Apple-parsnip Soup

It's the soup of the week! It certainly feels like we're making a lot of soup lately; unfortunately this was another disappointment.  This is the apple parsnip soup in last month's issue of Cooking Light.  It seems like every cooking light apple soup recipe calls for curry powder which I don't understand. So we decided to skip the curry powder and add more nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger to this.  This also had way too much cardamom--all I could taste was cardamom. It seems like any recipe that calls for cardamom needs at least 2 days to marinate so the cardamom blends in better.

So, sorry to say, we will not be making this again. I had such high hopes for this, but they were not met. The search for good soups continue.  If you're planning to make this, I would say creme fraiche (or in our case, sour cream) is definitely needed as a garnish.

As of today's post, 6 people gave this an average rating of four out of 5.  I would give it a 2.  It could probably be better with some work, but I'd rather find a good soup recipe that doesn't need me to put my hard work into it.  I'm sure you could sub vegetable broth for chicken broth if you're a concerned vegetarian/vegan. 

Recipe by Kathy Ferrell-Kingsley, Cooking Light, October 2010

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 2 1/2  cups  chopped peeled Pink Lady apple (about 1 pound)
• 1  tablespoon  curry powder
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1  teaspoon  ground cardamom
• 1  garlic clove, chopped
• 3 1/2  cups  chopped peeled parsnip (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 4  cups  fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1  cup  apple cider
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 8  teaspoons  crème fraîche

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add apple and the next 4 ingredients (through garlic); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add parsnip, chicken broth, and apple cider; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until parsnip is tender.
2. Place half of parsnip mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat the procedure with remaining parsnip mixture. Stir in salt and pepper. Ladle about 3/4 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 1 teaspoon crème fraîche.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 136

Fat: 5.6g (sat 1.6g,mono 2.6g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 1.8g

Carbohydrate: 21.2g

Fiber: 4.2g

Cholesterol: 5mg

Iron: 0.7mg

Sodium: 381mg

Calcium: 30mg