Friday, December 31, 2010

Cheesy Spinach and Leek Soup

"Popeye's sister," is what a colleague would call me every time my lunch box is loaded with spinach. Indeed! I love my spinach and ensure I have a serving of palak or any variety of the leafy greens at least 3 times a week. The benefits of spinach are of course well known - it is rich in iron and is loaded with vitamins. What a lot of people do not realise is that it is tasty too.
Here is a good way to savour the power packed goodness of spinach with leek and cheese.



RECIPE

METHOD:

2 bunches of palak (or any other spinach of your choice) - Cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Leek (with the tender green part) - 2 finely chopped
Garlic - 5 cloves peeled
Low fat milk - 1 cup
Low fat cheese - 2 cubes grated
Extra virgin olive oil - 1 1/2 tspn
Salt - to taste
Green chilli - 1 finely chopped (optional)
Water - to cook

METHOD:

Toss in the cut spinach leaves, garlic and green chillies into the pressure cooker. Pour water enough for the leaves to immerse. Add a teaspoon of salt. After 5-7 whistles. Turn the stove off and let the pressure cooked leaves cool.
Put the pressure cooked mixture into a blender and grind it till it becomes a soft puree (HOT TIP: If you do not have a blender, you can put this mixture into a dep vessel and mash it with a butter churner. This is a tedious process but works just fine).

Heat olive oil in a skillet/kadai and cook the pieces of leek. Cook until it turns a mild brown. Ass the puree to the cooked leeks and cook for about 5 minutes on medium flame. Once it starts bubbling, add the milk and let it boil. After the soup is boiled, turn the stove to a low flame, and add the grated cheese (HOT TIP: Leave some grated cheese/or add more before serving). Cook for 3 minutes. Remove from stove and serve.

Serving Suggestion:
Serve it with garlic bread or toasted bread.

No comments:

Post a Comment