Print

Vegan Purple Winter Soup with Kale and Chickpeas

Print Recipe

Easy and comforting vegan purple winter soup with kale, chickpeas, rainbow carrots and russet potato. Cooked in both ground and whole spices and aromatics such as garlic, red onion and fresh ginger.

Ingredients

Scale
  • Olive oil
  • 1 whole russet potato
  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 55g of ginger (about an inch long)
  • 3 ribs of celery
  • 1 bunch of curly kale
  • 3 teaspoons of salt, divided
  • ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
  • 10 oz bag of sliced, frozen rainbow carrots
  • Big handful of baby spinach – about 2.5 cups packed
  • Apple cider vinegar to taste (for me, it was 3 teaspoons)
  • 4 cups of water
  • Toasted bread for serving (see notes)
  • Good olive oil for serving
  • Fresh cracked black peppercorns for serving

Instructions

  1. Brush, rinse and dry the russet potato well. Poke holes all around using a fork and microwave for 3-4 minutes.
  2. While the potato is par cooking in the microwave, rinse the rest of the vegetables that need rinsing like the kale and celery. Then dry.
  3. Peel and roughly chop the ginger root, garlic and yellow onion.
  4. Slice the celery into roughly ¼” half moon slices.
  5. Tear the kale away from the stems and tear them into pieces that are roughly an inch or two all around.
  6. Take the unpeeled potato, if cool enough, out of the microwave and roughly chop into 1-1.5 inch cubes. If any skin comes off, no big deal.
  7. Bring a large pot to medium heat. Add olive oil.
  8. When olive oil is hot, cook the fennel seeds and mustard seeds until they start to crackle at about 2 minutes.
  9. Add garlic, nutmeg, ginger and cook for another 1-2 minutes until aromatic.
  10. Add the onions and celery along with a teaspoon of the salt and cook for 1 minute again.
  11. Add the potatoes and another teaspoon of salt and cook for roughly 2 minutes.
  12. Add the frozen carrots and toss ingredients around in the pot to roughly coat with the oil. Then add a few tablespoons of water (you can use a dinner spoon, this part isn’t complicated) and cover to steam for about 2-3 minutes.
  13. Add the kale and a couple of spoonfuls of water again and let steam for another 2-3 minutes
  14. Add the chickpeas, 4 cups of water , apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of salt again. Bring to a boil and immediately simmer with lid on the pot, almost fully covered, allowing for steam to escape, for 10 minutes. Stir periodically.
  15. Add a huge handful (about 2.5 cups packed) of the baby spinach and let cook on low for another 5 minutes, steaming the spinach.
  16. Take an immersion blender and blend for a few seconds to thicken the soup.
  17. Salt to taste.
  18. Serve in bowls and top with a good olive oil.
  19. Cut some bread of any kind into thick strips for dipping and toast.

 

Equipment

Notes

  1. To keep it easy, I just toast whatever bread we have around. I prefer a more tame bread or as someone would say, “basic” or “boring” or “bland” so that I can taste more of the soup. When it comes to store-bought bread, I prefer Dave’s Killer Bread. My husband prefers fresh sourdough or ciabatta. My little lady prefers fluffier breads like croissants.
  2. If you want to make this even more soupy, just add more water until you get the desired consistency you want. Just remember to salt to taste as it will dilute the other flavors a bit. This should not a bland soup.

Find it online: https://bakeroise.com/vegan-purple-winter-soup-with-kale-and-chickpeas/