Kale soup with potatoes, farro & chili + stranger hiding in garden

Surprise, surprise. We have winter red kale growing in our garden. Last month we tossed in a package of arugula and mesclun lettuce mix seeds, expecting to get our regular crop of lettuce varieties and baby arugula.  But this  year, Christmas came early (or late) and we found a strange looking lettuce (???) hiding amongst all the same familiar lettuce faces.

A stranger was hiding in the mass of lettuce and we didn’t pay too much particular interest in it until it grew faster than all the regular lettuce. When we finally plucked it out of the lettuce plot, we realized it was kale. But not just regular kale, but red kale! What a cool welcome it was to have a hearty batch of winter red kale. The red kale was a stranger in the plot, but a welcomed addition to our always changing and eclectic garden.

Our batch of winter red kale was not only a beauty to photograph against the wet, rained on pebbles, but their leaves were tender and amazingly sweet. The beautiful, oak shaped leaves and red veins of the kale really came to life after the three days of straight rain we had. Having that much rain in itself in the Los Angeles basin was an amazing surprise too! So with the amazing rain and a batch of fresh winter red kale and a chilly winter of 45 degrees pounding through our window (teeth chattering), it was time to make a hearty pot of kale soup.

Deborah Madison’s wonderful vegetarian book, The Greens Cook Book, has a fabulous kale soup and potato recipe. The most attracting part of the recipe is that Deborah adds a nice, healthy, pop of red chili heat into the pot. The subtle heat, with the hearty potato and tender kale is a fabulous combination to warm up your cold toes on a cold winter day. But we wanted to take it up a knotch and added in some farro for more texture and grain love. You can never have too many whole grains, especially when it’s freezing cold out side (close enough for us). A little bit of good carbs can do us all good.

To make it even more rich, we added a rind of parmesan cheese to the eclectic mix, giving an addicting, savory element. Wow, this soup was good and so simple, quick and hearty at that! We wanted to add more kale and since we robbed the garden of all the red kale, we added in some regular green kale giving the soup a more ruffled texture. It was definitely colorful and crazy pot of winter goodness. We’re kinda like that you know, crazy and white on rice colorful!

We really wanted to add some sausage to this kale soup, but ate the last ones for dinner the night before. So, if you want to add some meat gusto, go for the Italian sausage and let us know how it tastes! Just don’t tell Deborah (the vegetarian) that!

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Kale soup with potatoes, farro and chili recipe

adapted from The Greens Cook Book, by Deborah Madison

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale
3 Tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
6 medium cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1 small dried red chili or fresh chili, seeded and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of salt, or more to taste
4 medium potatoes  (about 1 pound), peeled + diced into 1/2 inch cubes
2 teaspoons yellow nutritional (brewers) yeast, optional.
about 7 cups water or  vegetable/chicken stock
1/2 cup farro
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
grated parmesan cheese

1. Cut ruffled kale leaves off their stems. Chop the leaves. Discard the stems because they are very tough and take a long time to cook.

2. In large soup pot, heat oil, then add onion, garlic, chili, bay leaf and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes then add the nutritional yeast and potatoes.

3. Add one cup of the water or stock, combine ingredients and let cook for about another 5 minutes

4. Add the kale and farro, then add the rest of the water/stock and parmesan cheese rind. Cook on low simmer, covered until the potatoes and farro are tender, about 20-30 minutes.

5. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Top of with parmesan cheese. Enjoy this easy and delicious kale and potato soup!