Kale and (Sweet) Potato Creamed Soup
I rarely follow a recipe for soup. I might glance at one to get the general idea or to make sure I’m not missing some delicious hidden ingredient, but then I wing it. :)
Here is my “recipe” as close as I can tell it.
Dice into medium small pieces: carrots, onion, celery - about a good handful of each.
Dice into bite-sized pieces: potatoes or sweet potatoes (your choice or both) – only 1 if very large or 2 to 4 medium or small.
Cut the stems off of a bunch of kale (6 or 8 leaves maybe?) and chop the stems the same size as the carrots. Chop the leaves into 1” or so dice… Reserve the leaves. I did NOT add them when cooking the other veggies, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt them.
Start 1 TBSP olive oil heating in large pot (I use an enameled cast iron) and slowly fry the veggies (stirring occasionally- toss a little salt on them) until the onions are getting translucent. (10 minutes or so?). Clear a place on the bottom of the pan, add a little more oil and turn down the heat. Add some garlic into that oil- chopped, minced, from a jar or dried- doesn’t matter too much. When the garlic has cooked for a little bit, add some basil, savory, oregano, etc… whatever you have like that that’s fragrant and delicious, also black, red, and/or white pepper and 1/8 or 1/4 tsp of ground mustard.. Let heat for a minute or so for the herbs to release their oils. Add the reserved kale leaves and raise heat of pan, stirring the kale to the hot surface. Cook for a couple minutes.
Dump in stock (or water and soup base- I used ham, but chicken or beef would be good, too) to just barely cover the veggies and put a lid on. (Have the liquid hot before you put it in the pot to save time.) Let simmer slowly until potatoes are tender and all the flavors are thoroughly married- no longer than 10 minutes, as low as 5 minutes.
Now you have a choice to make. Eat as is… Cream it all… or cream half of it for a chunky chowder type of soup. I like it all ways. :) Puree the hot soup in small batches carefully in a blender or food processor and return it to a pan on the stove. Add 1/8 tsp baking powder and ¾ cup whole milk and heat through after blended. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese and chopped ham or crumbled bacon. Great with crusty bread. It’s fun to add a totally unrelated vegetable to the creamed soup right before serving just to throw people off- like corn or peas or whatever veggie your kid does like. Also good if you substitute broccoli for the kale. Enjoy!
