Creamy Spinach Soup

[cut and pasted from Planet Green]

I've been casting around looking for spring ingredients to make into a soup, but I'm not having much joy there yet. I decided to make a soup with ingredients that maybe some of you in the U.S. could get at your local farmer's market, even if I can't. If you are lucky enough to be able to get sorrel in your market, then use that. Otherwise the spinach makes a nice delicate soup. If you want something with a little more pepper flavour, then try using watercress. This was a really easy, fast soup. You can have it on the table in less than half an hour.

The recipe calls for either milk or half and half cream. Normally I would go for the milk option, but the grocery had organic cream on for half price because it's sell by day was two days hence. Who can resist a bargain? I find that there is quite a difference in both taste and texture between regular cream and organic cream. Organic cream is thicker. The half and half seems closer to 18% cream to me and it has a richer taste as well. The organic milk has more flavour as well.

Creamy Spinach Soup
Serves 4

2 tbsp butter
4 cups coarsely chopped spinach, watercress or sorrel, trimmed of thick stems
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups half and half or milk
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Place the butter in a large, deep saucepan and turn the heat to medium. When the butter melts, add the spinach and cook, stirring until it wilts, abut 5 minutes.

2. Add the stock, bring almost to a boil, lower the heat, and cook briefly, until the green is tender.

3. Puree with an immersion blender. Add the half and half or milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reheat gently without boiling.

From How To Cook Everything (1998, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) by Mark Bittman

Difficulty level: Easy