Oh Green Soup, how I love thee!

I was first introduced to the concept of green soup by my nutritional counselor. Now, I know how that sounds- kind of “hoity, toity”- but honestly, nutritional counseling has been one of the best investments in me that I’ve ever made. I tend toward “know-it-all-ness” and generally need a good kick in the pants to come back to reality. Dr. Julie has a rather gentle, yet direct foot.

About 80 days into a 60 day yoga challenge, I walked into Dr. Julie’s office with complaints of feeling lethargic and having a tough time getting through yoga class. (You may note that I didn’t say work day; you need to know that yoga takes priority over almost everything else. It’s true. I’m an addict) I was completely baffled by the way my body was acting; Dr. Julie however would have rolled her eyes at me if she had allowed herself. “What are you eating, Becky?” -she started with the questions. “And you’ve done one Bikram yoga class per day for approximately 2 ½ months?”; “What makes you think that you’re fueling your body well?” (Ouch, that one hurt). “I want you to go to the grocery store and pick up every green vegetable you find. Then go home and throw them all into a soup pot together. You are severely low in minerals and need to get your body back up to speed pronto.” (No, these weren’t her actual words, but this is the way I heard them).

I’m no dummy, so I did as I was told. Not only did I create the most fantastic tasting soup, I felt the effects immediately. What a panacea!

Fast forward about six months. I was reading through the October 2011 issue of Eating Well magazine. There on page 78 is an article entitled, “The Soup for Life” by Anna Thomas. The article contains five wonderful green soup recipes; the one you’ll find below is for Basic Green Soup.

The concept of green soup is very simple- use any and as many green vegetables as you like. Puree it if you want a creamy soup (I always do). I like to use rice or potatoes to thicken.

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil

2 large yellow onions chopped

1 tsp salt divided

2 tbs plus 3 cups water

1 yam (smallish)

1 bunch kale

approx 14 cups spinach

4 cups vegetable broth

big pinch cayenne pepper

lemon juice to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add onions and 1/4 tsp salt; cook, stirring frequently until onions start turning brown (about 5 min). Reduce heat and add 2 tbs water. Cook, stirring occasionally (cover between stirs) until onions are reduced and have a deep caramel color- 25-30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine 3 cups water and ¾ tsp salt in a soup pot; add the diced yam. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Trim the white ribs out of the kale; coarsely chop kale and spinach.
3. When yam is soft, add the kale. Cook for 10 minutes. When the onions are caramelized, stir them into the soup pot with spinach, broth and cayenne. Return to simmer, cover and cook until spinach is tender but still bright green- about 5 minutes more.
4. Puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender until smooth or in a regular blender in batches (return to pot). Stir in 1 tbs lemon. Taste and add more if desired.