Vegetable Soup

Hi All,

Just a few more recipes left to make, and it’s feeling so bittersweet!  This next recipe is from my Grandmother, Teodora, and it’s her vegetable soup.  Perfect for a winter’s day 🙂

Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

Bunch of kale, stems removed and chopped fine

11 cups water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 regular potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped small

2 medium tomatoes, cut in quarters

1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons salt and to taste

half of head of cabbage, roughly chopped

1 15-ounce can of pinto beans (or bean of your choice)

pepper, to taste

Directions:

1) In a medium-sized pot, add kale with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and a dash of salt.  Bring heat down to medium and covered, cook kale until tender, about five minutes.

2)  Separately, in a large pot or Dutch Oven, add 8 cups water, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onion, garlic, remaining olive oil and 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium, and cook for approximately 30 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through and soft.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

3) Using a sieve, remove vegetables from pot and add to a food processor, but leave water in pot.  Also add kale to the food processor.  Pulse until vegetables are roughly smooth and creamy, and then place back in pot with water. Add salt as needed.

4)  Add cabbage and beans to pot and stir.  If it’s too thick and you want to add more water, use water that kale was cooked in.  Cook until cabbage is soft and cooked through, approximately 15-20 minutes.