Green Soup

The important thing to note about this chef-inspired soup is that it can be used as a template for any greens that you have on hand.  Broccoli…check!  Kale…check!  Double the spinach and no beet greens…O.K.!  Even lettuce can be used as part of your huge pile of greens.  Imagine the reaction that you would get from Popeye!  This soup was a hit in my family from the youngest to the oldest.  Try it out on your family and see what they think.  I paired this with a salad and it made for a great meal.  You could also add croutons or some crusty bread!  Enjoy!

Gather your greens to get started!

Green Soup

Ingredients:

2T olive oil or butter

3 yellow onions, sliced thin

3 green garlic plants, trimmed and sliced

1 T ground cumin

Celery, a handful of stalks (with leaves) about as thick around as a box of dry spaghetti

1 T of dried thyme

2 lbs of potatoes (I used 4 medium sized Yukon Golds), peeled and sliced thin

A whole bunch of beet greens, chopped

A whole bunch of spinach, chopped

A whole bunch of chard, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Get out that big ‘ole soup pot!  Put your butter/olive oil in the bottom of the pot and dump in your sliced onions.  I used a mandolin to slice my onions and then later my potatoes as well.  This was a huge time saver, but you could simply slice thin your onions and potatoes with a knife if you don’t have a mandolin.

Slice ’em thin and sweat ’em

Stir the onions around and let them sweat on medium high heat.  Trim and slice your green garlic and sprinkle over the sliced onions.  Stir and continue to let ‘em sweat.  Toss in your cumin.  Stir.  If you need to add water to prevent stuff from sticking to the bottom of the pot, go ahead and add it anytime.  Chop your celery, stalks, leaves and all and add it to the pot.  Add salt and pepper.  Stir and continue to let this fragrant mixture cook until the onions become translucent.

See how they’ve cooked down?

Use this time to peel and slice your potatoes.  The thinner they are the more confident you will be that they will be fully cooked when your soup is ready to be blended to creamy perfection at the end.  These potatoes are the key ingredient for a velvety smooth soup.  Add the thyme and potatoes, stir.

Fluffy chopped greens added to the pot!

Chop your greens and cram them into your pot.  You can add half of the greens and wait until they wilt a bit then add the other half if the whole pile is just too fluffy to add all at once.  Add water to your pot.  Fill it up to 2 inches below the rim of the pot.  Bring this up to a good boil then turn the heat down and let is continue to simmer for at least an hour.  Taste your broth and add more salt and pepper to taste.  Use an immersion blender (or transfer soup in batches to your container blender) and puree this hot swampy mess into a gourmet soup fit for a fancy brunch!