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Food

Asparagus Recoup Soup with Crispy Croûtons

Serves 2

Written by
asparagus recoup soup crispy croutons

Here’s a delicious way to salvage the tough, woody ends of asparagus spears. They make an exquisitely flavored velvety soup that whips up in minutes. We garnish it with chopped chives, a pinch of chili threads, and some homemade whole-grain croûtons. Asparagus Recoup Soup makes an elegant, delectable first course that smiles on the planet, is nourishing and comforting, and costs very little in time, effort, or ingredients. Using the ends of asparagus stems that normally get tossed in the garbage, Asparagus Recoup Soup is one creative and delicious way to reduce your stream of food waste, a major driver of individual greenhouse gas emissions. While more assertive in flavor, recouping the stems of cauliflower, broccoli, and hardy greens like kale or collards, or the cores of cabbage heads also make very nutritious, tasty, and thrifty blended soups. Cook and season them similarly.

Ingredients

Asparagus Recoup Soup
  • 2 (2.25-pound) bags of fresh asparagus spears, lower woody sections only (tops reserved for another dish)
  • 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast, or to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon fresh grinds of white pepper
  • 2 tablespoons shiro (mild, white) miso, or to taste, diluted in 1 tablespoon warm water to make a thick miso sauce
Crispy Croûtons
  • 2/3 cup coarse whole wheat bread crumbs
  • 3 teaspoons arrowroot
  • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
  • Several grinds of white or black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried herbes de
  • Provence or dried thyme leaves
  • 1 teaspoon shiro (mild, white)
  • miso paste, or to taste
  • 1 medium yellow potato

Directions

01

Asparagus Recoup Soup

Break off the asparagus stems toward the bottoms to remove the tougher, woodier ends. Simmer in water for 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the stem’s thickness and woodiness. Cook until they are entirely tender when pierced with a knife.

02
Drain and reserve the cooking water. Transfer the stems to a high-speed blender. Puree them, adding only as much of the reserved cooking water as needed to create a smooth, velvety textured soup.
03
Season, using a light hand, with nutritional yeast and white pepper.
04
Before serving, reheat on the stovetop or for a minute, covered, in the microwave. Serve in warmed bowls, stirring in a spoonful of diluted miso, or to taste. Garnish with chopped chives, warm croutons, and if you like, a pinch of chili.
05

Crispy Croûtons

Mix the bread crumbs, arrowroot, nutritional yeast, pepper, garlic, onion, herbs, and miso paste in a bowl. Taste and adjust the seasonings as you like, then mound the mix on a large cutting board.
06
Cook the potato in a microwave for 3 to 4 minutes until it is tender.
07
While the potato is piping hot, cut it in half, and, using a ricer, squeeze two-thirds of the riced potato pulp onto the bread-crumb mix. Use a fork to distribute the potato throughout the mixture and then use your hands to knead it for a minute into a dough. Add more of the riced potato if the mixture remains too crumbly to gather cohesively.
08
Use a wooden dowel or light rolling pin to flatten the dough to 1/4 inch in thickness.
09
Use a straight edge or ruler to square the edges. Cut them into bite-sized 1-inch squares or 1-by-3/4-inch rectangles.
10
Heat a nonstick pan for 3 minutes over medium heat. Toast the croutons for about 2 minutes on each side, lightly browning them.
11
Serve immediately, or if you prepare them in advance, reheat the croutons before serving in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes.

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