Dinner: Chard, Kale, and Lentil Soup (CSA Veggies)
Second attempt at using up lots of CSA veggies. I’m sad to say that I don’t really like leafy green things like kale and chard that much, although I’m trying to learn to like them more since I know they are fantastically good for you. Soup is a great way to incorporate ingredients that you don’t particularly care for, since the ingredients and flavors all meld together and it’s not like you’re eating a giant bowl of just kale. Soup is also a great dish for improvising- I don’t know the last time I actually followed a recipe to make soup. Once you get the hang of the basic ingredients, it’s easy to add a little of this and a little of that and just keep tasting until the flavor is right.
Here’s the chard (my kale photo came out blurry).
Chopped and sauteed in olive oil: 1.5 onions, four cloves garlic, and two celery stalks.
Once those were starting to soften, I added two chopped carrots and 3/4 cup dried brown lentils. I used to buy canned lentils and other beans but have been slowly getting into the habit of using dried. I think they taste better, and they are certainly cheaper and have less packaging.
Then I added about 2 quarts of broth (leftover from making seitan yesterday) and some tomato juice (from my parents’ garden!)
And then the chopped greens, added in small batches since a whole head of kale and a whole head of chard is a whole lot of greens once chopped up. But they cook down a lot so what looks like way too much greens is actually just right. Simmer, simmer, simmer (I don’t know for how long- just until the lentils were soft).
Added some Spanish smoked paprika and ground black pepper. Pureed with immersion blender since I should have chopped the greens a bit finer before putting them into the pot. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can ladle the soup into a regular blender to puree it, but an immersion blender is much easier.
All done! I added a little bit of hot sauce to the top, and served it with some nice crusty whole wheat bread from Metropolitan Bakery.
Hey – nice jar of tomato juice! Do you need some more?