Sunday, March 30, 2014

How To Make A Fresh And Easy Spring Vegetable Soup

This recipe from our spring vegetable correspondent is healthy, packed with protein, and – most importantly – delicious.

But spring's early days are cold where I live (in Ontario). A transitional food strategy is a good way to a) take advantage of some very early spring goods and b) get more greens in your diet.

We plant kale in the garden every year towards the beginning of May. In the months leading up to that, the plants we put in last year (but forgot to pull out of the garden — oops) begin to sprout new growth. So with no real effort at all, we get tender shoots of kale before spring really starts to kick in.

This broth-y and warming soup is a simple way to really enhance those first greens. It's satiating without seeming heavy. The vegetables/greens are cut real wispy-like, so that they "cook" upon contact with the hot broth. I know that adding green tea to a soup sounds weird, but it adds a savory depth that makes this simple bowl all the more satisfying. The ginger is zingy and sharp, the tamari is salty, almost meaty, and the beans fill this whole bowl out with some protein.