PURPLE POTATO + KALE WINTER SOUP recipe

Many of the items that I cook and post here are heavily influenced by my weekly CSA, which I have been doing for seven years. So, if you see an unusual item or perhaps a few posts that talk about kumquats (because kumquat season is coming!), you should probably assume that I didn’t go out and buy four weeks worth of kumquats- it’s just what my CSA box (share) has in it.

Making use of everything that comes in my share is what led me to this recipe. If you live in Southern California, you know that our winter this year only lasted about a week.  We are in the middle of a drought, rainfall has been non-existent and winter has really been more like Summer. So I was quite happy to wake up recently to overcast weather with 80% chance of rain- it was cold…well at least for us!

Perfect timing, because we had a bag of these beautiful purple potatoes in this week’s share and I’d been wanting to make something with them. We also had a large bundle of kale and celery (in addition to the bunches growing in our garden)- what better way to use all of it than in a soup!  This is super simple to make.

what to get:

4 cups sliced (1/4”) purple potatoes (it’s OK if you don’t have purple ones, use red or any smaller sized variety)

1.5 cups sliced onion

½-1 sliced celery stalk

3-4 cloves of garlic chopped

6 cups veggie or chicken broth or water

2-4 cups chopped kale (we had a lot so I used bunch)

1 teaspoons salt

1 tsp ground pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Lime and Sriracha/hot sauce-optional (as additional seasoning)

Parmesan cheese- optional (as garnish)

what to do:

1. Prep the onions and celery. Put a large soup pot on medium heat and add the olive oil. Add celery and onions and allow to cook for 5 minutes or until you start to see them soften (I would even go for a little browning)!

2. While they are cooking, scrub and slice the potatoes. Prepare the stock. If I am in a hurry I use Better Than Bouillon. Pour onto the onion/celery mix and finish scrubbing the potatoes.

3. Add the potatoes. Wash and chop the kale while the soup is heating up. Add kale to soup and mix, submerging all of the kale. Heat for 10 minutes more.

4. At this point, taste the broth. If it needs salt, add 1 teaspoon, mix and taste again. Add the pepper and taste again.  Personally, I like to add the juice of one lime and a squeeze of Sriracha or other favorite hot sauce. Once you have the your desired flavor, pour into a bowl and top with cheese or eat without.

Since there are only two of us at our house, this takes us a few days to finish. I don’t mind having it the same way, but here are some ways to change it up.

VARIATIONS:

-Add cooked pasta noodles or rice into your bowl for a little more substance.

-Add less broth on a serving and add a few big chunks of toasted bread and top with a fried egg for a breakfast version.

-Fry up some sausage patties or links- chop them and add to soup.

 -delilah snell