Foodie Fridays: Lettuce Soup

If you ever find yourself trying to find ways to use up an abundance of lettuce from your garden, as I did earlier this summer, you might want to give this recipe for Lettuce Soup a try.  It is really very tasty, especially with the addition of tajin seasoning to give it more of a flavor boost.  The only problem I ran into was that some of the older lettuce leaves were rather fibrous and ended up getting tough strands tangled around the blade of my immersion blender so tightly that I had to use a knife to remove them.  They were not hard to remove, but if you want to avoid this problem then do not use the tougher leaves.  It will soon be time to try planting a fall crop of lettuce, which will hopefully be successful so that I can make this soup recipe again!

Lettuce Soup

1 C. chopped onions, scallions, and/or shallots
1 garlic clove, minced
4 T. butter
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 lb. cooked small white-skinned potatoes, diced
8 C. (3/4 lb.) coarsely chopped lettuce (any kind, preferably green)
3 C. water
1 tsp. tajin seasoning

Cook the onions and garlic in the butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, for 3-5 minutes.  Add the coriander, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Stir in the potatoes, lettuce, and water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Purée the soup with an immersion blender (or in batches in a regular blender).  Bring the soup to a simmer, then whisk in the tajin seasoning plus salt and pepper to taste if needed.  Serves 4.