Those who know me are aware of how much I love soup! Seriously, it’s such a practical way to get everything you need in one pot and on the table for dinner in just minutes. It can be adjusted to accommodate any needs, moods, cravings, seasons, and taste preferences. It is also a fantastic way to use up leftovers in your refrigerator. Something else you should know about me, I am on a mission to reduce food waste in any way I can and help those around me do the same. I share tips with friends and family, I blog about it, I talk about it on the radio, and often at parties I am trying to make sure no food goes into the trash. But this is a long and important subject for another blog.
Back to soup, consider this my official warning: you will see lots of soups recipes here! But I can guarantee you one thing, they will be easy to prepare and give you lots of substitution options so you can make them fit your families preferences.
Today’s soup recipe was inspired by Olive Garden’s potato soup. It’s my favorite soup they have there, out of their 4 or 5 options, this is the one I usually pick. But unfortunately it is often a bit saltier than it needs to be, and since I decreased our meat intake (another subject I will get into more in my blogs as well!) that soup just didn’t fit my needs as wants as well anymore. But I missed the savory taste combo of the potato with crispy kale.
You will need 4-5 potatoes, I like to use gold potatoes variety, they are a little softer and cook faster in my opinion. Also, if you can fit it in your budget go for the organic kind since potatoes are on the Dirty Dozen List (this changes yearly, so check here for the list this year: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/). Wash them, peel, dice into cubes and add to a medium size pot with water, make sure the water covers the potatoes and has about 2 inches of extra water on top. Should be about 6 to 8 cups. While they boil, wash and chop 4 to 5 cups of curly kale, and get your canned chickpeas opened and rinsed. Once the potatoes are soft remove them from the stove top or turn off the burner. Here is the secret on how to get a “creamy” texture without adding any dairy or other ingredients, with a immersion blender pulse only a few times so you get about half of the potatoes and the rest remains intact. If you don’t have any immersion blender, just scoop about 1 cup of the boiled potatoes into a blender, blend and then return it to the pot. Now add your chickpeas and kale. Do not return it to the heat, the soup should be hot enough to slightly cook the kale and warm up the chickpeas. To finish add 2 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. That’s it! How easy is that?
If you return the soup to the heat after adding the kale it will darken the color of the kale to a dark green or brown. I learned that some people prefer it that way, so it’s up to you!
Some other options: use parsnips instead of potatoes, spinach instead of kale.
Ingredients
- 5 medium golden potatoes
- 1 bunch of crispy kale
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash, peel and dice potatoes. Add to a medium sized pot with 6 to 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are soft.
- Turn heat off and using an immersion blender (or regular blender), blend about 1/3 of the potatoes, leaving the rest intact.
- Now add washed and chipped kale and the can of chickpeas.
- To finish add olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm and or freeze left overs!
