Smoked Salmon And Cream Cheese Soup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups onions (yellow or variety, finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed & finely minced)
• 3/4 cup fresh dill (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon old bay seasoning (more as desired)
• 2 medium tomatoes (ripe, seeded & chopped)
• 8 ounces smoked salmon (finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 8 cups water
• 2 cups fresh spinach (10 oz pkg, stems removed & leaves finely chopped)
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1/3 cup vodka
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
• snipped fresh chives (optional garnish)

Recipe

• 1 melt butter in med-size stock pot over med heat. add onion + garlic & saute till onions are soft, 10-15 minutes.
• 2 stir in dill, old bay seasoning, tomatoes & smoked salmon. cook 3 minutes. then add flour & cook 1 min more.
• 3 gradually stir in water & heat to a soft boil. reduce heat & simmer uncovered over med-low heat for 20 minutes.
• 4 stir in spinach & simmer 5 more minutes.
• 5 stir in cream cheese (1 oz at a time) over low heat, allowing ea bit to melt into the soup.
• 6 when all the cream cheese has been added & the soup is smooth, stir in the vodka & lemon juice. taste for seasonings & serve immediately.
• 7 notes: i entered this recipe as given to me & made a half recipe w/2 chgs in my trial version.
• 8 i left out the vodka (none in the house!), subbed dry wine & frankly doubt i will ever use the vodka. i pd homage to a dh pers pref & subbed diced broccoli florets for the spinach. i pd homage to 1 of my own by adding 4 oz baby shrimp.
• 9 pers pref are often at the heart of any success a recipe enjoys. i found this soup in need of salt, but dh did not. he found the lemon juice a bit excessive, but i did not. bottom line is tasting for your pers pref is advised.