Nutritious, Delicious, and Hearty Kale Soup

This recipe came from mercola.com.  This is a great site, full on wonderful information and you can sign up to receive their e-newsletters.  When I saw this recipe in the e-newsletter I wanted to make then and there, but alas I did not have any kale in the house.  The next day the chicken broth came out of the freezer to start defrosting and off to the store I went!

One line from this recipe, got me to thinking and wondering… “Chop garlic and onions and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their health benefits.”  I had never heard this before and wondered why is this so.  Whenever I do use onions and garlic – I  cut them and let them sit before adding them to the recipe so I guess I was doing it “right” without even knowing it, but again why is this so?  Off to do some research and find the answer.

This is what I found out:  The substances in both garlic and onions that make them smell so strongly are also what makes them strong disease fighters.  The strong smell is sue to phytochemical called allicin and organosulfur compounds and these are the compounds that scientist thing show disease fighting actions.  When you chop, crush, mince garlic and onion the cells are ruptured and releases the alliin and alliinases allowing them to mingle and enhance the healing properties of both the onion and garlic.  That is why you need to let them sit at room temperature for 10 – 15 minutes before cooking.  The more you cop, cut, etc the more health benefits and the stronger the smell the better!

Enough science, let’s get cooking!

We both LOVED this soup.  With some homemade bread, this made for the perfect dinner or lunch!  Another soup to add to Stella’s list – yeah!!!!

Super Energy Kale Soup

The steam kept fogging the lens!

The steam kept fogging the lens!

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
5+ cups chicken, bone or veggie broth (I used chicken broth)
1 cup carrots, diced into 1/4″ inch cubes
1 cup diced celery
2 medium sized red potatoes, diced into 1/2″ cubes
3 cups kale, rinsed, stems removed and chopped very fine
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried sage
Sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop garlic and onions and let sit for 10 – 15 minutes to bring out their health benefits.

Kale ingredients

2. Heat 1 Tbl broth in a medium soup pot.

3. Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring frequently.

4. Add garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.

Kale onion

5. Add broth, carrots and celery and bring to a boil on high heat.

Kale veggies

6. Once it comes to a boil reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 – 20 minutes more.

Kale potato

7. Add kale, thyme, sage and salt & pepper to taste, cook another 5 minutes. If you want to simmer for a longer time for extra flavor and richness, you may need to add a little more broth.

Serves 4

Nutritious, Delicious, and Hearty Kale Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 5+ cups chicken, bone or veggie broth (I used chicken broth)
  • 1 cup carrots, diced into 1/4" inch cubes
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 2 medium sized red potatoes, diced into 1/2" cubes
  • 3 cups kale, rinsed, stems removed and chopped very fine
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp dried sage
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Chop garlic and onions and let sit for 10 - 15 minutes to bring out their health benefits.
  2. Heat 1 Tbl broth in a medium soup pot.
  3. Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring frequently.
  4. Add garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.
  5. Add broth, carrots and celery and bring to a boil on high heat.
  6. Once it comes to a boil reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 – 20 minutes more.
  7. Add kale, thyme, sage and salt & pepper to taste, cook another 5 minutes. If you want to simmer for a longer time for extra flavor and richness, you may need to add a little more broth.
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3 Responses to Nutritious, Delicious, and Hearty Kale Soup

  1. Candace says:

    Did Stella know she was drinking chicken broth? : ) I too love Mercola’s site.

  2. Jo says:

    I’m not a big kale person but cooked is good. I bet this soup would be great with spinach as well. I have the same question as Candace about Stella! Ha!

  3. Karen says:

    Hello Beauty!
    I love this one too. 🙂

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