This is the year I’m going to stick to my goal of making more soup.

I had high hopes last year, but things just didn’t pan out.

I’m definitely guilty of buying more prepared soup than I make. Just like cooking your own beans, making soup is a great money saver. The taste difference is also incomparable. My main reason for not making soup, was intimidation. That stops now!

I’m heading home to Cleveland this Sunday, and have been trying to get meals prepped + in the freezer, for Chris to chow down on while I’m away. He’s been extremely busy at work, so I thought this would help him out in the evenings.

There were 2lbs of potatoes on my counter, staring me down, from our latest veggie box. That’s 2lbs of potatoes I didn’t want to go bad. So it was decided, they would all be used in this soup.

The inspiration for this soup, was a creamy garlic + kale soup, I enjoyed last weekend at Tasty Harmony. Their soups never disappoint. It was thick + creamy, with the perfect amount of garlic and flavor. It was simple.

So where do the potatoes come into play?

Their version they did not utilize them, but in my version, the potatoes are used to produce the creaminess.

And boy did that ever work out well.

The soup was seasoned simply with thyme, sage, garlic, salt + pepper.

Chopped kale was added, but not an overwhelming amount. I didn’t want the texture to become too chewy.

A sprinkle of smoked paprika on top, made this bowl complete.

Creamy Herbed Potato + Kale Soup [gf/vegan - serves 6-8]

6c vegetable broth
1 large onion, chopped
1T + 1t garlic, minced
2lbs potatoes [fingerling/yukon gold/russet], chopped
2t fresh thyme
1.5t dried sage
2T sunflower oil
2c kale, finely chopped
salt + pepper to taste
smoked paprika + thyme to garnish

Heat the oil in a large pot, over medium heat + add the onion once hot.
Stir every minute or so, until soft + lightly golden. ~6-8min
Stir in garlic for 30sec and then add broth, thyme, sage + pepper and bring to a boil.
Add chopped potatoes, bring back to a boil, cover + reduce heat to simmer for about 20min.
Carefully, using a hand immersion blender, partially puree your soup to desired consistency.
Stir in chopped kale, desired amount of salt, more pepper if needed, and simmer for 10min.
Serve + garnish with a sprinkle of thyme + smoked paprika.

*You can use broccoli/spinach/cauliflower/etc instead of kale.

*I used no sodium added vegetable bouillon cubes [great money saver!!] and ended up adding 3/4-1t salt overall.

*If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a blender or food processor to partially puree the soup. Add about 3/4 of the soup and blend until smooth and then return to the pot. Use extreme caution when blending hot liquids!

You can completely puree your soup if you would like, but I chose to leave some large pieces of potato for added texture.