, drained

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Chop onion finely, crush the garlic, and peel and cut the potatoes into small cubes.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Cook the onion and garlic very gently for 10-12 minutes, until soft.
3. Add the potato cubes, broth , and milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 15 minutes.
4. Add the corn and simmer (again, partly covered) for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the potato is  soft. If the mixture feels very thick, add 2 or 3 tbsp. hot water.
5. Turn off the heat. Leave the mixture to cool, then put half aside in a bowl. If you have a hand blender, blend the remaining half in the saucepan until smooth. (Otherwise, puree it in a blender and return it to the saucepan.)
6. Add the soup in the bowl to the soup in the saucepan and stir in the cream. Reheat gently to serve.
7. Sprinkle dill on top for flavor and color. You can also sprinkle crumbled crackers or bread with it.

Recipe adapted from the book: You can cook by Annabel Karmel

 

Chowder has many variations, usually made with seafood and vegetables, it originated in the New England region of the  US. The New England Clam Chowder is the most popular and widely consumed in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut and Atlantic Canada. Corn Chowder is our favorite of all.

Fresh dill adds a nice flavor to it so I put a lot in mine, try it! :)

#45 Our Chicken Vegetable Soup

I make this dish every week, it is a delicious clear soup and is one of our favorites! I so love the simplicity of this recipe, it is very easy and quick to make. All five vegetables are available all year round, always cheap and highly nutritious. It is very good at helping an ailing body heal, so it is always immediately made when one of us is feeling a little under the weather. Also a light, guilt free food for me, and so for that reason, it sits on the top of my ultimate comfort food list.

How you cook this soup greatly affects it's taste. The secret is, not to overcook the vegetables. I love the natural flavors and very much dislike overcooking because the real flavor disappears! So every time I make this, only the carrots are cooked with the chicken meat, the rest of the vegetables are added only after I turn the heat off. The result? amazing union of flavors!

OUR CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast meat, sliced to bite size

1/2 teaspoon chicken base

6 cups of water

carrots, chopped

green onions, chopped, white (bottom) part and green (leafy) part separated

1 broccoli head, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

spinach leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot, add water, chicken base, breast meat, white part of the green onions and carrots. Bring to boil.
2. Simmer and cook until chicken is cooked well.
3. Turn off the heat, add broccoli, red bell pepper and the green leafy part of the green onions.
4. Cover and let stand for 2-3 minutes.
5. Laddle hot soup into bowl and top with uncooked spinach. Salt and season to taste.

#34 Krem Sup Iz Sparzhi (Russian Cream of Asparagus Soup)

This soup is so filling that after I finished a serving, I did not want to touch the rest of the food on the dinner table. It's meatless, it looks great, tastes very delicate and delicious.

KREM SUP IZ SPARZHI

(Russian Cream of Asparagus Soup)

Ingredients:

2 lbs of asparagus, woody ends removed

3 cups of salted water

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 cups of milk

2 teaspoons of HERB OX Chicken flavored MSG-free seasoning (instead of Vegeta Seasoning)

Salt and pepper to taste

Toasted Croutons

Directions:

1. Cut Asparagus into 1-inch  pieces. Place in a medium saucepan with 3 cups of salted water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover partially and simmer for 15 minutes or until very tender. Pass the asparagus and stock through a sieve, forcing out as much of the asparagus as possible and leaving the stringy parts behind.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in same medium saucepan and add 4 tablespoons flour, mixing to form a roux. Meanwhile, mix 3 cups milk with sieved asparagus stock and Herb Ox seasoning. Pour into saucepan with butter-flour mixture(roux), whisking constantly until incorporated. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often for 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.
3. Place the croutons in the center of each serving. Serve immediately.

 

 

For our  mini study on the country of origin: drawing is not available for our first "visit" from our little artist, maybe next time :)  We learned that Russia is the largest country in the world with a population of almost 143 million as of 2012, with 160 ethnic groups and 100 languages. Since she attends ballet  classes, we enjoyed watching cultural videos, particularly of it's ballet companies. It was really fun watching and learning with her. So much to learn about amazing Russia.

Recipe adapted from Barbara Rolek, About.com