Potato Leek Asparagus Soup #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Always on the hunt for a decent low-sodium soup, I decided to try a potato leek version. Lately I've been using Daily Pantry brand organic low-sodium chicken broth, and it's pretty good--more flavor than some of the others. I also planned to add celery, thyme, garlic and two bay leaves for extra zip. 

who could resist this?

And then John showed up with a lovely bunch of asparagus, so I took the thinnest stalks and sautéed them in a little more butter, to be sprinkled on the top with chopped chives. I'm not going to lie, the soup would be better with a half teaspoon of salt stirred in. But it was pretty darn good as is. And the folks who aren't worried about sodium can add salt at the table.

Ingredients

Three leeks
One clove garlic
Three stalks celery
Three large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
One large box good quality low-sodium chicken broth
Four ounces unsalted butter
Two sprigs of fresh thyme
Two bay leaves
4-6 stalks tender asparagus
Heavy cream
Fresh chives
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

Trim the leeks so you are working only with the white and palest green parts. Cut them in half lengthwise and wash them well, as there is nothing worse then grit in your soup. (Or suit, as my dictation program insisted. And that's probably true!) Chop the leeks along with the celery, and one or more cloves of garlic. Melt three tablespoons of butter in a large pot and add the chopped vegetables. When everything is well wilted, add the stock along with the chunks of peeled potato, the bay leaves, and the thyme.
Simmer until the potatoes are soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Then use your immersion blender to to purée the cooked mixture. You may leave some chunky sections if you like that texture. Add about a half cup heavy cream and stir that in. 

soup is so hard to photograph!

Serve the soup with the sautéed asparagus and chopped chives and freshly ground pepper on top.

We had a salad on the side, but you couldn't go wrong with a nice plate of biscuits or some crusty peasant bread.

The seventh Key West mystery, KILLER TAKEOUT, is on bookshelves everywhere. What about yours?

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Cornmeal Blueberry Pancakes @LucyBurdette #recipe #lowsodium

LUCY BURDETTE: Supposing you're looking for something special to serve your houseguests for breakfast? Over a year ago, I made some blue cornmeal pancakes that were to die for (she said modestly.) But when I went back to look at the recipe, I was shocked about how much sodium was involved. In pancakes! Who knew? So this is a revised version, equally delicious, probably under 100 mg of sodium for the whole batch. Next time we’d double the amount and freeze any extras for quick lunches or snacks. Or if you're serving for Christmas or New Year's Day morning, you'll need every one of them!

Ingredients:

2/3 cups  cornmeal (I used Bob's organic)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Featherweight no-sodium baking powder
1 teaspoon Ener-G sodium-free baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup milk with 1 Tbsp vinegar added (less than 150 mg sodium vs 257 in one cup buttermilk)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for greasing griddle
1 cup blueberries (frozen works fine)

Stir together cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add the blueberries. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until mostly combined.

Heat the pan or griddle and melt some butter to cover the bottom. Add the wet batter to the pan. Cook over medium heat until bubbles pop, then flip the pancakes over and cook the other side, 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve with real maple syrup. Next time I would also top with a dollop of plain yogurt.

KILLER TAKEOUT is coming next April, but available for pre-order today!

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Asking for Murder by Roberta Isleib #recipe #confession

LUCY BURDETTE: All this week I'm celebrating the publication of ASKING FOR MURDER, my third advice column mystery, as an ebook. These books (written as Roberta Isleib), star a clinical psychologist who also writes an advice column. The character, Rebecca Butterman, is close to my heart, as she does the kind of psychotherapy work that I used to do. She's also a very good home cook--in ASKING FOR MURDER, she makes a wonderful meal for a man she is sort-of dating, a good friend, and a murder suspect whom she wants to grill. Cooking not only helps her think, it shows people she cares about how much she loves them, and gives her something to do while grilling bad guys. So her spaghetti carbonara is what I wanted to make for you today:

 "I diced the pancetta and scraped it into the frying pan, then began to mince an onion, the first Vidalia of the season. The hot oil would bring out the sweetness—a luscious contrast to the salty Italian bacon and cheese." 

Are you swooning?

Unfortunately, this summer I've suffered with several serious bouts of vertigo and nausea, and finally had the problem diagnosed as Meniere's disease. This involves too much fluid in the inner ear. 

First line of treatment? A diuretic and LOW SALT DIET. Goodbye spaghetti carbonara! Goodbye olives and bloody Marys with the glass rimmed in salt! So long soy sauce and Chinese food. The list goes on and on. In fact, once you start reading labels (which I have to), you will be astonished and appalled at how much sodium gets packed into food. And as my brother said when I told him about this development: "But I love sodium! Sodium makes food taste good."

Sigh. But the symptoms are awful, so I have no choice. I will have to be cooking differently. And I thought there might be others of you who need to reduce salt in your diet for various reasons, and might find what I learn to be useful.

I'll start with the first thing I made--I needed protein and potassium and good easy food fast. So I made this:

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen (I had frozen from the garden)
1 banana
1 cup plain yogurt or milk or some of each
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups of ice

Add the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. That's it! 


Something delicious and nutritious to sip on while reading Asking For Murder, which you can download right here.

Reviews: Asking for Murder is good escapist reading, a charming and sometimes gritty mystery with an appealing protagonist who sleuths, cooks and psychoanalyzes.

-- Marilyn Dahl, Shelf-Awareness

It's springtime in Connecticut and psychotherapist Dr. Rebecca Butterman's fancy has turned to hamburgers...and murder, in Asking for Murder, the best entry of this series to date.

Jennifer Monahan Winberry, The Mystery Reader

Roberta Isleib's new novel Asking for Murder is a unique mix of murder mystery and psychological exploration. The characters are believable, likeable, and easy to relate to. The prose flows well and the dialogue is intelligent. I couldn't put this book down.

-- Jennifer Melville, Story Circle Book Reviews

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West foodie mysteries. KILLER TAKEOUT is coming next April, but is available for pre-order today! 

And you can follow Lucy on Facebook,

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and Instagram!