Oh springtime, how I adore you. Gazing at all of the colors outside lately instantly puts me in a good mood. My rose bushes have been blooming like crazy, and every time I step into my backyard and see new flowers blooming, I practically squeal with delight. What can I say, I’m a dork nature lover! It’d be nice if my sinuses didn’t hurt every day from my allergies bugging out this time of the year, but I’ll focus on the good parts of spring here…
…which leads me to today’s post: a recipe ode to the lovely springtime!
I know I’ve said it before, but I just love soup. It’s such a great way to throw a ton of veggies and goodness into one filling, nutrient dense meal.
For this recipe, I incorporated a lot of different veggies. I used some herbs from my garden and played around with a few veggies that I don’t cook with all that often – including radishes. I really liked using them…
…and check out that vibrant color! So pretty.
You may be wondering, so what’s the deal with the soup being green?
Well my friends, the broth of this soup is an asparagus puree! First, you simmer the asparagus until tender, then throw it into the food processor with coconut milk and fresh lemon, then cook all of the veggies and pasta in the puree, along with some vegetable broth.
When I came up with this recipe, I wasn’t sure if the asparagus puree would really work well… but fortunately it came out a success! The coconut milk gives the soup a Thai curry feel and nuttiness to it.
Between all of the nutrient dense veggies, fiber-rich beans, fatty coconut milk (which is good for you!), and elbow pasta, this soup is filling. One medium/small-ish sized bowl had me feeling nice & full. Providing the body with its daily dose of veggies at less than 300 calories, this soup is a winner!
I hope that you give this soup a try this spring!
Spring Veggie, Pasta & Asparagus Puree Soup [vegan]
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 medium bunch of asparagus
- 6 oz/1 1/2 cups of elbow pasta or other short shaped pasta
- 1-13 oz can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup radishes
- 2 cups packed baby spinach
- 1 leek
- 1-15 oz can cannellini beans
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1/2 Vidalia onion
- 1/4 cup fresh herbs I used basil + parsley
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot, warm 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth over medium heat.
- Mince the onion and add it into the pot. Trim the asparagus, then cut the stalks into thirds. Add to the pot, and lowly simmer for 10 minutes or until the asparagus is tender.
- Meanwhile, slice the radishes, leek, and zucchini, and roughly chop the spinach and herbs.
- Once the asparagus is done cooking, remove from heat and transfer into a food processor. Add in the lemon juice and coconut milk, and pulse until the mixture is pureed. Return back to pot.*
- Add in remaining vegetable broth, all of the chopped veggies, beans and pasta. Add in 1/2 TSP salt and 1/4 TSP pepper. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender, stirring a few times.**
- Ladle the soup into bowls, and enjoy while it's warm!
Notes
**If the veggies & pasta are tender, but the soup isn't as thick as you'd like it to be, simply turn off the heat and leave the soup pot covered for a few minutes. The soup will thicken as it sits.
Nutrition
Tell me.. What’s your favorite springtime veggie?
Britt@MyOwnBalance says
Oh seasonal allergies are the worst! I suffered so so bad. Luckily now that I’m in a tropical climate I don’t have that problem but when I was pregnant I could barely take anything for them and I wanted to die!
This looks delish! I have to admit that spring time veggies are not my favorite because I prefer summer and fall BUT I do love artichokes! I made fresh ones two years ago and it was awesome!
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
I love the coconut milk idea! Spring veggies… can I say all of them? I’m particularly in love with blackberries right now too.
GiGi Eats says
FOOD PROCESSING veggies to make a creamy sauce is genius and sounds so dang good!!! MUST TRY 😀
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
I am all about asparagus in soup at the moment. I just can’t get enough of it and I want to eat loads before asparagus goes out of season again.
Beverley @ Born to Sweat says
ooo i am all about this soup!! i love asparagus, that would be such a great soup base. and agreed, its so easy just to throw every vegetable in there and call it a day.
David @ Spiced says
Asparagus puree as the broth? Now that sounds like something I need to try! I hear ya on the spring. I’m currently suffering through a rough allergy/cold…but I think it’s worth it if it means the return of flowers and warmer weather. A nice big bowl of soup sounds awesome right now!