KICK IT UP! My wife and I made this for the first time the other night. Since we already had a bunch of flat leaf parsely and a bunch of cilantro we added those to a mix of fresh kale and baby spinach. We make a spinach tortellini soup that uses a whole bulb of minced garlic and it's awesome so next time we make this green soup we plan to add a whole bulb of minced garlic and add one more onion to boost the flavor. And perhaps another 1/4 cup of rice for a little more thickening. But our first batch of soup was so good we nearly ate it all drizzled with fresh EVOO and a side of toasted Pumpernickel bread. Pros: Easy to modify
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 Delicious and Freeze-able I've made this soup several times now usually with variations. The spinach is absolutely necessary for the sweetness. I used kale instead of chard and it made it slightly more bitter. When using greens from our CSA there's a bit of prep time because if you're using something like kale you have to clean and get out the fibrous stems. Making it the first time is the hardest because of the two pots going at the same time but after that it's easy. I use an immersion blender which saves on the cleaning and I highly recommend it instead of a food processor (why make more dishes to clean?). This soup freezes really well especially into numerous small bowls to grab to take to work for lunch to be microwaved. I also highly recommend a swirl of plain yogurt or sour cream. It adds a bit to the calories and fat and makes the soup not vegan but it makes the soup much heartier--a true meal by itself--and gives it a silky texture. Pros: Can Be Frozen Flexible for some Ingredients Cons: Makes a lot of dirty pots and pans; high prep time if you buy loose greens
Amazing! This will be a new staple for sure. I was dubious that it would taste great with such few and pungent ingredients; but it really is sweet and savory.
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
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
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.
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!
