A Creamy Tomato Kale Soup

It’s soup weather and I’m already thinking about what I’d like to create in a pot this Winter! Growing up, tomato soup was one of my favorites and it came from a can–we just added milk or water. It wasn’t until several years ago that I began making my own tomato soup and realized what I had been missing all those years!

Today, a friend and I came up with this recipe below. We used tomatoes that we roasted in the oven (absolutely worth the effort and described here), sundried tomatoes, fresh herbs, and coconut milk in place of dairy, but you could easily substitute milk/cream instead. To bulk up on the nutrients, we also added a healthy dose of kale.

Also, if it’s too acidic for you, you can add a teaspoon of sweetener. We used sucanat and it tasted great, but we also liked it before the sugar was added.

We loved this soup and it even got the seal of approval from my girlfriend’s 13-year-old son and his friend. To me, that says it all, because any way you can get your kids to eat unprocessed foods with green vegetables is a good thing!

Tomato Kale Soup

3 lbs tomatoes, roasted, or ~4 c chopped, roasted tomatoes (from a carton or can)

2 c vegetable broth

1 c sundried tomatoes (not in oil)

1 T grapeseed oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 c chopped carrots

1 T fresh oregano, chopped

1 T fresh basil, chopped

1 t sweetener, such as cane sugar or sucanat (optional)

3 cloves garlic

2 c kale, leaves removed from stem and chopped

1 c coconut milk

salt and pepper to taste

If using roasted tomatoes, remove the skins and set the tomatoes and juices aside. Heat the vegetable broth to a boil then remove from heat. Add the sundried tomatoes and let them soak for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil to medium in a large pot and add the onion. Saute for 5 minutes, then add the carrot. Mix well and continue to let cook over medium heat for an additional 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, oregano, and basil. Remove the sundried tomatoes from the broth and coarsely chop, then add them and the broth to the pot. Cover and let simmer until the carrots are cooked, ~10 minutes.

Add the garlic and kale and simmer until the kale turns a bright green color. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup in the pot or blend it in small batches in a blender.

Return the soup to the pot and add the coconut milk. Mix well and adjust the taste with salt and pepper and additional coconut milk if desired.

Enjoy with a crusty artisan bread or if you really want to go for the comfort meal, a grilled cheese sandwich (on whole grain bread of course : )) Enjoy!!

Mustard Greens and Kale Sauce with Sundried Tomatoes

Two of the most powerfully beneficial groups of vegetables that we can eat are leafy greens and cruciferous veggies. This includes foods like lettuces, spinach, mustard greens, beet greens, kale, collard greens, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and bok choy. They’re low in calories and fat, high in fiber, and a great source vitamins such as A, K, C, and folate, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorous.

Chlorophyll-containing greens purify and alkalize the blood, and both groups provide anti-oxidants, phyto-nutrients, and are mildly to strongly anti-inflammatory. So any way you can think of to get these veggies into your diet will provide tremendous health benefits to you and your family.

The inspiration for this recipe came from 101 Cookbooks from a pasta recipe calling for kale that sounds fantastic. The recipe sounded good and since I had a bunch of kale and mustard greens in the fridge at the time, I decided to combine the two. Because I was using mustard greens, I thought it would be nice to caramelize the leeks to sweeten them up a bit to balance out the bite of the mustard greens–the same for the balsamic vinegar. The tomatoes give the sauce more of a concentrated flavor as well as body, but I think tomato paste would work here too.

The sauce is good both cold/cool and heated and I’ve had it both ways. First with quinoa pasta (which is actually a blend of rice and quinoa flours), pictured above, and with cooked quinoa. It would also work with rice or other grains, or (I’m thinking!) as a pizza sauce.

Mustard Greens and Kale Sauce with Sundried Tomatoes

1 T grapeseed oil

1 leek, sliced thin crosswise

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c vegetable broth (or more for a thinner sauce), warm

2 T balsamic vinegar

½ c sundried tomatoes, sliced

6 – 8 large leaves each of mustard greens and kale, removed from the stems and broken into large pieces

sea salt and pepper to taste

goat or feta cheese, optional

In a medium skillet, heat the oil to medium and sauté the leek until tender and almost caramelized. Meanwhile, soak the sliced sundried tomatoes in the broth. When the leaks are ready, add them to a blender or food processor. Add the garlic, tomatoes and about ½ cup of the broth, vinegar, the mustard greens and kale leaves, and a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Blend or process until the leaves are well processed. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add more broth if a thinner sauce is desired. Serve over pasta or grains. Top with cheese (or blend in during the processing).