Description
This Immunity Boosting Green Goddess Soup is a nourishing, creamy vegetable soup packed with kale, spinach, broccoli, and warming spices. Perfect to strengthen your immune system, it blends fresh greens with a smooth texture and a touch of cream for richness, garnished with toasted sunflower seeds for a delightful crunch.
Ingredients
Scale
Base Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 leek (white part only) or another onion, diced
- 1 medium fennel, chopped
- 2 celery stems, roughly chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, roughly minced
- 3/4 tsp all spice powder (sub mixed spice)
- 3/4 tsp cumin powder (sub coriander)
- 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1.5 cm cubes
- 1 head broccoli, florets and chopped stalk
- 2 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 1.75 litres water
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 5 cups (tightly packed) kale leaves, roughly chopped
- 5 cups (tightly packed) baby spinach
- 3/4 cup thickened cream
Garnishes
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted (or croutons or other toasted nuts)
- Cream and/or olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Sauté aromatics: Heat olive oil in a large 6L pot over medium-high heat. Add diced onion, leek, celery, garlic, and fennel. Cook for 5 minutes until softened and fragrant.
- Cook spices: Stir in all spice and cumin powder and cook for 1 minute to release their flavors.
- Add vegetables and simmer: Pour in water, then add cubed potato, broccoli florets and stalks, salt, and black pepper. Stir everything and bring to a simmer. Let it cook uncovered for 7 minutes until broccoli is tender.
- Add peas: Add frozen peas and simmer for an additional 1 minute to heat through.
- Blend kale and spinach: Remove the pot from heat. Add the chopped kale leaves and push them under the liquid. Use an immersion blender to blend until mostly smooth but with some bits for texture. Add baby spinach, push under liquid, and blend again for 3 to 5 minutes until as smooth as possible.
- Finish and serve: Stir in thickened cream for richness. Ladle soup into bowls, drizzle with extra cream or olive oil, and sprinkle toasted sunflower seeds or preferred garnish on top. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- Use either one leek and one onion, or substitute with two leeks or two onions. Leek adds a sweeter flavor.
- Don’t skip fennel as it adds depth; its anise flavor is subtle and not overpowering.
- This soup uses water instead of stock, creating a homemade veggie broth base.
- Substitute peas with extra broccoli, fennel, or potato if preferred.
- Kale boosts nutrition but can be swapped with more baby spinach or frozen greens; to measure kale, pack leaves tightly into measuring cup.
- Baby spinach can be swapped with English spinach or additional kale.
- For a vegan option, substitute cream with vegan cream, coconut cream, or coconut milk for a subtle coconut flavor.
- To toast sunflower seeds, dry toast them in a hot pan until golden, stirring frequently. Other seeds or nuts like pine nuts, pepitas, or almond flakes work too.
- Croutons make a great alternative garnish and can be prepared as directed in a celeriac soup recipe.
- Each serving provides about 2 1/2 cups of soup, making a generous meal portion.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 312 ml (about 2 1/2 cups)
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
