Quick Shrimp Bisque

This soup makes a great weeknight meal.  It’s quick to make, healthy, and easy to clean up.  Since this soup is thick with so many veggies, I served it in cute little breadbowls (actually, just soft Vienna rolls from Wegmans), but it’s also great on its own.  If you don't like shrimp, feel free to use any canned, frozen, or fresh seafood you've got on hand.

I took the spice cues from the ingredients from Old Bay Seasoning (because I ran out of Old Bay), which includes salt, celery seed, mustard, red pepper, black pepper, bay leaves, cloves, allspice, ginger, mace, cardamom, cinnamon, and paprika.  If you’ve got Old Bay on hand you could use one or two teaspoons instead of the spices listed below.

Quick Shrimp Bisque

(Yield:  6 cups)

2 TB olive oil

1 small onion, finely diced

2 small-medium carrots, peeled and finely diced

2 stalks celery (including green leafy tops), finely diced

~⅓ red pepper, finely diced

1 medium tomato, finely diced

1 small-medium potato, peeled and finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 c cold water

2 bay leaves

2 vegetable bouillon cubes

¼ teaspoon Frank’s Red Hot sauce

¾ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Pinch allspice

½ c corn (frozen, canned, or cut off the cob)

6 oz can cleaned tiny shrimp, drained

¼ c chopped fresh parsley, divided

If you want to put the soup in breadbowls, you’ll need 4-6 rolls (make sure to get rolls that are fairly sturdy, or your soup could leak out)

In a medium-sized pot with a lid, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, then add the following ingredients:  onion, carrots, celery, red pepper, tomato, potato, and garlic.  Sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.  Add the cold water, bring the soup to a boil, then cover the pot and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through.  Transfer 1 ½ c of the soup to a blender or food processor and blend until puréed (about 1 minute).  Transfer the purée back into the pot of soup and stir in the corn, shrimp, and 2 TB of parsley; heat for ~2 minutes.  If desired, serve the soup inside hollowed-out rolls (make sure not to scoop out too much and tear the bread), garnished with fresh chopped parsley.