Making Soup...Asparagus Soup (slow carb friendly)

Ok ,so looks like I'm finished with my quittata phase, back to soup.  The two things both have in common is that you can use anything and everything that may be left over in the fridge at the end of your week! (even lettuce!)

I had two bunches of asparagus...one I have to admit was from the previous week!  (yikes)  Last Thursday I poached a chicken and shredded the meat, and then made chicken stock from the bones...hmm...asparagus, chicken...what else?  Fresh peas included in my CSA box, maybe a little lemon....time to look up some recipes as guidelines.  Here is the one I found as a base to start with.

http://www.thespicehouse.com/recipes/lemon-asparagus-barley-soup-recipe

Recipes don't have to be exact.  What I liked about this one was that it has my two key ingredients, asparagus and lemon.  I liked the idea of adding barley, if I wanted to, but the best part was that this recipe suggested using eggs to thicken the soup! Great!  Exactly what I was thinking because I don't like using potato or cream to thicken veg soups.

I would have taken a picture of my finished soup but it's not yet "picture ready", lol!  I made a couple of mistakes, but nothing that I won't fix this next time...yes, there will be a next time, and soon!  It was still yummy, just not pretty!

In my version:

I did not steam the asparagus separately, I sauteed onion and celery, added my asparagus and stock, then used a pressure cooker because I wanted it done in about 10 minutes!  That was probably too long! I cut the asparagus pretty small and after 8 minutes at high pressure it was, for sure, done!

I did not add barley. (this ingredient is obviously not "slow carb friendly")  I did not add it because I knew the barley would take longer than the asparagus, and although I managed to obliterate it enough, 25 minutes to cook barley with the veg would have been overkill!  Also, I knew I wanted to use an immersion blender to puree.

I did in fact use an immersion blender to puree.  Tempered my 2 eggs with hot soup before adding to the rest of the pot.  And then....

I thought I would "cook" the peas and asparagus tips in the residual heat of the soup but the soup had cooled down too much to cook them so I did what I knew was a mistake, but I had no choice unless I wanted to eat hard peas and asparagus tips....

"Heat gently but do not let liquid boil."

Even though I know better I decided to ignore this last instruction!  Never boil soup or sauce that has been thickened with eggs....why not?  Scrambled eggs, that's why!

Tiny ribbons of egg spoiled the look of the soup, but not really the taste....obviously because Mark and I both ate it, and happily so!

Here is how I will make it next time.

butter/oil
Leeks/green onion
celery
asparagus
stock

(maybe a handful of spinach added before blending to deepen the green color)

Saute onion and celery, add asparagus and stock, bring pressure to high and cook for 4-6 min.  Blend with an immersion blender. Remove 1-2 cups of soup to temper eggs.  In the mean time bring remaining soup back to a boil and add asparagus tips (if you kept them separate until the end, like me) and cook until soft.  Add back in soup thickened with eggs.  Squeeze of lemon, shredded chicken and cooked barley. (I'll cook some in the PC ahead of time)

PS  I arrange my own daily nutrition with a low percentage of complex carbs although I am not following the "Slow Carb Diet".  But I know a lot of you do, and of course I respect the concept of this diet.  With or without the barley I think this recipe, or one based on the flavors is a nutritional winner!