Recipe: Green Glow Smoothie Soup {Vegan & GF}

Summary: Sometimes you just have to get your green on! I have an obsession with green food right now, I swear my local fresh juice guy thinks I’m a bit mad! I’ve been dreaming of a deep green, get you glowing from the inside soup for a while. It hasn’t even been soup weather lately, just hot and summery but then there was a day that was grey and overcast and rainy. Yeah, it was still 24C out but I was straight into soup! I wanted something like a savoury smoothie, thick and vegetably and simple enough that the natural flavours shined. Tasty and garlicy and lush – a big bowl of plenty that is a comfort and still good for you. This soup is my dreams made real!

Mr Ask isn’t much of soup guy, unless it’s my cheats minestrone, then he’s all for it. I still made a pretty big batch (this makes about 2.5L) so I could spare a takeout pot each for my Mum and Sister and still have enough to freeze. I froze mine in a silicon muffin tin so that I could put a couple of ‘pucks’ into a mug and microwave it for a quick meal or snack. I had a half tin of chickpeas just chilling out in my fridge, so I decided to spice them (like I did in this Warm Roast Pumpkin Salad) and use them as a topper and ohhhhhhhhhh yeah! A tasty combo that adds heartiness and protein too. A little drizzle of garlic olive oil is nice too. And I can never resist a wholemeal English muffin. Trust me, you need this in your life!

Ingredients

• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 3 large onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 cups vegan chicken style stock
• 1 kg frozen peas
• 1 bunch parsley, stems trimmed (don’t be too fussy, just chop the bulk off)
• 200g broccolini, roughly chopped (can sub for broccoli, inc chopped stems)
• 150g kale, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Add the oil and onions to a large soup pot and sauté until translucent. Add in the garlic and cook for a further 2-3 mins or until fragrant.
2. Add the stock, frozen peas, parsley, broccolini and kale. You won’t be able to see if the liquid has come to a boil because of the leafy greens. Just cover and cook for 10-15 mins or until the broccolini or other stems have become tender and the kale has wilted down.
3. Once everything is tender and softened, turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Blend with either a stick or traditional blender until smooth. You can thin the soup with additional stock, if too thick for your preference. Give everything a taste and season as desired, I’m a pepper gal myself.
4. Serve with a swirl of olive oil, some nuts or chickpeas and add a side bread or English muffins for a hearty meal.