Today is the last day to enter my giveaway! Be sure to enter, the prize is pretty fantastic! As a friendly reminder, I am giving away a 12 Piece T Fal Cookware Set sponsored by Cooking Planit!
My goodness I have some exciting news for you! Through my work with Cooking Planit, a great website/app that helps plan meals from food shopping to getting it all on the table at the same time, I and 49 other bloggers will be hosting an amazing giveaway!
For 25 days straight starting Monday, August 19, two bloggers at a time will give readers the chance to win a 12-piece T-Fal Cookware set. That’s right, you can win a set of nonstick pans and stainless steel pots courtesy of Cooking Planit, T-Fal, and 50 pretty fantastic bloggers!
You are welcome (and encouraged!) to enter all of them, which gives you 50 chances to win this cookware set! I received one in preparation for this giveaway and will have a review of the set on I Can Cook That on August 26, so be sure to pop in here to enter!
Contest Details: Contests open to US only. Limit one winner per household/per family from the 50 blogs participating in the promotion. Individuals winning more than one giveaway will receive 1 set of cookware and the other winning entries will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be chosen.
“Dirt” cake reminds me of hot summers, barbecues, and outdoor eating. When I was a kid, I used to get so excited for dessert once I spotted the flower pot set out on checkered tablecloth with the other desserts. This “Dirt” Flower Pots dessert is really easy to make, requires no cooking, and looks just adorable. You can really dress it up with flowers, worms, or even mini Scottie dogs.
As a member of the Walkers Shortbread Ambassador program, I was sent packs of Walkers’ pure butter Scottie Dog Shortbread cookies, which help support the company’s sponsorship of The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty (ASPCA). Walkers has recently launched a Chocolate version of the cookie as well. In 2012 (the original Scottie Shortbread was launched in January 2012, Walkers raised over $25,000 for the ASPCA. For 2013, the company has doubled its minimum donation amount to $50,000. Ten cents from the sale of every Scottie Dog Shortbread 3.9-ounce carton and 20 cents for larger cartons will be donated to the ASPCA.
To help spread the word about these cookies and their partnership, Walkers is giving away a Scottie Dog Tin! To enter, just use the widget below. Note: This Giveaway is now closed.
Source: walkersus.com
Now, back to the recipe.
Ingredients (serves 8, or makes 4 small flower pots):
1 package of Oreos
2 graham crackers (optional)
2 packs of instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
3 cups milk
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz whipped topping
1 box of Walkers Scottie Dog Shortbread Cookies (Chocolate or Original)
I am so happy that it is finally grilling weather again! There is nothing better than hanging out with friends and family in the back yard, grilling up some burgers, and playing games. Last night I was able to go to my first barbecue of the season and I couldn’t be happier about it. I look forward to many more this summer!
I am an unapologetic lover of cheeseburgers. I never get sick of them. But eating a cheeseburger, oh, once a week all summer is not a good habit at all. I’ve stayed away from veggie burgers for the most part because I was never a fan of the texture. But when MorningStar Farms contacted me about their new Veggie Mediterranean Chickpea Burger I was intrigued. There is a vegan pizza place in Philadelphia called Blackbird Pizzeria that has Chickpea Parm that I’m kind of obsessed with, so I was really looking forward to trying a chickpea burger too!
The chickpea burgers also have spinach, Roma tomatoes, and Greek herbs and spices mixed in which deliver a ton of flavor without the fat and calories. These burgers are just 110 calories per burger and have 70% less fat than ground beef.
Morningstar Farms is also giving away a prize pack valued at over $80 to one reader! I’ll have more details below!
To highlight the Mediterranean flavors in the burger, I decided to make a Tzatziki style topping and finish it off with some feta cheese. Tzatziki is normally made with a strained yogurt, cucumber, lemon, and mint. I decided to make a topping that is in the style of tzatziki but uses tomatoes and dill with a touch of a ranch dressing dry packet to really amp up the flavor.
