Chilled Arugula Soup With Preserved Lemon
I made this one up on the fly. Well, Bruce and I make up all our recipes. No copying in this house. But I made it up and served it to people without first testing it. So I was nervous. Listen, I love chilled soups. Like the plum version in the post below. But a chilled arugula soup? I thought it would be perfect between the courses, a real palate cleanser. But maybe. . . .
Before the story, here's what I did. First, I washed about 8 ounces of baby arugula to get rid of any sand and grit. Most of it was pretty clean, but I had to check the leaves carefully because I didn't want any gritty crunch in the soup.
I then cooked one chopped medium yellow onion in about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the onion was soft. I poured in the arugula and turned it over the heat with tongs until it started to wilt, about like cooked spinach.
Then I added half a minced preserved Moroccan lemon, rind only. These babies are salty! But the flesh is deadly dull. So I scooped it out and discarded it, then minced the rind. You can see that our jar has some bits of saffron clinging to the lemons. I figured those would just make the soup even better.
I added my minced rind as well as enough vegetable broth to cover the arugula completely. I put the lid on the saucepan and simmered the soup about 5 minutes, just until I was sure the stems were tender. If I had used larger, more mature leaves, I probably would have cut the woody stems off.
At the end, I stirred in 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, and a few grinds of black pepper.
I poured the contents of the pan into a large blender and whirred it up until it was thick, even a little pulpy. Because of those stems and bits of the leaves, the soup will never get creamy or smooth.
I refrigerated the whole thing overnight--and called it done.
OK, so the results. I was afraid. Because the pungent pepperiness of the arugula was the only thing I could smell when I opened the blender canister the next day. But one taste was pure heaven: the preserved lemon was something of a shock underneath the intense flavors. It also had a lovely aftertaste, clean and bright. I was afraid of wheat grass juice in glasses. Instead, I got a summery spike.
No, I wouldn't want to drink much of it. A bowl would knock me over. But I put it in shot glasses. I can also imagine it with a little sour cream mixed in. Or dolloped on top. A high shot of dense-packed nutrition and flavor. What could be more like summer itself!
arugula, cold soup, soup, vegan, vegetarian 
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Reader Comments (1)
Have a fun journey on the road! And this soup? Genius! Who would have thought of arugula in a cool summer pureed soup? It's a far cry from the usual pea, cucumber, or avocado varieties.