Cilantro and Parsley Soup

I don’t know about you, but I really love Amazon more during the month of December. Being a prime member, this 2 day shipping, and cheap next day delivery options really make holiday shopping much much easier.

Every year, Jane and I say we’re going to do all our shopping online to avoid the crowds. We’re not 100% there yet, but I have a feeling we will be at that point next year as we’re getting pretty good at planning out for things like cyber Monday and watching all the deals and just dedicating the time to sit down and know exactly what we’re ordering.

Hopefully you too are able to balance out your holiday shopping with online and brick and mortar stores. Anything to help ease the stress and limit the running around is a great thing during December.

With all that being said, we also have to deal with the cold and trying to stay warm. To our readers in say Australia, you’re pretty lucky right now. Enjoy the sun.

For those of us that are trying to cope with the cold, seek out food the will help fight the chill.

During this time of year, Jane and I tend to cook a lot of soups. It’s during the cold months that we normally create and or have our staple soups. Things like fassolatha, Avgolemono, Youvarlakia, and Domatosoupa Me Kritharaki (tomato soup with orzo) are constantly being made.

However, we wanted to create a new soup to add to our growing collection. Something that is different yet healthy.

With Jane and I just in Paris, we saw they serve an herb soup with something like a Crème fraîche on top. We did have it there, so we thought, let’s make that with a Greek twist.

Our idea became: Cilantro and Parsley Soup (σούπα με κόλιανδρο και μαϊντανό | soúpa me kóliandro kai maïntanó)

Since herbs play such a big part in Greek Mediterranean cuisine, we thought this would fit well within the realm of Greek cooking.

We had all these things on hand that are needed for this recipe, so we just decided to go for it.

As I mentioned before, Jane and I have been on a cilantro (coriander) kick lately. Therefore, it is no surprise that cilantro takes center stage here.

Now, I am going to level with you. We were not sure how this was going to turn out. We were a little nervous it wouldn’t taste good. And let’s be honest, sometimes when we’re making recipes, they don’t turn out well.

However, we decided to go for it, and I mean really go for it. We made the recipe and shot the video all at the same time! We didn’t test, we just decided to run with it.

In the end, the soup was something we really enjoyed. Since we had never had herb soup before, the first spoonful is a little bit of a contemplation. Like, “hmmm, I’ve never had herbs in liquid form like this…it’s unique…but it’s good!” And after that, you’re hooked. We hope you’ll be anyhow 🙂

If you’re looking for a healthy way to stay warm and have some herbs on hand, give this soup a try!

As always, we hope you enjoy this recipe!.

Kali Orexi!

Kenton & Jane

Cilantro and Parsley Soup

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

A delicious Greek style herb soup

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 bunch cilantro (coriander), chopped
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons flour
• cayenne pepper for topping (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat a pot over medium heat.
2. Add butter, melt for a few seconds.
3. Add onions and garlic, mix.
4. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until onions are soft and have a light brown color.
5. Add chicken stock, marjoram, salt, pepper, and lemon zest, simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add chopped cilantro and parsley and continue simmering for 10 minutes.
7. Use a hand blender to blend or pour soup into table blender and blend that way.
8. Once blended, make roux and add to soup (see video above).
9. Add Greek yogurt and simmer for 1 minute.*
10. Remove from heat, top with some cayenne pepper (optional) and serve!

Notes

*Don't boil here as the Greek yogurt can curdle. If it does, do not worry, just use the hand blender again to smooth everything out.