Spring Vegetable Soup with Sour Cream and Fresh Dill

Directions

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add the minced onion, celery and carrot (the minced carrot, not the carrot slices!) and the kosher salt. Sauté for about 15 minutes, or until really soft and starting to caramelize.
3. Add the garlic and sauté just until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
5. Prep the potatoes and carrots while the broth is coming to a boil: cut cut the potatoes (no need to peel) into 1" lengths that are about 1/3" thick. (Basically, you want the potato sticks to be the same size and shape as your chopped asparagus.) Set them aside in a bowl. Peel the carrots and slice them diagonally into 1/3" coins. Put them in a second bowl. Measure out your peas in a third bowl. Trim your asparagus, cut it into 1" lengths, and place it in a yet another bowl. Why? These veggies cook at different rates, and you don't want your peas to turn into mush while your potatoes are still raw.
6. Once your broth is boiling, set your timer for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the carrots when your timer says 8 minutes. Add the peas when it's down to 5 minutes. Add the asparagus at the 3-minute mark. When your timer goes off, kill the heat and remove the pan from the burner.
7. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Before serving, top each bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream and 1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill. Serve with warm bread (if you want to go homemade, I highly recommend Heidi Swanson's black bread at 101 Cookbooks) and butter.