Super Greens Soup
Makes ► 6 cups
Total Time ► 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS —
8 cups roughly chopped dark leafy greens (kale, collards, chard, bok choy...)
1 cup soft-stemmed herbs or aromatic greens (cilantro, green onions, dill, parsley...)
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 cup pureed winter squash, or your choice of thickening ingredient *see notes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Garnish options: toasted pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, drizzle of olive oil, sliced scallions, gomasio
TO MAKE IT —
Add all of the greens, herbs and 1 teaspoon salt along with 3 cups of water to a large stock pot. Bring up to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. The greens should cook down considerably and become very tender. Stir in the squash puree now.
While the greens are cooking, caramelize the onions. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until it barely ripples. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Don't stir the onions too much at first to allow them to brown. Once the onions start to brown and turn translucent, about 5 minutes, lower the heat to medium- low and stir only occasionally. They will gradually melt down and take on a caramel color. Add a couple tablespoons of water to the pan occasionally to keep from burning. Turn down the heat if the onions are browning too quickly. After 25 minutes, add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir the onion-garlic mixture into the greens with the broth and lemon juice.
Puree the soup in a blender, in batches if necessary, or use an immersion blender. Taste now, and add what it needs for the flavor to "pop" - if it doesn't taste special, add a pinch more salt or a squeeze more lemon juice until it's right.
Notes—
The onions musssst be properly caramelized to make this soup truly delicious. This takes at least 30 minutes. Don't skip, or the soup will be flat and lacking flavor.
A note on thickeners: to use something already cooked and pureed (like pumpkin or squash), stir in 1 cup of it after the greens have fully cooked, before blending. Or, if starting with something uncooked, choose one of the following ideas and simmer it with the greens: 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup diced winter squash or root vegetable (carrots, butternut squash, rutabaga, turnip, sweet potato, celery root...)
Words on the recipe…
I've taken to affectionately thinking of this as "swamp soup", but I figured the name would do the opposite of convincing you to make this. Am I wrong?
It's certainly not the most photogenic of soups - it boasts an olive green that's associated with badly boiled vegetables - but you've gotta trust that its comforting flavor and clever economy of ingredients make up for any lack in the looks department.
This soup is a slight modification of Anna Thomas's Green Soup, which was brought into my world thanks to the ever-artful Food52.com. They described this soup as "robust... with all the richness of long-cooked greens - without the long-cooking".
As soon as I read about it, the section of my brain that keeps track of all the wayward veg in my refrigerator chimed in to remind me of the bundles of green things in my crisper drawer that would soon turn very sad if I didn't consume them, stat: lacinato kale, rainbow chard stems, a bunch of green onions, half a bunch of wilting parsley and some unspoken-for dill. The infinite variations are exciting, and I'm sure to make many versions in the fall and winter.
The basic idea here: you’re cooking down a motley group of greens and herbs in a pot while slowly caramelizing onions in a pan on the side, lending the soup a deep savoriness. (Yum!) Some kind of thickener is added for texture and body; the original recipe suggests adding a medium diced potato or uncooked white rice in with the greens to slow-cook; I used a cup of fresh butternut squash puree that was being neglected in my fridge - use what you’ve got! I'm thinking cubed pumpkin or sweet potato would be delicious too.