As a culture of people always on the move, it can be really difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle (more power to those who can!) Finding a quick and healthy snack is particularly difficult. Most “healthy” granola bars pack in the sugar and calories, but thinkThin® delivers a tasty snack without refined sugar, GMOs, or gluten. thinkThin® Protein and thinkThin® Bites products contain 0g sugar while the thinkThin® Crunch Fruit & Nut bars have sugar in the range of 3g-8g.
In honor of Mothers Day, thinkThin® has graciously offered to give one lucky reader a Wellness Box to help busy moms (and non-moms) maintain a healthy lifestyle! The bars are great as a breakfast option, right before a workout, or as an afternoon pick-me-up.
The Wellness Box includes: one 10 bar box of thinkThin® high protein bars, one 10 bar box of thinkThin® Crunch (with 10g protein and 70% less sugar than leading fruit and nut bars), and three boxes of thinkThin® Bites.
The high protein bars have 20g protein and 0g sugar to help avoid sugar spikes and fatigue. The bars are also gluten free, kosher, and have a low glycemic index. Flavors include creamy peanut butter, chocolate espresso, caramel fudge, chocolate covered strawberry, white chocolate, chunky peanut butter, brownie crunch, cookies and creme, chocolate fudge, and dark chocolate.
The crunch bars are made with 100% non-GMO ingredients and contain 8g-9g protein, 4g-8g sugar, and 4g fiber. The bars are also gluten free. Flavors include white chocolate dipped mixed nuts, mixed nuts, chocolate dipped mixed nuts, coconut chocolate mixed nuts, caramel chocolate dipped mixed nuts, blueberry and mixed nuts, cherry and mixed nuts, and cranberry apple and mixed nuts.
thinkThin® bites are 100 calorie bars with 0g sugar and 5g-8g protein per bar. The bites are also gluten free. Flavors include chocolate toffee nut, cookies and cream, and dark chocolate bites.
Want to win a Wellness box of these delicious bars? Just use the widget below! Good luck!
I like any excuse to brag about Philadelphia. I can’t help it, I’m proud of where I live. So I get even more excited when the bragging involves food. Recently, National Geographic named Teuscher Chocolates the Best Chocolate in the World. Teuscher hails from Zurich, Switzerland but we have our very own store here in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia actually has quite a chocolate history, we even used to have a Confectioner’s Row (N 3rd St in Old City in case you’re interested). Wilber Chocolate, Whittman’s, and even Hershey’s got their start in the Philadelphia confectionery scene. And many brands continue that tradition to this day, including Teuscher, located in the Bellevue.
To celebrate being the Best Chocolate in the World, Teuscher Philadelphia contacted a few of us local bloggers and offered to let us sample some of their chocolates. Honestly, who’s going to say no to that?!
You may have seen some of my Instagram photos about their chocolates. Every piece seemed to be better than the last. I was hoarding them, eating one a day, until they sadly were all gone. The house specialty is not to be missed: the Classic Champagne Truffle. Made with dark chocolate ganache coated in milk chocolate with some Dom Perginon champagne creme, these are little bites of happiness and luxury. They even have Dark Chocolate Champagne Truffles! But their other choices really hold their own. The Chocolate Citrus Peels were amazing, but my ultimate favorite was the fleur de sel caramel. I cannot even put into words how good it was!
If that wasn’t enough to make me giddy, I also walked away with a bar of Teuscher’s Chocolate 99, a 99% chocolate bar that is somehow not overly bitter, perfect for baking. The chocolate has no chemicals, additives, or preservatives either.
To show off this beautiful chocolate, I decided to make Chocolate Lava Cakes, which are super easy to make and would impress any Valentine (hint hint). And because chocolate makes me feel oh so warm and fuzzy inside, I wanted to share some of this chocolatey goodness with one lucky reader! I am giving away an assorted box of Teuscher Chocolates! (More below)
It should come as no surprise that my go-to gifts tend to be food related. I love gifting Philadelphia-themed gift baskets, assorted tea presents, and engagement cookies. New to my list are these beautiful gift boxes from a*pour toi.
