Anna Thomas’s Green Soup

from Food 52

Author Notes: This is an excellent recipe, but also a template. You could use any greens, and any herbs. Instead of the potato, Thomas has bolstered the broth with yams, sautéed mushrooms, or squash. The caramelized onions are key for filling out the flavor of the soup, but there's no reason you couldn't use shallots or leeks instead. It's good for dinner parties, for brown bag lunches, and for dinners alone with a fridge of greens you don't know what to do with. Thomas has also used the soup to comfort very sick friends, who said it restored their appetite and brought them back to life a bit. 

Recipe adapted from Love Soup  -  Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
1 bunch chard or spinach 

1 bunch kale 

4 to 5 green onions, sliced, white and green parts 

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro 

1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste 

1 medium Yukon Gold potato (or sweet potato, or mushrooms)

1 medium yellow onion (or shallot or leek)

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

2 1/2 to 3 cups vegetable broth 

Freshly ground black pepper 

Cayenne 

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste 

filtered water

How to:

• Wash the greens thoroughly, trim off their stems, and slice the leaves. 

• Combine the chard (or spinach), kale, green onions, and cilantro in a large soup pot with 3 cups of filtered water and a teaspoon of salt. 

• Peel the potato (or sweet potato), or just scrub it well if organic - cut it into small pieces, and add it to the pot. 

• Bring the water to a boil, turn down the flame to low, cover the pot, and let the soup simmer for about half an hour. 

• Meanwhile, chop the onion (or leek or shallot), heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet, and cook the onion with a small sprinkle of salt over medium flame until it is golden brown and soft. This will take up to half an hour. Don't hurry; give it a stir once in a while, and let the slow cooking develop the onion's sweetness. 

• Add the caramelized onion to the soup. Put the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil in the pan and stir the chopped garlic in it for just a couple of minutes, until it sizzles and smells great. 

• Add the garlic to the pot and simmer the soup for 10 minutes more. 

• Add enough of the broth to make the soup -- it should pour easily from the ladle and puree it in the blender, in batches, or use an immersion blender. Don't over-process, as potatoes can turn gummy if you work them too much. 

• Return the soup to the pot, bring it back to a simmer, and taste. 

• Add a pinch more salt if needed, grind in a little black pepper and add a pinch of cayenne and a tablespoon of lemon juice. 

• Stir well and taste again. Now use your taste buds -- correct the seasoning to your taste with a drop more lemon juice or another pinch of salt, and then serve big steaming bowls of green soup. 

• Garnish with a thin drizzle of fruity olive oil.