During the colder months it can be all too easy to turn away from our leafy green salads and on to heavier comfort foods. This nourishing, pure green soup is a great way to keep up your daily greens intake, just in a warmer way. I have picked the herbs and spices used in this soup especially for their detoxifying and disease-fighting properties. Oregano is known for its anti-bacterial properties; parsley is great for assisting in cleansing the body of toxins; garlic and ginger are both excellent anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory foods.
Diving into a bowl of soup is always a comforting experience, I think. With these beautiful pure green soup ingredients, you can be sure you’re truly loving your insides. The great thing about cooking greens into a soup is that you really maximise your opportunity to take in all of their nutrients. When we cook veggies in water, some of the more fragile, water-soluble nutrients leach out into the cooking water. No worries when it’s a soup – you get to eat the cooking water too!
This recipe makes approximately 4-6 servings of pure green soup, depending on how much you feel like. If you don’t have the exact ingredients on hand (e.g. you don’t have leek laying around!), play around a little and use an extra onion instead. You can also chuck in extra odds and ends from the crisper like zucchini or celery; throw them in the pot and cook until soft.
I’ve put peas into this pure green soup to a dose of plant protein. But you can also top with some shredded chicken, chickpeas, a poached egg or toasted nuts/seeds for a more fulsome meal. And I think every great soup deserves to be enjoyed with a chunk of toasty bread! If that’s not your thing, try pouring this soup over a bowl of brown rice. Satisfying complex carbohydrates plus a lovely chewy texture. Yum! I hope you love this pure green soup as much as I do.
Cleansing Pure Green Soup
Ingredients
- 1 brown onion
- 1 leek
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp fresh ginger grated (or can use 1 tsp minced ginger from a jar)
- 1 tbsp oregano , dried
- 1 head broccoli approx. 400 grams
- 1/2 head cauliflower approx. 300 grams
- 2 cups kale leaves, thick middle stems removed*
- 1/2 bunch parsley , fresh, approx. 35-40 grams
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 litre stock , chicken or vegetable*
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or other fat of choice, for frying
- salt & pepper to season
Instructions
- Peel and dice the onion, leek and garlic. Chop the broccoli and cauliflower into florets.
- In a large pot, heat up your 3 tablespoons of olive oil or other fat of choice.
- Fry the onion, leek, celery, garlic and ginger over a moderate-high heat for about 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture is soft and the onion translucent.
- Add the broccoli and cauliflower to the pot, and pour over the stock. Bring to boil, then reduce to a low-moderate heat so it is just simmering, then cover.
- Cook for about ten minutes, then add in the kale leaves. You can stir the soup a little as you go to break up the veggies and ensure all is submerged.
- After 5-10 more minutes (until the kale is softened) add in the frozen peas, then cook for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from the heat, add in the parsley and then use a stick blender to puree until smooth (or transfer the mix to a blender or food processor to blend). Add extra water if needed, until the soup reaches your desired consistency. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
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