How to Boil Water: Zesty Spinach Soup with Crostini with Sun-Dried Tomato and White Bean Spread

Well this was definitely not a Julia Child recipe. Maybe one day I can cook something so brilliant and for it to actually taste as such. But for now I'm just going to keep dreaming about having that ability to cook so amazing.  So tonight we just had a meal out of my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknights. Actually let me just state now that all my meals this week has been brought to you by that book. Okay, now that that's out of the way and I'm dreaming of amazing French food, I'll just tell you about the recipe.

Ingredients:
Zesty Spinach Soup
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (1 small)
2 cup organic vegetable broth
1 cup (1/2 inch) diced Yukon gold potato
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream, divided
Reduced-fat sour cream (optional)
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Crostini with Sun-Dried Tomato and White Bean Spread
8 (1/2-inch thick) diagonally-cut baguette slices
1 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup coarsely chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves

Directions:
Zesty Spinach Soup
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; saute 3 minutes. Add broth and next 3 ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until potato is very tender, stirring occasionally. Add spinach; cover and cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts.

Place half of soup and 1/4 cup sour cream in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blend lid (to avoid splatters). Blend under smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining soup and 1/4 cup sour cream.

Pour soup evenly into 4 bowls. Top each with a dollop of additional sour cream, if desired, and 1/4 teaspoon lemon rind.

Crostini with Sun-Dried Tomato and White Bean Spread
Preheat oven to 350.

Place baguette slices on a large baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until lightly toasted.

While baguette slices toast, place beans and next 4 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Spread 2 tablespoons bean mixture on each baguette slice; sprinkle each with 1/2 tablespoon chopped tomatoes.

So our feelings about this meal? Mixed. The bread was kinda gross. Either one of us were nuts about it. And the soup was interesting. It wasn't bad, but...interesting. It would be good for St. Patrick's Day, merely because it's green otherwise it has nothing to do with the Irish (or the English considering St. Patrick was kidnapped by the Irish).