{"id":215,"date":"2009-01-06T16:18:46","date_gmt":"2009-01-06T23:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/?p=215"},"modified":"2009-01-06T16:23:44","modified_gmt":"2009-01-06T23:23:44","slug":"a-nice-winter-vegetable-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/?p=215","title":{"rendered":"A Nice Winter Vegetable Soup"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought this vegetarian soup was pretty “meh” when I made it last night, but the leftovers today were delicious<\/em>. The recipe came tucked in our veggie box, with attribution to Cheryl Quantz of San Mateo. I thought I’d post it here for my own future reference, and for anybody who might be interested in a healthy, hearty, and frugal soup (kale is generally $1.99 a bunch at Whole Foods, probably cheaper elsewhere). Cheryl notes, “If possible let the soup sit for an hour or so before serving to allow the flavors to further develop,” but I think it needs longer than that. Overnight is best.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This picture is misleading; we were down to the last dregs of soup by the time I thought to snap a photo, and Robin and I had already slurped out all the kale. So imagine this thickened by lots more greens.<\/p>\n

Cheryl’s recipe also says, “The ingredients of this soup supply plenty of flavor, so use water to prepare a simple stock by simmering the stems of the kale.” That’s exactly what I did: I cut up an onion and simmered it along with the kale stems for an hour. I have no doubt that real home-made chicken stock would improve the soup\u2014it improves everything\u2014but that would detract some from the frugality (as well as rendering the soup non-vegetarian, for those of you who swing that way). Anyway, the improvised stock does work.<\/p>\n

I think next time I might cut up a little bit of kielbasa and toss it in.<\/p>\n

Kale and Potato Soup with Red Chili<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 bunch kale
\n3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
\n1 bunch leeks, washed and chopped (the original recipe calls for “1 medium red or yellow onion” but I used a bunch of leeks instead, and I recommend it: potato-leek soup is a classic combo for a reason)
\n6 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced (I was down to the ends of a head of garlic, so I only had four cloves, and I don’t<\/em> recommend it. Use all six.)
\n1 small dried red chili, seeded and chopped, or 1\/2 tsp chili flakes (I used the chili; I was worried that it would add too much heat but actually there was no<\/em> appreciable heat. But chilis, of course, vary.)
\n1 bay leaf
\n1 tsp salt
\n1 lb potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into bite-size pieces (I used Yukon Gold because that’s what I had, but red potatoes would be nice too)
\n2 tsp nutritional yeast (the recipe notes that this is optional; I actually did buy and add the nutritional yeast, which is apparently different from regular yeast, but I’m not sure it did much for the soup. Oh, wait, I have Google—I can go see what nutritional yeast is supposed to do. Hmm<\/a>. It’s supposed to add vitamins and a flavor similar to parmesan cheese.)
\nInterestingly, I also threw in a couple of parmesan cheese rinds, because I’ve been saving them and they’re supposed to be good in soups. I think if you’re not using “real” stock, and you don’t need your soup to be vegan, this is a good idea.
\n7 cups stock
\nPepper
\nCr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche or sour cream (optional, and I didn’t use it. It didn’t seem like the kind of soup that would be particularly good with sour cream.)<\/p>\n

Tear the kale leaves off the stems and, if you want, make a simple stock with the stems. Tear the greens into bite-sized pieces, wash them, and set them aside.<\/p>\n

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat; add the leeks, garlic, chili, bay leaf, and salt, and saute until the leeks are softened but not soggy, 3 or 4 minutes. Add the potatoes and the yeast (if using), plus a cup of the stock. Stir together, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

Add the kale, stir, cover, and steam until it is wilted (stirring occasionally). Pour in the rest of the stock and add a generous grinding of pepper, plus the parmesan rind if you’re using that. (This is where I’d throw in the kielbasa, too.) Put the heat on high and bring to a boil, then turn heat to medium-low or low as necessary to keep it at a simmer. Cook until potatoes are soft.<\/p>\n

Use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the potatoes by pressing them against the sides of the pot. This will make a unifying background for the other flavors. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.<\/p>\n

Let the soup sit at least an hour and preferably overnight. Serve hot, with a spoonful of cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche or sour cream if you are a braver woman than I.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought this vegetarian soup was pretty “meh” when I made it last night, but the leftovers today were delicious. The recipe came tucked in our veggie box, with attribution to Cheryl Quantz of San Mateo. I thought I’d post it here for my own future reference, and for anybody who might be interested in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shannon.users.sonic.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}