The founder, Julie Hasson, began this company recently to provide gourmet treats that feel like they have been picked with care just for your recipient. Julie works with Dr. Tara D Seneviratne who specialized is nutrition and endocrinology to help select every item in the box.
This option is brand new, it is being launched to the public in mid-January. But I was given the opportunity to try a box beforehand. I was sent an a*pour toi box for free, but my opinions below are my own. a*pour toi, which translates to “a gift for you,” is also hosting a giveaway on my blog, with the winner receiving their very own gift box! (The box ingredients change monthly, so you may receive different treats than I did. Please see below on how to enter!)
I need more sides in my life. Couscous is a great weekday choice because it’s so quick to make, maybe 20 minutes in total. This recipe is from the Fresh & Healthy DASH Diet Cooking Cookbook which I absolutely love. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute a encourages increasing whole grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean proteins and minimizing processed gains, high-fat meats and dairy, sugars and sodium… which is basically more just eating healthy versus a diet.
This couscous recipe is made with vegetable broth to give it some flavor with bites of pine nuts, dried cranberries, and scallions.
Two years ago today, I decided to begin writing a blog to help track my progress as I learned how to cook. I am in the process of updating the look of my blog (it’s still a work in progress) and was looking over some of my most recent posts. They were so much fun to read but my goodness the photos were awful! I still have a lot to learn both in cooking, blogging, and photography so I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
Knowing others read this and actually care about what I post has been a huge motivation. I wanted to thank you for reading my posts and keeping me going on my cooking journey. So what’s a birthday party without some presents? In celebration of my blog turning two, I put together a little giveaway.
With the holidays coming up, I figured most people are starting to think about their next baking project (or at least I am). One lucky reader will be all set to bake his or her little heart out because I am giving away a cookie baking kit!
The baking kit (~$125 value) includes the following:
Airbake Nonstick Insulated Cookie Sheets
OXO “Good Cookie” Spatula
OXO Silicone Whisk
OXO Angled Measuring Cup
Dry Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
A Mixing Bowl Set (3 bowls)
Two spatulas
Holiday Cookie Cutters
A Metal Cooling Rack
1 Copy of “Cookie Swap: Creative Treats to Share Throughout the Year” Cookbook
To enter, just use the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck to everyone!! I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I enjoy writing them!
Do you remember the first recipe you learned how to make? One that was probably so simple, but made you so proud when you had completed the dish? Mine (besides grilled cheese) was a chicken recipe my mom referred to as “Chicken a la Simon and Garfunkel” based on the lyrics in their song Scarborough Fair:
Are you goin’ to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
she once was a true love of mine.
I knew the song so I was able to help make dinner by seasoning the chicken and keeping my mom company while humming the tune to the song (which I have to assume was more of a distraction than a help.. I’m a truly awful singer and I’m sure that translates into a truly awful hummer as well).
I figured this was as good as any time to learn how to roast a chicken. So I settled on Cornish game hens seasoned and stuffed with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. I also made a “Scarborough Fair” Risotto to go with the chicken.
Ingredients: (I was making this for a family dinner but lowered the amounts to happily feed 2. Multiply as needed).
2 Cornish game hens
1 tablespoon each of dried parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (divided)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 lemon
4 sprigs each of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
I am a messy (and clumsy) cook. Because I usually start cooking as soon as I come home, I rely on aprons to keep my work clothes from being completely ruined by my latest culinary creation. One can never have too many aprons, so I’m happy to say that the lovely makers of Knotty Daughters Aprons contacted me about giving away one of their aprons to one of my readers!
Knotty Daughters design and sell cute and functional aprons. They have plenty of styles and are made with extra long lies so you can knot them in the front or the back, depending on your preference. The best part: The aprons are made of kitchen towels so they can stand up to your best kitchen messes! They are also machine washable. As they say on their site, these are “knot your mom’s apron” hehe.
