“Cream” of Asparagus Soup

I’m baaaaaaaaack! And with a delicious soup recipe to share!

I was in Atlanta, Georgia, USA for a week-long mission trip! My youth group and I made and distributed food to homeless people in Atlanta. We also gardened and ripped out 1970s orange shag carpeting and church pews to make room for new ones! We did vacation-y stuff on the trip too, like bowling, going to a Braves baseball game, and watching a backyard concert. It was a great trip, but I’m happy to be back home.

I’m also happy to be eating more veggies, since they were in short supply on the trip. One way I love to eat veggies is in soup. Even in the summer.

Since it’s asparagus season (or the tail-end of it), why not make asparagus soup?

My best friend and I whipped some up and invited her mom over for an impromptu dinner party. My friend’s mom described the soup as “delicious.” My dad went back for seconds, which is when I KNOW the recipe is a hit!

This soup is so…

• fresh
• creamy (after all, it is “cream” of asparagus!)
• rich
• flavorful
• healthy

It’s a great way to enjoy all that fresh asparagus!

 

serves 4-6

takes ~40 minutes to make

vegan-ized from this recipe 

• 2 pounds of green asparagus
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons vegan margarine or olive oil
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I love to use almond milk)
• salt and pepper, to taste (I used at least 1 Tbsp of each)
• garlic powder,

1. Put 2-3 tablespoons vegan margarine (or olive oil) and the chopped onion into a soup pot (I used a 4 quart pot) over medium heat. Stir until the onion is softened.
2. Chop the asparagus into 1 inch pieces. Add the chopped asparagus and some salt and pepper to the onion medley. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the vegetable broth to the pot, cover the pot, and let the mixture simmer (low heat) for 15-20 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender (soft).
4. When the asparagus is tender, use an immersion blender to blend the mixture into a creamy soup. To use the immersion blender: plug it in, put it in the soup pot, turn it on, and stir. The soup should turn creamy after using the blender for a few minutes. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can purée the soup in batches using a regular blender.
5. Once the soup is creamy, add in a ½ cup of your favorite non-dairy milk. Stir it around.
6. If you’re not serving the soup right away, cover it. Right before serving, bring the soup to a boil and stir it around.
7. Serve and enjoy! We love to put this soup in mugs and slurp it up! It’s also great with crusty bread or a pumpkin date scone!

 

We love to put this soup in mugs and slurp it up! It’s also great with crusty bread or a pumpkin date scone!

xx Ellie

Question of the Day: Have you ever been on a mission trip? Where’d you go? What’d you do?

Fluffernutter

Two words: Vegan. Fluffernutter.

A “fluffernutter” is a sandwich made of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff stuffed in between two pieces of (typically white) bread. It’s fluffy because of the marshmallow fluff, and it’s nutty because of the peanut butter. Hence “fluffernutter.” It may not be the healthiest sandwich, but it’s definitely one of the tastiest.

Fluffernutters typically aren’t vegan, since they’re slathered with marshmallow fluff that’s made of gelatin. However, now VEGAN FLUFFERNUTTERS CAN BE MADE WITH INVENTION OF THE MAGICAL AQUAFABA (!!!). Aquafaba is the leftover liquid from a can of chickpeas, and it fluffs up into a marshmallow fluff type substance if you whip it with sugar! Many other uses for aquafaba are on the rockin’ Aquafaba Facebook Group.

So back to the fluffernutter. Make the “marshmallow” fluff, then slather it onto your favorite bread. Then grab some peanut butter and  spread it on another piece of bread. Smush the two halves together and ENTER PARADISE.

 

VEGAN FluffernuttER

Serves 1

Marshmallow Fluff (I made a small amount of this recipe):

• 2 tablespoons aquafaba (bean liquid — I used chickpea liquid)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• A drop or two of vanilla

Put everything into a mixer and mix ON HIGH for 12 minutes, or until the liquid fluffs up into a, well, fluff.

For the Fluffernutter: 

• Peanut butter
• Marshmallow Fluff (see above)
• Your favorite bread (the sandwich will be gluten-free too if you use gluten-free bread!)

Spread a few tablespoons of homemade marshmallow fluff onto a piece of bread. Spread a few tablespoons of peanut butter onto another piece of bread. Smush the two pieces of bread together and enjoy!

Hooray for aquafaba!

xx Ellie

Coconut Peanut Butter Cups (v, gf, raw)

I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in a few weeks. Tennis and school took over my life! I’m back now, though. Please accept these GIANT coconut peanut butter cups as my apology!

Chocolate, coconut, and peanut butter. Is there anything better? How about them all together!?  Ohhhh babyyy!

These cups are so sweet and rich that you really only need one! Trust me, I know from experience… They make a great after-dinner dessert, as well as a nice afternoon pick-me-up snack. They’re also super quick and easy to make, and they’d be fun to make with kiddos. If you don’t like coconut, you can take out the shredded coconut and just melt your favorite chocolate chips in place of the coconut chocolate.

Give them a try! I know I’ll be making a second batch soon, since I ate half the batch the day I made them (sorry not sorry). Enjoy and get your choco coco peanut butta ON!

GIANT Coconut Peanut Butter Cups

makes around 10 peanut butter cups / cubes

Peanut Butter Mixture

• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1-2 tablespoons nondairy milk (depending on how thick you want the peanut butter middle to be)
• 1-2 tablespoons of coconut flakes

Coconut Chocolate

• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3-4 tablespoons agave nectar (or maple syrup, but it will add a slight maple flavor to the chocolate)

1. Whisk everything together for the coconut chocolate. If the mixture is too thick / hard to whisk, add a splash of nondairy milk.
2. Whisk everything together for the coconut peanut butter.
3. Pour a tablespoon or so of the chocolate mixture into the bottom of an ice cube tray or a cupcake liner. Put in the freezer for a few minutes to harden up.
4. Drop in a teaspoon or so of the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate mixture. Put in the freezer for a few minutes to harden up.
5. Top the pb chocolate bite off with a tablespoon or so more chocolate. Top with coconut!
6. FREEZE for a few hours, then take out and enjoy right away!

xx Ellie

P.S. — This post is part of the Peanut Butter Bash, hosted  by Miranda from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt! This month’s ingredient theme was peanut butter + coconut. For more peanut butter goodies, check out the Peanut Butter Bash Facebook Page and the Pinterest page.  Want to join the party!? Join the Peanut Butter Bash Recipe Group on Facebook!

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