Basic Green Soup

So good! This recipe makes a lot too and it stores and re-heats well too.

This soup is wonderful!! I added parsley, and next time would also throw in some minced garlic. This is a wonderful soup, thanks Anna Thomas!

LOVE this soup! I've been making it on and off for many years and just made another batch today. It's been a while since I last made it and had to look up the recipe and decided to share my changes. I added an extra pound of baby kale and a few carrots. I also used 1/2 cup red bulgar and 1/2 cup barley instead of the 1/4 cup rice. It really made this soup thick and added a meatiness to it. Lots of different flavors and so satisfying- I can't believe it's vegan.

Actually, I have a question. Should the rice be cooked before or not?

I made this using kale and spinach. I also added some mushrooms to the onion mixture after it had cooked down most of the way. Delicious!

Flexible, healthy, I love how flexible this basic recipe is. I intend to start making this soup every other week or so to inject some greens into our diet! Will experiment with throwing in some garlic in the future. Lemon juice adds a lot. Pros: Flexible, healthy

Flexible, healthy, I love how flexible this basic recipe is. I intend to start making this soup every other week or so to inject some greens into our diet! Will experiment with throwing in some garlic in the future. Lemon juice adds a lot.Pros: Flexible, healthy

Fantastic and versatile recipe My almost-four-year-old and I have made this soup for dinner 3-4 times now, always with a different combination of greens and a different starch to thicken it. As members of a farmshare we are constantly getting bunches and bunches of greens -- kale, collards, bok choi, tatsoi, endive, etc., etc., -- especially this fall. Frankly I was getting REALLY tired of the usual kale chips, sauteed greens, or stir fries/pastas, and the only way that the kid would eat greens was the kale chips. Since he really likes other pureed soups, like tomato, butternut squash, etc., I hoped this one would also be a winner, and it has been. The first time I made it, I had a bunch of kale and some unidentifiable VERY bitter green, but the soup was delicious even without the sweeter spinach touch. That time I followed the directions to the T. Since then, I've been making it a bit differently each time... Tonight we had four different greens, a skin-on Yukon Gold potato for the starch, and a bunch of homemade stock from last night's roast Polyface Farm chicken. Wow. Guess this version isn't appropriate for vegetarians, but it sure was good. Thanks for such a fantastic and versatile recipe!

WonerfulLoved this soup. I accidentally bought parsley instead of kale (not sure how it happened really). But it was still wonderful. I'll definitely make it again. I was surprised by the flavor--initially I thought I would be on the fence, but it turned out great. I'll make it with the kale next time.Pros: bright green attractive color, earthy-rich flavorCons: could perhaps be a little thicker

Wonerful Loved this soup. I accidentally bought parsley instead of kale (not sure how it happened really). But it was still wonderful. I'll definitely make it again. I was surprised by the flavor--initially I thought I would be on the fence, but it turned out great. I'll make it with the kale next time. Pros: bright green attractive color, earthy-rich flavor Cons: could perhaps be a little thicker

Skeptical at first but... YUM! Light, healthy, yummy... I was really skeptical the night that I made it. I thought it had a canned spinach flavor to it (hubby disagreed). I cook ahead for the week's lunches and when I had this the following day for lunch, I was blown away!!! No canned spinach taste. Light lemony flavor. I can see how the recipe may become addicting. The pinch of cayenne is a necessity. It changes everything! Pros: Easy Cons: Takes awhile for the onions to carmelize