AIP Asparagus Soup

There is a specific self-consciousness that shows up when you cook for someone outside the protocol: a worry that AIP food looks like what it is, restricted, and won't hold up next to what everyone else is used to. This soup does not have that problem. Blended smooth and finished with tarragon, it reads as a dinner-party soup that happens to also follow every rule you're following.

Asparagus is one of the better plant sources of folate here, a nutrient tied to cell repair, though what 1 bowl actually contributes to that process is small and honestly unmeasurable. Tarragon has a long tradition of easing digestion, more folklore than clinical proof at this point, and it stays in this recipe anyway because of what it does to the flavor, not because of what it might be doing underneath.

The bit of bacon in here is doing real work, not decoration, so let it come from an animal raised somewhere you'd be glad to see. A small amount, rendered slowly until it crisps, is enough to carry the whole pot.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil (AIP swap: replaces butter or ghee)
• 1.5 oz plain unspiced bacon, diced (AIP swap: replaces pancetta)
• 1 onion, diced
• 12 oz asparagus, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Method

Warm the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced bacon and cook until it begins to crisp and the fat renders, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the diced onion and cook until softened and translucent, another 5 minutes.

Add the asparagus pieces and chicken stock. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, until the asparagus is completely tender when pierced with a fork.

Add the parsley, tarragon, coconut milk, lemon zest, and salt. Stir to combine, then remove from the heat.

Blend until completely smooth using an immersion blender directly in the pot, or transfer carefully in batches to an upright blender. Taste and adjust salt.

Serve warm. The soup keeps well in the refrigerator for 3 days and reheats gently on the stovetop over low heat.

*Adapted from Thriving On Paleo*