Honeymoon Soup
Honeymoon Soup
The silly name for this soup stems from a sandwich I made when I was a kid. I was making my sandwich with Swiss cheese on toasted rye bread. I put one single slice of cheese on the bread and then proceeded to pile up all this lettuce on the sandwich.
What can I say? I really like a lot of lettuce on my sandwiches.
I cut it in half and was sort of struggling to eat it without the lettuce tumbling everywhere, when my father came in the kitchen. He said I had made a honeymoon sandwich, lettuce alone. Get it? Let us alone. It took a second before I got it. My dad was the king of puns. The name stuck.
I make lettuce soup from time to time. Mostly when I have a lot of lettuce I need to use up. I have planters full of lettuce right now, so honeymoon soup is on the menu today.
The lettuce actually adds nice flavor to the soup. For this one, I decided to add the other elements of my sandwich by topping the soup with some shredded Swiss cheese and fresh rye bread croutons. The combination was really nice- kind of light and satisfying at the same time.
Honeymoon Soup
6 c. stock- I used chicken, but vegetable or beef stock would work, too
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
6 c. shredded Romaine lettuce- you can use other lettuces – I often use Spring Mix
2 T. butter or oil
3-4 slices rye bread, cubed
1 c. shredded Swiss cheese- or whatever cheese you prefer
Heat stock and simmer carrots in stock until tender. While carrots are cooking, heat butter or oil in a skillet and toast the bread cubes in the skillet. Stir often so they don’t burn. You end up with nice rye croutons. You can just set them aside and add to the soup at room temperature. I prefer to warm them in the skillet right before serving.
Back to the soup- once the carrots are tender add the lettuce to the stock. It will wilt down a lot and cook quickly. Allow about 3-4 minutes for the lettuce to wilt down. Ladle the hot soup into serving bowls. Top with some shredded cheese and then the croutons. Serves 3-4.