Maya Apron- Front
Maya Apron- Back
Be sure to check our their selection of aprons here.
The ladies at Knotty Daughters will be giving away an apron of the winner’s choice! To enter, just use the widget below. The giveaway will be open for one week. Good luck!
Muffins are the perfect Sunday baking activity to set yourself up for breakfasts throughout the week. I haven’t made a batch in so long so I’m happy I finally had time to do so! I was given the opportunity to try Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil and I thought the best way to try the oil out would be in baking. (I adapted this recipe for Coconut Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from the 1 Mix, 100 Muffins cookbook.)
Coconut oil can be used like butter in its solid state and like oil in its liquid state. It does have a slight coconut flavor to it so it’s a great way to enhance the flavor of many dishes. These Coconut-Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins have just a hint of coconut that is really complementary to the Lemon flavor.
Tropical Traditions is also sponsoring a giveaway! One lucky reader will win their very own jar of coconut oil! Details below.
Ingredients (this recipe makes a dozen muffins):
2 cups all-purpose flour, leveled with a knife
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted and allowed to cool slightly
the zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Note: The method I will list below is the one I ended up using for this recipe. And the reason I used this method was because I completely forgot to add in the sugar and poppy seeds at the correct time! Anyways, the muffins turned out fine. Whew.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Add 6 tablespoons coconut oil to a small saute pan over medium heat until completely melted. Remove from heat and reserve.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. (If you have a stand mixer, add the dough hook and turn it on low for a minute or two. It will break up all the chunks, just as good as sifting!)
In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs.
Add the milk, melted coconut oil, and lemon rind. And mix with a whisk to combine.
Make a well in the flour mixture and add the wet mixture to the bowl.
Stir until just combined (I used the lowest setting on my stand mixer. You can just use a spatula.)
Add the sugar and poppy seeds, stirring until just combined.
Add the batter to the muffin pan. To get equal sized muffins, use a small ladle or an ice cream scoop to portion out the batter.
Bake the muffins for 20-22 minutes; you want the muffins to have risen and be slightly golden brown on top, or when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove.
So everyone knows how delicious normal Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are. The coconut oil brings the muffins from good to great!
They are so fragrant. I was having trouble photographing them because I kept trying to eat them!
There is definitely a taste of coconut present without it being overwhelming; I find that coconut can really overtake a dish sometimes.
The lemon still shines through and is wonderfully sweet (due to all that sugar!)
Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil? You can also watch the video they produced about Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil:
Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.
To enter, use the widget below. You have 8 chances to win (Writing a comment is mandatory, the rest are optional)! Giveaway ends this Friday, May 11 at 11:59PM EST. Good luck!
As I’ve mentioned before, I cannot help myself from making a million desserts in December. There is something about the last month of the year that makes me want to bake my little heart out. Oxo has decided to help my cause by asking me to check out their new and improved Egg Beater. I am a huge fan of Oxo products (bowls, containers, apple corers; you name it, I have it). So I knew that their egg beater would find a happy home in my kitchen. Oxo also sent me an extra egg beater to give away to one of lucky reader. Details will be below!
The egg beater has a non-slip grip handle for ease of use. The beaters are removable and then entire base can be detached and is dishwasher-safe (a must in my kitchen. I’m way too lazy to clean dishes after cooking). The beater itself has managed to improve upon its predecessors by adding a steel bridge at the bottom that can rest on the bottom of the bowl. This allows the beaters to be slightly in the air without causing arm strain.Note: This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Jill J;you have won! Check your e-mail 🙂
Photo courtesy of oxo.com
Their website had a great video that shows all the features so I wanted to include that hereas well.
