Spinach Soup with Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs

Perfect for bridging the seasons, a homemade creamy spinach soup on the table in 30 minutes topped with still-warm easy-to-peel hard-cooked eggs.

Homemade spinach soup, on the table in 30 minutes, including still-warm easy-to-peel hard-cooked eggs.

“There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground …”

~ Sara Teasdale, poet

It’s that muddy messy spot between winter and spring, when warm days flirt with our summer-drenched dreams, when spring snows dash our winter-weary hearts. For a cook, there’s no planning ahead. So I take it day by day, choosing light salads when the afternoon’s been warm, a wintry stew when fickle winds chill our bones.

So ‘in between’ recipes are much welcome and that’s how this spinach soup strikes me, and has for many many springs, a way to bridge the seasons.

LENT The eggs symbolize birth and life, so the soup ‘n’ egg combination is a good choice for meatless Fridays during Lent. (More recipe ideas for Lent.)

ST PATRICK’S DAY Just for the fun of it, serve an all-green meal for St. Patrick’s Day festivities. (More recipe ideas for St. Patrick's Day.)

Plus, just in time for coloring Easter eggs:

PERFECT HARD-COOKED EGGS Who’s boiled eggs that refuse to peel? Chances are, they were ‘too’ fresh. Who’s cooked eggs with yolks ringed in green? Chances are, they were overcooked.

To avoid these common problems cooking hard-boiled eggs, the trick is simple: just mind the clock. Yes, do set the timer for each step and you’ll end up with perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs with golden-yellow yolks.

Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan, cover with water plus an inch more. Bring the water to a boil.
Watch carefully, for once the water boils, boil for just one minute.
Turn off the heat, cover and let rest for exactly 10 minutes.
Turn into a large bowl of very cold ice water for five minutes.

They’ll peel easily now. To save for later, leave unpeeled and keep in the fridge for a week or so. Or – more Easter fun – make some gorgeous Ruby Eggs!

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.

Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher.

What do you cook at the cusp of winter and spring? To share a favorite recipe you think Kitchen Parade readers might like, just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com.

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QUICK SUPPER:
SPINACH SOUP with EGGS

A soup flushed with spring

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 30 minutes
Makes 5 cups

1 tablespoon butter (see TIPS)
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
10 ounces frozen or fresh spinach (see TIPS)
3 cups vegetable broth or chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup whole milk (see TIPS)
Salt & pepper taste

5 hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise

(If cooking the hard-boiled eggs, start these first. They’ll be cooked and still warm by the time the soup is cooked.)

In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium high til shimmery. Add onion, stir to coat with fat, let cook until beginning to soften.

IF FROZEN SPINACH While the onion cooks, thaw the spinach in the microwave. Add to the onion mixture and cook for about 5 minutes.

IF FRESH SPINACH (my favorite) While the onion cooks, wash the fresh spinach very well by soaking and swishing in cold water. (It needn’t be trimmed but must be grit-free; to test, eat a piece of the raw spinach.) Stir into the onion mixture by the handful and cook until cooked but still bright green. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth, adding some broth or stock if needed. Return the mixture to the saucepan. (Don’t waste the spinach left in the blender, just use the rest of the broth or stock to rinse it out into the saucepan when called for.)

Sprinkle the spinach mixture with the flour and stir in. Add the broth or stock, a tablespoon at a time at first, incorporating each addition before adding more. Stir in nutmeg and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Add milk and bring just to a boil but do not allow to boil. Season to taste.

Spoon soup into bowls. Place one or two egg halves in each, resting gently atop the soup.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Cup Soup/with 1 egg: 97/182Cal; 5/12g Protein; 6/11g Tot Fat; 3/5g Sat Fat; 8/9g Carb; 2/2g Fiber; 348/429gr Sodium; 14/260gr Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1/3 points

Adapted from The Best of Swedish Cooking

ALANNA’s TIPS If the soup is for supper, a little extra richness is appreciated. Either sauté the onion in 2 tablespoons butter or substitute cream for some of the milk.

Frozen spinach works fine but the soup’s color will be less green and the spinach flavor less pronounced.

If using fresh spinach, bypass bags of prewashed baby spinach. The leaves are perfect for salads but too tender for cooking. Instead, use the ‘curly’ spinach usually found in open bins in the produce department.

To skip the blender step, remove the stems from the raw spinach, then cut into ribbons. The soup will be more rustic but nonetheless delicious.

The eggs work especially well when they’re warm. If I don’t want to hard-cook eggs, I’ll some times poach an egg right in the hot spinach soup.