Shamrock Soup (AKA Potato-Kale Soup)

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, so we made this lovely green soup to celebrate! The flavor is fairly mild, so if you like it a bit spicier, add more red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, or whatever else you like. We adapted this recipe from a cookbook we received via a friend, who got it from her CSA provider. Because you use an immersion blender to create a smooth texture for the soup, prep time is fairly quick as you'll only need to coarsely chop the vegetables before adding them to the soup. Also, the original recipe called for three cups fresh kale, but we like A LOT of kale, so we added quite a bit more. The verdict? Great!

Shamrock Soup (12+ servings)
4 T. olive oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
10 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 T. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
Water and/or broth
4 large handfuls fresh kale (maybe 8 cups? who knows!)
black pepper

1. Heat oil over medium heat, add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt. Saute until onions are translucent.

2. Add potatoes and enough water (or water + broth) to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are just tender.

3. Add kale and cook, uncovered, for an additional 10-15 minutes.

4. Puree soup using an immersion blender (if you don't have one, you can use a regular blender). Season with pepper (and additional salt & red pepper flakes, if desired).

5. Serve it up - perhaps with some soda bread?

Potato - Kale Soup (including a sausage option)

With half a bag of potatoes to use up and a craving for green leafy vegetables (prompted by a delicious cup of wild nettle soup at the Mitsitam Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian), this morning I decided to make potato-kale soup for this week's lunch rotation. Depending on your taste and status as vegetarian or not, you can make the the soup completely vegetarian, use a chicken stock base, or add sausage (about 1 lb., sauteed along with the onion - this will make a soup similar to the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden).

Potato - Kale Soup (6-8 servings)
3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
8-10 cups liquid (I used 4 cups chicken broth, 1 cup vegetable juice, 1 cup white wine, and 2 cups water)
small piece of rind (~ 2 in. x 2 in.) from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4-5 stalks celery
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 lb kale, stems removed and leaves cut or torn
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried basil or Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1. Combine potatoes, liquid, and cheese rind in a large stock pot. Cook over medium heat about 10-15 minutes (until potatoes begin to soften), stirring occasionally.

2. While potatoes cook, heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion, celery, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Saute until onions and celery begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

3. Add onion mixture, kale, pepper, basil, and cumin to stock pot (don't worry - the kale WILL boil down and shrink!). Reduce heat to medium-low (slow boil) and continue to cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If desired / necessary, add additional water to soup while cooking to achieve desired ratio of vegetables to broth.

4. Remove any remaining cheese rind and serve!

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

With Thanksgiving coming up in less than two weeks, the race is on to choose and test dishes for the big feast. One of my favorite side dishes is vegetables roasted in walnut oil and balsamic vinegar. This dish can be prepared and baked ahead of time and warmed in the oven for a few minutes closer to the time when you are ready to eat.

Oven-Roasted Vegetables (6-8 servings)
1 large sweet potato / yam, peeled and cubed
1 large fennel bulb, leaves / stalks removed, sliced
2-3 medium red potatoes, cubed
8 oz. baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
4 large shallots or 1 medium onion, sliced
2 T. walnut oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Toss all ingredients together in a large (13 x 9) baking dish until vegetables are well-coated with oil and vinegar.

3. Bake at 425F for 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir once or twice while baking.