Just how green and how good can soup get?

With all the health gurus telling us that certain veggies are ultra blessed with vitamins, minerals, and the like, I decided to start with some basic soup recipes to try and find one that will give maximum pow for minimum effort. The stars of the shows are Broccoli; Kale; and Spinach. This promised to give a very green soup hence the title of this piece.

Broccoli soup

Now I like broccoli as a standard veg. In fact it’s probably my favourite veg to have with the Quorn Steak and Gravy Pie or Quorn Roast. But it has to be admitted that it’s a mid range taste. Pleasant not strident. Therefore likely to loose some of it’s flavour when made into a plain soup. I’ve seen so many recipes that claim to be Broccoli Soup but are in fact either Chicken Soup with Broccoli or Cheese Soup with Broccoli. Not what I am after. I just want a health vegetarian soup that will taste good and be good. So I took a simple Broccoli Soup as my starting point.

Ingredients

2 medium Broccoli Heads

Handful of Cauliflower florets

A few small blocks of frozen Spinach

Parsley, Sage and Rosemary

1/2 stick of celery

750ml Water to cover

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Bung everything into a pan. Bring to the boil and simmer until tender when picked with a fork (around five minutes). Carefully blend with a stick blender or pour into an upright blender, and blend.

Result

A very bland soup without much real body. It was pleasant enough but lacked the extra umph that would be given by one or two stock cubes, garlic, onion etc..

Quite nice with Garlic Croutons.

In short a good base for a soup but needing something else.

Broccoli and Kale Soup

Now this turned out to be the real thing! Made, it’s only fair to point out, in my much loved and used Aldi Soup maker.

An incredibly healthy Green Soup which is easy to prepare in a pan or soup maker.

Does Good Tastes Good!

Ingredients

Small Head of Broccoli

Handful of shredded Curly Kale

Stick of Celery

Leek

Handful of Green Beans or Peas

1/2 a Finger Chilli

Mixed Herbs

Salt and Pepper

Veggie Stock Cube

Water to cover

Method

Chop all ingredients and place in soup maker. Fill with water to max mark on soup maker.

If using a pan, try frying the veg in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil before adding the water, stock etc..

Switch on soup maker, make coffee and find a comfy chair.

If using a pan, boil until the veg is tender when pricked with a fork (5 to 7 minutes). Blend with a stick blender or pour into a blender and switch on.

Sample, correct seasoning if required and serve.

WARNING: There is a lot of hard to digest cellulose in this recipe – expect consequences – and perhaps limit yourself to a single bowl at a time!

I have since tried this with a handful of frozen spinach blocks which seem to blend in very nicely, giving you even more green goodness – think Popeye and love Olive Oil!