So I really wanted to test this bad boy. I decided to not only test it’s ease of use, but it’s ease of cleaning by making a recipe that uses the egg beater in more than one step of the process. How about a chocolate souffle topped with a warm fudge sauce and some freshly made whipped cream? (Not going to lie, the whipped cream was an afterthought because my souffle collapsed. Sigh. Still learning…)
Ingredients:
Souffle:
Cooking spray
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
6 large egg whites
Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powered sugar
This recipe requires a bit of oven preparation. Take out the top rack of your oven. Position the other rack as low as possible. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Spray six 8-ounce souffle dishes (or ramekins) with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons (or 1 teaspoon per ramekin) of sugar and set aside.
In a large saute pan, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, and the salt over medium-high heat, stirring with a whisk or the Oxo egg beater. Add 1 1/4 cups milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes or until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add 3 ounces chocolate, stirring until smooth. Add to a large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, add the egg whites (reserve one egg yolk!) and beat using your egg beater until stiff peaks form. This took a good 5 minutes for me.
Once the egg whites are beaten, the chocolate mixture should have cooled. Add the vanilla and egg yolk to the chocolate mixture and stir.Fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture.
Once combined, gently fold in the remaining egg whites.
Spoon the mixture into the ramekins. Sharply tap the dishes two or three times on counter to even out each mixture in the ramekin. You want them to be about 3/4 full so that they can puff over the top of the ramekin. If you are making these ahead of time, you can cover the ramekins at this stage and freeze until you’re ready to bake them.
When ready to bake, place them on a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven (which is at 425) on the bottom rack. Immediately reduce the temperature to 350 degrees (keep the souffles in the oven and don’t open the door, the temperature will slowly lower over time). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the side comes out clean.
The sauce can also be made ahead of time if you so wish. Melt the butter in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, and 1 tablespoon flour, stirring well with a whisk.
Gradually add 1/2 cup milk stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, continuing to stir. Remove from heat, add 1/2 ounce chocolate and stir until smooth. Spoon over warm souffles.
To make the whipped cream, add the heavy cream to a bowl. Using the egg beater, beat the cream until peaks are just about to form. Add the vanilla and the powdered sugar and beat until peaks form. Add a dollop of the fresh whipped cream to the souffle and serve.
So my souffle came out puffy and happy and I was so excited!
But as I started adding the chocolate sauce, it began to deflate. Sigh.
So I topped it off with the fresh whipped cream and called it even.
Souffles are notoriously difficult to make, but I wanted to at least give it a shot. Who honestly cares if it deflated though? It still tasted wonderful! I think even a collapsed souffle still looks pretty darn nice as well, no?
So if you’re still with me, you can win your very own Oxo egg beater to beat and whip until your heart’s content.
Good luck, and feel free to leave me a comment below with any questions, comments, or complaints 🙂
Note: I received both a free egg beater for myself and for the giveaway through Oxo’s Blogger outreach program. All opinions and photos with the exception of the egg beater photo are mine.
It has been one year and almost 170 posts after I quietly began my blog. I cannot believe I have been doing this for 365 days. I initially started the blog as my own personal inventory of recipes I enjoyed and to have a place to record my evolution into (hopefully) someone that could cook. I never imagined it would become such a source of enjoyment for me, or that anyone would ever look at it!
I am so lucky to have progressed this much in one year’s time, and I want to thank all of you who check in on my blog from time to time. What better way to thank you than with a giveaway? As you’ve probably noticed, Cooking Light has been a huge part of my culinary development. I have them to thank for helping me realize that I could indeed learn how to cook. The magazine makes it easy to whip up a delicious and healthy meal while staying within a budget. Each month contains so many recipes that can be made in 40 minutes or less, (perfect for week nights) and because the magazine comes out monthly, it’s easy to take advantage of seasonal produce in your cooking.
Photo courtesy of Cooking Light
So I am giving away not one, but two one-year subscriptions to Cooking Light, so that you can get as much joy out of the magazine as I have!
