What’s In The Fridge?

Friday afternoon is one of my big cooking sessions. Today's projects were poaching chicken breasts (including taking the meat off the bones and putting the broth in the refrigerator to chill) and blanching a couple of pounds of broccoli crowns.  Before I knew it it was time to think about dinner. However, I was still full from lunch. Hubby Tony worked from home today, and we'd gotten carry-out Chinese; my "Number 6 Lunch Special" contained Szechuan Pork with fried rice, Hot and Sour Soup, and 2 Crab Rangoon. Tony wasn't famished, either, so a nice light dinner was in order.

Looking in the refrigerator, I saw a bowl of brown rice, one jalapeno pepper, an avocado that needed to be used, and the fruits of my afternoon labor. Instead of thumbing through a stack of cookbooks, it was time to let Google help me figure out my menu. I typed the key ingredients into the search bar (tonight they were avocado and broccoli) and let it find recipes.  The first page of results included salads, pastas, and soups. Soup sounded good, so after looking at several recipes I came up with this version of Broccoli-Avocado Soup:

BROCCOLI-AVOCADO SOUP
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
4 cups chicken stock (divided)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups broccoli, chopped
1 ripe avocado, chopped
Diced red or yellow bell pepper for garnish (optional)

Saute onion, garlic, and jalapeno in oil until onion is translucent. Add 2 cups of stock, rice, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

Add remaining broth and broccoli. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 additional minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, add avocado, and puree. (I used an immersion blender. If you use a blender or food processor, probably better to do it in batches.)

Return soup to pot and heat. Ladle into bowls, garnish, and serve.

Tony got out two thick pieces of homemade wheat bread from the freezer, nuked them, and poured drinks. It was a nice night, so we carried everything out to the deck and ate there. The soup was thick and creamy, although I thought it tasted better with a little bit of hot sauce added.

This quantity of soup fed us tonight with enough left over for lunch tomorrow.