On The Menu

On The Menu is a new series that I am test driving.  I thought of it at the grocery when I found asparagus on sale for ninety nine cents a pound or bundle and instantly had a brilliant asparagus soup recipe pop into my head that led me over to get some heavy cream.  I tried to make my new topics easy enough for me.  This one is especially because I love to grocery shop, and cook and bake, and always have a plan in mind of a certain dish to hit our table.  This is where the blog comes in and the opportunity to share with you what I am so excited about making.  Lucky for me Shaun is a very willing participant when I am trying new recipes... except for the green smoothies... he's not really into that.  Here are two recipes that will be On The Menu at our house this week.

Asparagus Soup

Photo credit: from the blog Manger by Mimi Thorisson

I love asparagus.  I mainly like to prepare it along side a fish dish with rice until I found Mimi Thorisson's recipe on her blog Manger.  I adore her blog with it's stories and pictures and fabulous food and recipes.  She also has a new cookbook out that I am currently waiting for at the library.  The first time I made this soup... number one I made a mess trying to use my old blender and number two I also made big fat parmesan croutons to go with the soup and had some scrumptious venison summer sausage slices too.  With our outdoor temperatures dropping significantly this week this soup will be perfect to warm us up inside.

Peach Ginger Kale Protein Smoothie

Posted by fp Julia on Free People Bldg 25 blog

I will tell you this... it just took me forever to find the smoothie recipe floating back through my pc history for the last two days.  I knew I should have bookmarked it!  I knew it was before I went to the grocery store Saturday morning because I made a mental scan through the ingredients I had on hand and the ones I needed to pick up.  I love smoothies... especially green ones.  Remember my very own favorite green smoothie?  I don't make it as often as I'd like to mainly because the price of avocados goes out the roof when they aren't in season.  Right now they are about a dollar twenty five a piece.  But you can always get kale and frozen peaches.  The hemp I didn't have but a quick trot in the health food store helped me out.  I didn't get the powder... just the seeds.  I like to use them in my granola bars and on my breakfast toast and figured the blender would chop them up anyway.  

It's going to be a good week in the kitchen here!