Note: This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Julie from Sugarfoot Eats who won both a subscription to Cooking Light AND the Weeknight Meals cookbook! Congratulations also go to Claire from The Realistic Nutritionist who also won a subscription to Cooking Light! I hope you two enjoy it as much as I have!!
How to enter:
Write a comment below letting me know which cookbook you’d like if you win the first subscription.
To receive additional entries, you can also:
Like my facebook page and leave comment below telling me you did so
Like Cooking Light’s facebook page and leave comment below telling me you did so
Follow me on twitter and leave a comment below telling me you did so
Tweet about this giveaway: “Enter to win @icancookthat’s Cooking Light Magazine subscription giveaway! https://tinyurl.com/7uud8ua #giveaway” and leave a comment below saying you did so.
Rules: This is open to U.S. residents only (sorry). Please be sure to include your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win. The giveaway will run until Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 24 at 11:59pm ET. Two winners will be chosen at random using Random.org from all eligible entries. Each reader has up to five chances to win (be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry). The winners will be notified through e-mail on Friday, November 25.
Note: If you already have a subscription to Cooking Light but would like to be entered to win just one of the cookbooks, please just let me know that in your first comment.
It’s about time I finished my review of Pomi! This time, I am working with their Alfredo Sauce. As a reminder, Pomi products come in boxes and are BPA-free.You can find them in most supermarkets (I was even able to find it in Reading Terminal, huge plus!)
The Alfredo Sauce would be yummy just over your favorite pasta with some fresh parsley, but I once again wanted to use the sauce a little differently to show how versatile the product is. (Don’t forget, I also have a giveaway to win a box of both the Alfredo Sauce AND the Vodka Sauce on my other post! Go check it out for details — ends Friday October, 21 12:00pm EST.)
Because it’s fall, and I cannot manage to satiate my craving for soup, I am making a Creamy Asparagus Soup topped with Crispy Prosciutto.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (I am using Melt, a butter substitute)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3 cups chicken broth
1-2 bunches of asparagus, woody ends removed
1 box Pomi Alfredo Sauce
3 slices of prosciutto, cut into thin strips
Salt, to taste
Garlic croutons, optional
Fresh parsley, chopped, optional
Begin by preparing your asparagus. Cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Take the tips (maybe about 10 of them) and reserve for a later use. Chop your shallot and garlic clove.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add ice water to a bowl.
In another pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots, garlic, and dried parsley. Cook for two minutes, stirring.
Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the asparagus (without the reserved tips) and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture in batches into a blender and blend until smooth.
Return to the pot. Cook for ten minutes over medium low heat, stirring occasionally.
At this stage, your pot of water should be boiling. Add the reserved asparagus tips to the boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes and drain. Move the asparagus tips to an ice bath to cool. Once cool, remove from the ice water and set aside.
While waiting for the soup to cook, add the thin strips of prosciutto to a dry saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until crisp.
Transfer to paper towels and allow to cool. When cooled, roughly chop the prosciutto and set aside.
Add the Pomi Alfredo Sauce to the pot and stir to combine. Depending on your tastes, you might want to just use half a box. If you want it cheesy, go for the whole thing; if you want it more asparagus-y (is that a word?) use between 1/2 and the full box. Cook for about 5 minutes.
To serve, top with crumbled prosciutto, 2-4 asparagus spears, and a few garlic croutons.
Oh my. This was delicious! I really wish I was able to make this in the spring, when asparagus is it’s freshest, I can only imagine how tasty this soup would be!
The Alfredo sauce complements the brightness of the asparagus and adds to the smooth texture. I loved the bites of prosciutto, which added a burst of saltiness to the soup. The asparagus spears and garlic croutons added nice crunch to an otherwise silky soup.
It’s quite nice looking too isn’t it?
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway here for a chance to win a box of this alfredo sauce (plus a box of the vodka sauce) so that you can try these tasty sauces for yourself!
![WellnessBox[2]](https://www.icancookthat.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/WellnessBox2.jpg)
