May 1, 2014

Ham Hell Part 2 (Creamy Green Soup)

Okay, I'm feeling much more like normal (albeit) exhausted self today, so no more whining.  Excuse my lapse into pity party yesterday.

Moving on, have y'all noticed the current "it" term for food, especially for those of us who are health-minded?  POWER!  Everything is a power food.  I'm inclined to be drawn to a power food- I mean, I'd rather be powerful than "lite", or "skinny".

POWER!  I'm flexing my muscles and grunting just typing it.


This is another recipe from the good old Private Collection, slightly altered.  It's got dark leafy greens, eggs and Greek yogurt, so I think it would definitely qualify as a POWER soup.  It sounds pretty strange, but tastes delicious.  And it uses the reminder of that ham!  Powerful, indeed.

Creamy Green Soup

1 lb spinach or chard
4 leeks
3 tablespoons butter (you can use olive oil, but butter adds a nice flavor here)
1 tablespoon butter
4 1/2 cup chicken broth
4 1/2 cup water
3 eggs at room temp
8 oz cream cheese (you can use reduced fat), at room temperature
2 cups plain Greek yogurt
4 cups diced ham
chives to garnish


  • Chop the white and pale green parts of the leeks, and rinse all the sand out.
  • Chop the leafy greens of your choose, and remove any large stems.  If you use baby spinach, it's fine as is.
  • Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a large soup pot on medium heat, and sauté your leeks and greens until soft and wilted.
  • Add the water and chicken broth and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, mash the cream cheese well.  Add in the eggs and yogurt, and mix very well.  I would use a hand mixer and really beat this until it is a super smooth consistency.
  • Take the veggie/broth mixture off the heat and gently stir in the cream cheese mixture.  Slowly heat through under low heat, stirring constantly.  After it's well-incorporated, puree the soup with an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender.
  • Saute the ham in the 1 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet.
  • Stir the ham into the soup.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste and top with chopped chives.
I tried this the night I made it, and thought "Well, that's okay.  Tastes a little powerful, so it's a good , healthy lunch option when I need some green."

Then I tried it the next day.  Revelation!  It was amazing!  So this is one of those things that gets better the next day after the flavors meld.



I am re-energized just looking at all those vitamins and protein.  Although this is not my persuasion, it would be almost as good without the ham and chicken broth- simply omit the ham and use vegetable broth for a vegetarian version.

Thanks for all of your nice comments yesterday after my whine (or whinge as the Brits say- very descriptive of the actual sound, no?).  I truly adore my life and am so grateful for everything in it.  That doesn't mean that I don't occasionally long for a break from it!  Ha!

2 comments:

  1. I love a good soup and I find most of my favorite soups from you! I will certainly be trying this one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My parents loved the term "whinge" whenI was growing up. (Book nerd alert ahead). When I discovered J.K. Rowling named the Dursley's village "Little Winging" after the term I was smitten.

    ReplyDelete

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