I recently purchased an immersion blender. Now, you may be thinking “who cares?” but to me such purchases are a huge deal.
Why?
Because my Manhattan shoebox of an apartment has little space for storage. Every purchase I make has to win the argument of “Is this 3-inch-wide item important enough to take up 3 inches of my counter space?”
I had decided it was.
Luckily I had just received a 20% off coupon from Bed Bath & Beyond. It seemed everything was falling into place. After I picked out my new appliance on the Bed Bath & Beyond website, I went to add my coupon code and noted the $6 discount had obviously made my purchase cheaper. The problem was that the cheaper price made me ineligible for the free shipping! Gasp! So how much was the shipping?
Six. Dollars. Grrr.
No way were they getting the best of me! I decided I would use the “pick up in store” option, sine there’s one in close proximity to my house. Turns out—somehow the “in store” version of the exact same “online” blender was a little more money!
SIX DOLLARS MORE!!!
Smelling a conspiracy, I quickly closed my web browser, deleted my email with 20% off coupon, and typed in “Amazon.”
With a few clicks I was able to purchase the same blender for 10 bucks cheaper than the original.
So, what did I decide to make with my new purchase?
Soup of course!
I bounced around a few ideas and landed on a Truffle Mushroom Soup. Yum!
Yields: 5 cups
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
24 oz cremini mushrooms, diced
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water
½ cup fat free half and half
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 tbsp truffle oil
1 tbsp toasted walnuts
1. Heat olive oil in pot. Add diced onions and mushrooms and cook over medium heat until tender ~5 minutes.
2. Add vegetable stock, water, tarragon, and half and half. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer X ~20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat separate pan over medium heat and add walnuts. Toast until fragrant and lightly browned.
4. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth. Top with toasted walnuts and drizzle with truffle oil.
The Cook’s 2 Cents
· One key to seasoning soup is to salt it at the end. Because it simmers for a prolonged period of time, the liquid becomes very concentrated. If you’ve perfectly seasoned it at the beginning, it’s going to taste like sea water by the time it’s done.
· If you haven’t recently purchased an immersion blender from Amazon like I have—don’t fret! You can just as easily pour the contents into a blender or food processor and get the same result.
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 1 ½ cups
Servings Per Recipe: 3
Calories: 186 Fat: 12g Sodium: 163mg Carbohydrates: 15g Fiber: 3g Sugars: 9g Protein: 9g
