Vegan Kale and potato soup with cashew cream

April 18, 2015 Published by Dina

Funny I haven’t made kale soup before, especially because I make a lot of soups and tend to  have a pot of soup simmering at the back of the stove or a mason jar or two in the fridge with homemade simple and delicious soups. They are so easy to prepare and making dinner is simple if you have a nice soup on hand.

Somehow I found myself with 4 bunches of kale in the fridge, not sure how, but I had to use some of them in a dish other than (not) another kale salad. I had a few potatoes that I could use to thicken it and I was on a roll, making a beautiful green soup in my favourite black enamel cast iron Le Creuset pot.

I don’t really need recipes for making soups. You kind of know what goes with what so I just build the soup form the bottom up. Olive oil, onions and garlic form the base, a few potatoes to thicken it a little, good vegetable stock, sea salt and freshly ground pepper to flavour it and a bunch of chopped kale to make this a kale soup (I used Tuscan kale rather than the curly or the other varieties). For additional flavouring I spooned a little basil pesto into it and it gave the soup an interesting flavour. If you don’t have basil pesto try or you parsley pesto if you have it or a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley. Let the soup simmer for a few minutes and then puree it with a hand blender or a regular blender for finer texture and there you have it, a lovely homemade kale soup. This is not the kind of soup that needs to simmer for a long time. Barley 30 minutes from start to finish and it’s done.

I poured it into the soup bowls, spooned more basil pesto over and swirled in some cashew cream, suit yourself if you want something else. It was nice and light and enjoyable soup that I will likely make again and wanted to share with you.


 

Kale and potato soup

Kale and potato soup


Ingredients:


2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 medium potatoes (I used starchy russet)

4 cups vegetable stock

2 cups water

2 bunched Tuscan kale, thick veins removed, leaves chopped

A handful flat leaf parsley

1 tablespoon basil pesto, more for garnish

Salt and pepper

Cashew cream


 

Directions:


Heat the olive oil in a soup pot, add the onion and cook until softened.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add the potatoes and cook for a few minutes on medium -low heat.

Add the stock and water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat to a simmer and cook the soup until the potatoes are nearly cooked through.

Add the kale and parsley, raise the heat to  slow boil and cook until the kale is cooked.

Add the basil pesto, taste and add salt and pepper.

When the soup is cooked through puree it using  and blender or a stand blender.

Taste and adjust the seasoning.

To serve:

Ladle soup into soup bowls, swirl a little more basil pesto into each bowl and drizzle with cashew cream.


Kale and potato soup

Kale and potato soup

Tuscan Kale

Tuscan Kale



 

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