Enough With The Spinach, Let's Eat Cake!

Popeye had the right idea about spinach making him strong - he just had terrible taste about the from in which he ate the vegetable. I mean, come on, what is up with canned spinach. Ugh. Almost as bad as canned peas. Spinach in almost every other form is fabulous. Here are a couple of my favorite easy-peasy spinach soups.

Italian Spinach Egg Drop Soup

6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups packed spinach (either baby leaves or cut up big leaves)
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the 6 cups of broth to a boil with the garlic in a soup pot. Add the nutmeg and cook until garlic is tender. Put in the spinach, allow to get wilted. While soup is boiling, drizzle the eggs into the broth. Use a fork to break up extra long strands of egg. Cook a minute or two, remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot with toasted bread.


Curried Spinach Puree Soup with Butter Dumplings

for the soup:
4 cups packed spinach
8 cups broth or water
1 onion, chopped up
1 carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 potato, peeled and chopped
2 Tbs curry powder
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

for the dumplings:
6 Tbs butter, room temperature
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
boiling water for cooking

To make the soup, heat oil in bottom of soup pot, stir in curry powder. Cook until aromatic, do not burn. Add in all the rest of the ingredients, cook until vegetables are soft - about 45 minutes. Puree soup in a blender using as much broth as needed to get the right soup texture. It should be as thick as a cream soup but neither brothy nor gloppy. Return soup to rinsed out pot and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot with butter dumplings.
To make dumplings, beat butter until light (you can use a mixer or a wooden spoon and some elbow grease.) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one. Beat in flour, salt, and nutmeg. Form into half teaspoon balls and drop gently into boiling water. Cook until they float. Remove from water and drain, serve in soup. You can make a large batch of these and freeze them until needed. They are also great in pea soup, plain broth, asparagus soup, carrot soup, etc.

And now for a cake recipe, for those who have had enough of the greens for the day.

Heavenly Rich Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake (yes, it is THAT rich)

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips, melted
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips, whole

Well grease a Bundt pan and preheat oven to 325. Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar and beat until very light and fluffy, several minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and beat after eat addition. Beat in vanilla and melted chocolate. Stir in flour and salt, then stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness, a knife inserted in the middle should come out clean. If it isn't ready, bake another 15 minutes then check again. When done, remove from oven and cool slightly. Invert on cooling rack, then cool thoroughly. To serve, dust with powdered sugar/cocoa powder mix and/or drizzle with chocolate syrup. Garnish with mint or berries. Yum.