Penance for Profiteroles: Carrot and Kale Soup

After a rather decadent date with chocolate ice-cream filled profiteroles last week, I felt as if I needed to repent with something simple. That something turned out to be a Carrot and Kale Soup.

Kale is one of my favourite vegetables but I don't cook it nearly as often as I should. There's something about its texture which I really love, especially when it's steamed, or as in this case, simmered for several minutes.

I mentioned in my my kale & smoked bacon quiche post, that the texture is somewhere between English spinach and seaweed. However, I'm not sure that's accurate. The leaves are curled and are very much firmer than lettuce, but soften upon wilting. If you can help me with a description of its texture, I'd love to hear it, because right now I'm groping around without success.

When I was in LA doing the raw food thing I tried a pretty hardcore green juice with raw kale in it. I won't be doing that again. While I do love the leafy green, consuming it raw was far too potent and I felt rather 'green' for several hours afterwards! That's not to say you shouldn't try it raw though, perhaps having it for breakfast first thing was the problem. I think I should have first consumed some greasy scrambled eggs and bacon to counteract the purity of all the raw kale nutrients!

In this recipe I used curly leafed baby kale, which when lightly cooked provides more calcium for every 100g serving than milk, yogurt, cooked broccoli or cooked spinach. It also has seven times the amount of vitamin A than cooked broccoli. These are just a few examples of the seemingly endless benefits of kale.

I'm submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging being hosted this week by Joanna of the blog Joanna's Food.

Carrot & Kale Soup Recipe

2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 medium brown onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups of roughly chopped kale
3 cups of organic chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup of water
1 1/2 tsp of sea salt
2 tbs of chopped coriander (cilantro)
5 cm piece of ginger, grated
1 1/2 tbs of olive oil
1 cup of rice
Lemon wedges for serving

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over a medium-high heat. Sauté the onion until translucent for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.
2. Add the carrot and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and ginger and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the salt and stir.
3. Add the stock and water to the pot and stir well. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Next, add the rice to the pot and stir. Cover again and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. Add the chopped coriander and stir well. Add the kale, stir and then simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Serve in soup bowls with lemon wedges for squeezing.

Comments

[Joanna]

Delicious penance! I love kale, and this looks really good

Joanna

[Syrie]

Yes, it was a rather tasty soup. Thanks Joanna!

[Aran]

First of all, that's for stopping by my blog... now I got the chance to discover yours. Beautiful photos... so clean and crisp. Love it!

[Julia]

I tried a green smoothie challenge back in March and also discovered that raw Kale is not for me! I did, however, fall in love with raw spinach in my otherwise fruit smoothies.

[tommy]

did u take the pics of the food in this entry?
artsy.
i love taking pics of my creations in this style

[matt wright]

Not only does that sound like an amazing soup, but blood hell, talk about extremely good photography. Great plating, great angle, lovely light. Top notch.

[Wendy]

Wow. Beautiful blog you have here. Your photographs and food are stunning. Lovely to have found you. :)

[Marc @ NoRecipes]

I love kale too, this one looks both healthy and delicioius. Have you tried Lacinato Kale raw? It's a little less potent than the regular kind and if you get the young leaves it's not as fiberous.

[Rasa Malaysia]

I have never cooked kale in my life! The picture look very good, very magazine-worthy. :)

[Laura @ Hungry and Frozen]

Mmm, looks fabulous. I can see why you'd want something a little vegetable-y after those profiteroles, but this doesn't look like punishment at all :)

[Marija]

Beautiful photo! And the soup sounds wonderful!

[Kalyn]

I do agree with everyone who's commented on the photos, just beautiful.

[Syrie]

Thanks for reciprocating Aran!

Woe, a spinach smoothie, now that's intense Julia. Not sure if I'm game enough!

Hey Tommy, thanks for visiting. Sure did.

Thanks for your lovely comments Matt! That means a lot coming from you.

Thanks so much Wendy!

Thanks for the tip Marc. I found some at my fruit shop and am going to try it mixed in with tabouli.

Thanks so much Bee! I hope to see it in one of your amazing creations!

Hey Laura, I guess it wasn't too bad was it!

Thank you Marija!

Thanks so much for stopping by Kalyn.

Cheers everyone, Syrie

[Jude]

Such an elegant presentation. Love the pictures on your blog.

[Jo]

Can't wait to try this! :)