Fennel and Swiss Chard Soup

It finally froze yesterday in the wee hours. In my garden remained two things that needed harvesting right away: Fennel and Swiss Chard

So, I picked the veggies from the back yard and got out the old Google to see what I could make with it. Food Network had a nice recipe for vegetable plate and another site had a soup. But the flavors were similar. I thought, "It's cold. Soup sounds good."

And I began my usual changing of what looked like a vegan recipe into one I thought I might prefer (and used what I had around the house).

This soup is hearty. It can be a whole meal by itself.

You will want to prepare the swiss chard ahead of time. Note that the quantities on all the vegetables are approximate. It's soup. It will be ok if the amounts vary.

• 2 bunches swiss chard (based on how my grocery store sizes the swiss chard)

Wash the chard if its not totally grit free. Reduce the amount of water on the leaves by drying or shaking or whatever.
Cut out the stems by slicing the leaf parts right where they attach to the main stem. The leaves go in one pile. The stems go in another pile.
Chop the leaves into 1 inch squares.
Slice the stems into 1/4 inch lengths.

Saute the following until the onion wilts thoroughly in a large pan. I use my dutch oven:

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 c chopped onion (I used yellow onion. The recipe called for the whites of scallions/green onions.)
• 1/2 c chopped fennel bulb (remove stems, cut the bulb in half and cut out the core before chopping)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• pinch of salt

Then add and continue to saute until some browning occurs:

• 2 c swiss chard stems, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt

Remove and set aside. Saute until wilted:

• 2 T butter
• 4 c swiss chard leaves (chopped into 1 inch squares)

Add and simmer until the stems and leaves soften (about 20 minutes)

• 1/4 c white wine (or a Tbsp sugar)
• 6 cups broth (I had broth I made from recently roasted turkey's bones -- very little oil)

Remove from heat. Add

• 1 1/2 c baby spinich leaves

Blend the result. I use my tiny, little immersion blender. If you use a regular blender, do it a cup or two at a time to avoid sloshing all that hot liquid around the kitchen violently. Put it back in the pan with:

• 1/4 tsp anchovy paste (about 2 inches from a tube)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 Tbsp fennel fronds, chopped

Adjust the taste as needed with salt, sugar and/or garlic powder.

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and its ready.

Serve with a dash of heavy cream in the center of the bowl and a sprinkling of fennel fronds on top.

Options:

Add 8 oz cream to the soup after removing the soup from the heat instead of serving it in the bowl. (You could replace it with 1/4 c olive or coconut oil if you want to avoid the dairy.)

Use a vegetable broth if you want to avoid eating meat. (The butter can be replaced with additional olive oil, too.)

I suspect adding chopped bacon when sauting the onion would be tasty.