Spinach-and-Cilantro Soup With Tahini and Lemon
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¼ cup well-stirred tahini
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1large clove garlic, finely grated or pounded to a smooth paste
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 7cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 12ounces baby spinach (about 12 packed cups)
- 4cups roughly chopped cilantro (from 2 large bunches)
- ¼ cup well-stirred tahini
- 2teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
For the Sauce
For the Soup
Nutritional analysis per serving (20 servings)
70 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 242 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
First, make the sauce: Combine tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, cumin and red-pepper flakes with 2 tablespoons water in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth, adding more water as needed to achieve a drizzle-able consistency, and set aside.
- Step 2
Next, make the soup: Add stock to a Dutch oven or heavy pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in spinach, cilantro, tahini and salt, and return to a boil. Turn off heat, and stir in lemon juice.
- Step 3
Use an immersion blender to purée soup. Taste, and adjust seasoning with more salt and lemon, if desired.
- Step 4
Serve soup immediately, and drizzle with tahini sauce. Cover and refrigerate remaining soup and sauce for up to 1 week, or freeze soup for up to 1 month.
- Because this soup is so simple, the quality of the stock really makes a difference, so use homemade or purchase some from a butcher. Avoid canned and boxed stocks if possible.
Private Notes
Comments
@maria c: Cilantro stems are more tender and less woody than most herbs and actually contain a huge amount of flavor. For any recipe, not just this one, discard the bottom bruised part of the stems and finely chop the rest. No need to remove individual leaves from the stems!
So, the second time I made this, I added a couple of Yukon gold potatoes and then pureed the lot of it. The flavor didn't change significantly and it gave the soup a more satisfying mouthfeel and finish.
This is a very healthy soup, but the nutritional info is wrong because it is based on TWENTY servings. Given that the recipe makes 2 qts, 20 servings would equate to approx 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp per serve!
I cannot believe that the NYT published such a poor recipe. We followed all the instructions, and the result was a thin, watery, flavourless mess. A very rare miss for both the author and this publication. There is nothing I can think of to improve this recipe beyond finding an entirely new soup to cook. I hope they remove this from their archives.
Quite yummy and nutritious! I added a container of soft tofu before blending to boost the protein content and topped it with homemade rye croutons and my husband and I enjoyed it as a complete meal.
My soup was too thin (my measurements weren’t exact, I blame myself and not recipe) so the tahini sauce sank to the bottom. It was still good though. Next day, I added cooked potatoes and more cilantro (because why not?) to thicken it. Much better consistency for sauce to float on top. This soup is delicate and delicious and perfect for those of us who can’t get enough cilantro!