Diary 4/17

Even if you have only a small handful of asparagus, you can make soup. I make all the vegetable soups about the same in that I start with a sauce of 1Tbs. butter(or substitute) and 1Tbs. flour, and 1 c. broth. Melt the butter add the flour until a sticky paste forms, then add the broth whisking like mad until smooth. Then start adding your vegetable; broccoli, asparagus, celery, mushrooms, you name it. This makes one serving, so I usually do 3 or 4 Tbs. butter, 3 or 4 Tbs. flour and 4or5 cups broth. I use the Better than Boullion vegetable paste, but they have beef and chicken, too. There are the boxed organic broths I have used also. Cook the vegetables down for almost an hour and add more broth depending on how thick you want your soup. At the very end, I add a 1/2 cup 2% milk and any seasoning I think it still could use. Thyme is a nice herb that gives a background flavor without taking over. The milk just makes it taste a little more like a cream soup. Not necessary for the flavor really. Add a salad or bread and voila!, a hearty fare.