Vegetarian Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup ~ Caldo Verde

My friend Kate Gabrielle, over at Scathingly Brilliant, asked me recently for an idea of how to use kale. My favorite way to cook with kale is to make Caldo Verde, a Portuguese soup that is comprised of kale, potatoes, garlic, onions, carrots and chorizo sausage. Since Kate is a vegetarian, I adapted my recipe by taking out the chorizo, adding red kidney beans for protein and replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth. She made the soup and loved it.

So when my friend Kevin, who is also a vegetarian, mentioned that he is growing kale in his garden, I told him that he should try using some of that kale for a Vegetarian version of Caldo Verde. I promised him I would post the recipe and here it is! Enjoy.

Ingredients


1 onion, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced
4 potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
crushed red pepper flake to taste
a bunch of kale, shredded
6 cups of vegetable broth
1 15.5 oz can of Red Kidney beans

Chop your onion.

Slice your carrots.

Peel and chop your potatoes. Make sure you keep them in water so they don't start going brown.

Thinly shred your Kale. This is tricky. Make sure you refer my step-by-step instructions (complete with photos) here: Caldo Verde Recipe

Heat up some olive oil in a big soup pot. Add onions and cook until they start to get soft. Then add your carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add potatoes, crushed red pepper flake, and garlic. Stir.

Add 6 cups of broth and bring the pot to a boil. Then add all of your shredded kale and cover the pot and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through. Stir occasionally. Add your red kidney beans last. Once they heat through, serve. You can crush the potatoes with a spoon to make the soup a bit thicker.

Enjoy while it's hot. Sorry for no picture of a bowl of soup. The whole pot was devoured pretty quickly.

Raquelle's Ridonk Chicken Pot Pie

A fancy chicken pot pie that's fast and easy? That's ridonk! With very little effort you can create an amazing chicken pot pie.

I created this recipe out of necessity. I didn't have time to make a fancy pie from scratch with crust and all but I didn't want a boring chicken pot pie either. And I would never EVER resort to one of those frozen chicken pot pies from the supermarket. ::shudders:: So I developed a recipe which required very little cooking and could be made super fast. This is the result:

Ingredients:

1/2 rotisserie chicken, meat removed

3 celeries with leaves sliced thinly
2-3 carrots sliced thinly
1/2 onion chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh dill

1/2 cup of frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup of frozen peas

1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chicken broth

Pillsbury golden biscuits (8)

melted butter with chopped fresh dill

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This recipe makes 4 servings.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Chop your onion and slice your celery and carrots. Heat up some extra light olive oil in a skillet and sautee the veggies until they start to become soft. While they are hot, place them in a bowl with the corn and peas. Season with salt and pepper and add dill. Set aside.

Now for the gravy. I make a simple gravy based on my rule of 1 tablespoon fat, 1 tablespoon flour and 1 cup liquid. In this case it's butter, flour and chicken broth. I like my pot pie light on gravy so you can double this recipe if you like more of it. Cook the butter and flour and mix until you get a roux. Slowly incorporate the chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring until it's gravy consistency.

Mix gravy with chicken and vegetables. Pour mixture into a casserole dish.

Cover the top of the casserole dish with the biscuits. Melt a tablespoon or two of butter and add some chopped dill. Brush the butter mixture over the top of the biscuits.

Bake in the oven at 375 Degrees for 25 minutes. You can cover with foil for 15 minutes and then uncover for the rest of the time so your biscuits won't get brown. Serve hot or at room temperature. Enjoy!