My VitaMix is making me a lazy cook.
When I have extra produce that I need to use up, do I scour the internet (aka “my favorite cookbook”) for a novel way to cook it? No, I just toss it into my turbo-charged blender and process it until it’s as creamy as, well, cream, as frothy as sea foam. I throw in a few herbs, a complementary spice or grating of pepper, and it’s cheating, really—gourmet cooking without the cooking. The crazy machine will even heat it up for me if I’m too lazy to get out a pot.
So even though a few of you have written asking me to post more Vita-Mix recipes, I hesitate, first, because I know that not everyone has one of these blenders-on-steroids and, second, because it’d be just too easy to work my way through the vegetable kingdom, blending up everything from celeriac to potatoes to zucchini and filling this blog with nothing but Vita-Mix recipes. And you wouldn’t want that.
But let’s say you did. We could start with the letter A and one of my favorite vegetables, asparagus. We could make it a bit special by roasting the asparagus along with garlic and onions to bring out their natural sweetness before blending with just enough raw cashews to add some extra body and creaminess. And we could preserve the fresh flavor of the asparagus by treating it simply, not overwhelming it with competing flavors, adding a sprinkle of lemon peel to brighten and highlight its earthy green taste.
Don’t worry. I’m not going to let the Vita-Mix take over this blog, though with summer vegetables on their way, it’s certainly tempting. Actually, you don’t even need a high-powered blender to make this delicious vegan asparagus soup. Try it in any ordinary blender, and if it doesn’t get as smooth as silk, strain it through a fine sieve to remove any excess fiber.
You don’t want a Vita-Mix anyway; it’ll just make you lazy.
Roasted Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds asparagus ends trimmed
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 1/2 small onion sliced
- 2 cups warm vegetable broth or “no-chicken” broth
- 1/2 ounce raw cashews (1 heaping tablespoon) or 1 tablespoon cashew butter
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- salt to taste
- grated peel of 1/2 lemon or orange
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F. Place the asparagus spears on a baking sheet lined with a silicone liner or parchment paper. Roast for 10 minutes. Turn asparagus and sprinkle the onion and garlic over it. Roast for about 10 more minutes, until asparagus is very tender. If anything looks like it’s browning too much, take it out. (Important Note: These directions are for thicker asparagus. Thin asparagus may take much less time so start with 6 minutes, turn and add onions and garlic, and check again in 5.)
- While the asparagus is roasting, blend 1/2 cup of the broth with the cashews and pepper until smooth. Leave it in the blender.
- When the asparagus is done, select several of the best-looking spears, remove the tops, and set aside to use as garnish. Cut the remaining asparagus into pieces and put it and the onion and garlic into the blender, along with the remaining broth. Cover the blender and blend on high until perfectly smooth.
- If you’re using a Vita-Mix, you can blend it on high for a few more minutes until piping hot (remove the center cup and cover with a kitchen towel to allow steam to escape). Otherwise, pour the soup into a saucepan and heat until hot, stirring frequently. Add salt, if needed, to taste.
- Pour into bowls and sprinkle with grated lemon or orange peel. Garnish each bowl with the reserved asparagus spears and serve hot.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Additional Appetizing Asparagus Recipes:
Blanched Asparagus with Almonds, Shallots & Lemon from Not Eating Out in New York
Asparagus Quinoa Sushi with a Lemon-Ginger Dipping Sauce from Vegan Eats
Asparagus Tapenade from A Veggie Venture
Asparagus Pesto Pasta Salad (from yours truly)
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Nancy
October 4, 2013 at 12:55 pmLooked in my fridge, huge package of asparagus that I have not gotten to you…thought … hmm asparagus soup…googled and found you. And guess what? I have a Vita Mix…and will be using YOUR recipe. A zillion thanks. Really excited!
Susan
February 5, 2014 at 10:04 pmMade this for dinner tonight. I am down with the crud and didn’t want to have to work too hard. What a great recipe. It was easy, and VERY delicious. Thank you for the perfect soup on a cold, rainy evening in the Bay area.
Susan
February 6, 2014 at 11:31 amBy the way…I made it exactly as you posted. I can’t even imagine it being more perfect. Excellent recipe.
Jessie Green
March 26, 2014 at 2:19 pmYour recipes are wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I am a personal trainer/nutrition coach in NYC and I wrote about asparagus today only to have one of my clients share your recipe on the entry.
Way to go you!
In sassy and radiant health,
Jessie Green
GREENBODY
Katie
April 29, 2014 at 9:53 amI’ve made this twice in the past week. Definitely my new favorite way to enjoy asparagus–which is good because my previous favorite way is smothered in olive oil. I stay true to the recipe except I add in a little nutritional yeast and I just use black pepper instead of white.
Lauren
April 30, 2014 at 7:49 pmI found perfectly lovely bargain asparagus in the clearance section of the grocery store tonight (2 pounds for a buck!!). Googled vegan asparagus soup, this came up and I was thrilled to see it uses a Vitamix. I just got mine last month and LOVE it. This soup rocks. So easy, so delicious, and, at least for me, so cheap. My one tweak was to squeeze in some fresh lemon juice as I found the zest left a slight bitterness in the first bowl I ate. Highly recommend lemon juice instead — it brightened it up and brought more depth of flavor.
Brooke
September 1, 2014 at 9:56 amI just made this and followed the recipe exactly. The roasted garlic added wonderful flavor without overpowering the beautiful asparagus. The sprinkle of grated lemon peel made it pop! I think I’m going to sprinkle everything with grated lemon peel now!
Lisa
January 1, 2015 at 2:11 pmHi Susan, I recently indulged myself with a new Blendtec blender and have been on the search for awesome blender recipes. I made your Roasted Asparagus soup the other night and it was DIVINE! Can’t wait to try your other recipes!!! I know your recipe says this is 4 servings, but it was so good my husband and I finished it all in one sitting. Thanks for a great website!!!
JohnCB
February 12, 2015 at 5:37 amSusan..Hi
Here in Cyprus we can get field fresh veg virtually all year around…but…wild asparagus is for the harvesting at the moment…just done your roast asparagus soup recipe (substituted cashews for sunflower seeds)…it waaaaas gorgeous.!!!!
Ainsley
February 20, 2015 at 1:25 pmThis might be one of my ALL TIME favourite FFV recipes. I made a double batch, and can have 3 cups for lunch for like, 180 cals!! Looooooove it.
Tara
January 19, 2019 at 10:27 amIs there a vegetable broth that exists that doesn’t have added preservatives? How does one make vegetable broth? What vegetables are best? Could it be as simple as veggies water remove particles?
Susan Voisin
January 19, 2019 at 3:20 pmBasically broth is just veggies simmered in water, like you say. It;s best to avoid broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables because they leave a strong flavor in the broth. If you do a search of this blog, you’,l find a garlic broth that I really like to use instead of vegetable broth.
B
March 19, 2019 at 8:22 pmDo I have to use Cashews?
Susan Voisin
March 20, 2019 at 12:02 pmThe cashews add creaminess but you can leave them out.
Jackie Jardine-Moore
May 6, 2019 at 6:07 pmI made this tonight and it was superb! Instead of onion I used chives and a handful of parsley out of the garden…just incredibly good!! Thanks for posting it again,
Joan White L
May 9, 2020 at 11:45 pmMade this a few nights ago. We had some (not so fresh) asparagus and, wow, it was so good. I followed recipe exactly. Delicious !
Going into our recipe book. Mmmm.
Ken Oatman
March 18, 2021 at 6:20 pmAnother genius formulation, working on my 2nd batch now, thank you for conceiving and communicate this beauty.