Make This Soup: Spinach with Shrimp and Avocado

For weeks we've been "trying" to get up early enough to go to the Dupont Circle Farmers' Market. Friends have enticed us with promises of amazing pastry; the kind you have to fight for by 9:30 am. Peeling my eyes open at 10, however, means a breakfast of flaky goodness is again left to the imagination.

There's always next Sunday...

In the meantime, we did the next best thing: visited the market virtually. We didn't score $1 squash, fresh flowers, or juicy apples, but Adrienne stumbled across their guest chef recipe archive. We narrowed in on the Egyptian Spinach Soup by Nora Pouillon, owner of Restaurant Nora and Asia Nora in Northwest DC. Our soup is made the same way only I've added a few twists! We're talking spiced shrimp, avocado, cilantro and lime.

Healthy sneak attack: You still get that sinful texture without the addition of heavy cream! And you won't miss it! This time it's the plain yogurt folded in at the end that gives it richness and a tangy zing.

Best of all, you won't need to get up early to make it!

Spinach Soup with Shrimp and Avocado
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp curry powder
4 cups chicken stock
3 scallions, finely chopped
1/3 cup basmati rice
salt and pepper
3/4 lb baby spinach, julienned
2 cups plain yogurt
juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, diced
1/4 lb spiced shrimp (recipe follows)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot and sauté the onion until soft.

2. Add the garlic, turmeric and curry powder and cook for one minute to release the fragrance of the spices.

3. Add the stock, scallions, rice, salt and pepper.

4. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes until the rice is cooked. Do not overcook!

5. Add the spinach to the pot and cook for another five minutes.

6. Stir in yogurt and reheat gently so the yogurt doesn't curdle. (Do not boil!)

7. Stir in chopped cilantro and top with sauteed shrimp and avocado. Add a squeeze of lime and serve!

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Spiced Shrimp

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
juice of 1/2 lime plus zest
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of black mustard seeds
pinch of paprika
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced

1. Mix shrimp with spices, garlic, and lime. If you have time, let it sit for about 1 hour in refrigerator.

2. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in saute pan and saute shrimp until pink.

3. Set aside until soup is ready to serve.

Recipe enhanced from Nora Pouillon's

Good Gourd!

As everyone starts hustling and bustling to the grocery stores for Thanksgiving week, I thought it was only appropriate to offer up a potential "amuse-bouche" to kick-off the big meal!

Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! Okay, I know what you're thinking. Am I out of my mind?

Perhaps there's no way you can add one more thing to the menu or squeeze another bowl onto your already "cornucopious" holiday table. If that's the case, then great! Before dinner be sure to give thanks for the abundance in your life.

But we both know by Sunday you'll be tired of turkey sandwiches and looking for something light to recover from the glorious gluttony days before. That's where this sweet and savory treat really comes in handy. Not to mention, it puts those colorful, decorative gourds you bought around Halloween to a good and practical use.

I used a combination of butternut, acorn, and carnival squash. I would recommend using the butternut for half and then experimenting with whatever other winter squash you have available to you.

I served this soup in small portions, but if you do this it's likely people will want seconds. Specifically, I used a set of small 2 x 2 x 2 square bowls sometimes seen in Asian dining. I floated a single oversized crouton or what I call "prosciuttons" of toasted bread topped with smoked Gruyere and crisp prosciutto. Our vegetarian readers will, of course, skip this ingredient (it's the only meat and it's optional), but the salt of the prosciutto really adds a nice dimension to the hint of sweetness in the soup.

Acorn & Butternut Squash Soup with Prosciuttons™
Serves 4-6

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 stick butter
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups (or 2 lbs) of butternut squash
4 cups (or 2 lbs) of acorn, carnival or comparable squash
32-40 ounces of chicken broth (depending on how thick you like your soup)
1 1/4 tsp minced thyme
1 1/4 tsp minced sage
1/4 cup half and half
2-3 tsp of sugar (season to taste)
Additional "prosciutton" ingredients listed below

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil. This depends on if you'll be baking them in batches or all together.

2. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush or drizzle the squash halves with olive oil. Place them face down on the baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes or until you can pierce them with a fork. Remove from the oven. If you used olive oil on the faces, they should be slightly caramelized.

3. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for 10 minutes or until tender.

4. Spoon out the flesh of the squash to measure 8 cups and add to the onions and garlic along with the chicken broth, sage, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes until the squash is very tender.

5. Working in batches if necessary, puree soup with blender. Return soup to the same pot. (A hand immersion blender really comes in handy here, b/c you can keep the soup in the same pot to puree)

6. Stir in half and half and sugar. Bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve or chill and reheat later.*

*The soup can be made one day ahead, but prepare the "prosciuttons" immediately before serving.

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Prosciuttons

2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) butter
8-12 (1/4-inch-thick) baguette slices
8-12 slivers/slices of cheese, Gruyere
1/4 lb prosciutto, fat trimmed (optional)

1. Preheat broiler. Butter one side of each bread slice and arrange buttered-side up on a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2. Broil 1 minute or until golden. Be sure to stay nearby. These can burn very easily!!

3. Turn over and top each piece with a slice of cheese and a small fold of prosciutto. Broil until cheese melts and prosciutto starts to get a little crispy around the edges, about 1 minute.

4. Top each bowl of soup with 1-2 of these croutons. Serve!

Recipe enhanced from Bon Appetit.