I had just returned to Chicago from a weekend of depravity in Kentucky, full of bourbon and freshly made lemon pie (so, so good!). I needed to atone, hence this vegetable soup. The wife pulled home a bounty of vegetables, including a very large bag of spinach. Immediately reaching for Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables, I found this easy spinach soup.
The recipe has some peculiar steps, including cooling the soup as soon as it's cooked to retain the bright green color. It's also a strained soup, which removes all the vegetable hunks. I imagined a real elegant soup, but my results were much less than that.When all the spinach gets strained, only glorified green water remains. When I put a dollop of sour cream in, it sunk straight to the bottom. The wife thought it might make a decent summer appetizer—a breezy light dish to start a meal. Perhaps that was the intention: as a main dish for a rainy day, it left much to be desired.
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a freelance writer in Chicago. He is the co-founder of The Paupered Chef and spends most of his time playing with the new cooking gadgets he got from his wedding.
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